Research shows a brand’s design plays a crucial role in influencing consumer decision-making by evoking specific emotional needs. So, why take something that’s done intuitively and decode it to create an industry wide lexicon?

When we experience design, we don’t just see it — we feel it. A brand’s visual language extends beyond mere aesthetics; it serves as a critical communication tool that evokes emotional needs, which inturn change our thoughts and behavors. In an era where consumers are inundated with information, visual elements become ever more important to cut through the noise, and deliver brand messages instantly.

Feelings give words meaning

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master — that’s all.”

The sophistication of a brand’s visual language is crucial, perhaps even more so than its written language, as words without the right visual language, can mean anything. CEOs and marketers are adept at choosing words to convey their brand’s message and values intuitively but ignore defining them emotionally. Meaning the same strategic attention is often lacking in a brand’s visual language. Just as a well-crafted speech or compelling writing can influence, inspire, and persuade, so too can a carefully designed visual language. The clarity and emotional range of your written communication should be mirrored in your visual language. This involves moving beyond generic images and colors to a thoughtful selection of visual elements tailored to your audience’s needs, preferences, and emotions.

Why design requires a lexicon to communicate feelings effectively.

At some point we have all used dictionaries to explore unfamiliar words, grasp their definitions and identify appropriate usage. By cultivating the right visual vocabulary to describe the emotional impact of design, we unlock a deeper understanding of its influence on our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Effective communication hinges on the ability of everyone to have the confidence and vocabulary to articulate emotions – from CEO to the designer. A lexicon for the subtle shades of feelings elicited by design is therefore essential. This shared language not only facilitates better communication between clients and agencies but also opens up new pathways for creating designs that truly resonate, transforming passive observers into engaged participants in the stories brands wish to tell.

Teams need to learn how to feel design not just see it.

We need to stop just seeing design as a visual language and start feeling it through the language of archetypal emotional needs. A brand’s ‘Look & Feel’ resonates with individuals more through the feelings than the look. By tapping into universal, fundamental human emotions and desires brands can connect at a deeper and more authentic level:

• Archetypal Emotional Needs: These are the core, universal emotional needs shared by all humans, such as safety, belonging, love, esteem, and self-actualization. These needs drive human behavior and preferences.
• Patterns in Design: Successful design follows patterns that evoke positive responses by addressing these emotional needs. These patterns are evident in colour schemes, shapes, textures, and layouts, chosen to create specific emotional impacts.
• Communication through Design: Design functions as a language, using visual and structural elements to communicate. For instance, a warm colour palette might evoke comfort and safety, while minimalist design can create a sense of clarity and calm.
• Universal Resonance: Because these emotional needs are universal, designs that address them effectively can resonate with a broad audience, creating intuitive and satisfying experiences.
• Cultural Adaptation: While core emotional needs are universal, their expression can vary culturally. Effective design adapts these patterns to fit the cultural context of the target audience, ensuring relevance and deeper emotional engagement.

In summary

“I Feel, Therefore I am” Spinoza

Instead of seeing the mind as a reasoning machine and separate from the body as Descartes did. Spinoza thought the body and mind were one continuous being, where thoughts and feelings are foremost in the body, not the mind. Emily Eakin wrote in the New York Times, “what neuroscientists are calling an ”affect revolution” is turning decades of scientific wisdom on its head. Feeling, as science is now showing, is not the enemy of reason, but, as Spinoza saw it, an indispensable accomplice.”

Design as a language based on archetypal emotional needs, involves understanding and leveraging universal human emotions through consistent patterns in design elements. This approach communicates more effectively what brands want to say across different cultures and channels. By creating a lexicon for the industry, we create a shared language everyone across the business can understand. Enabling teams to calibrate and communicate in more sophisticated ways. Producing communication that influences and triggers the desired thoughts, feelings, and actions.