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Hey guys, my name is Matt, and I'll be your teacher through this course.

I'm a proud graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design,

and I'm a brand identity designer at Focus Lab in Savannah, Georgia.

Check out my website at mattyow.com.

Design is my passion, and I especially love branding.

Brand identity has always intrigued me because

it is so often discussed and disagreed on.

It is so intellectual and contemplative

while also being very, emotional and irrational.

When building a house for instance, there is a

strict process, the floor plan, materials, measurements, so on.

Otherwise the building will fall, not fit it's

occupants or simply be uncomfortable to be in.

Branding is unique, however.

Designs can look amazing and we can, as designers,

drool over how beautiful a logo or branding system is.

But if the user base doesn't latch on, it's a failure.

The same can be said of ugly, poorly designed brand

images that somehow still retain consumers and continue to grow.

Just like you I'm still learning, so I wrote an essay on the branding process

to explore experiences and practices to try to hone my skills and better my work.

It's called Salt.

Check it out online.

And I've read books on design trying

to find a faultless brand identity design process.

So far I've only read very good books

that talk around it, rather than talk through it.

I'm learning there is not one design process, but with enough practice and

exercise we can create our best work by following formulas best suited to us.

A good way to begin this whole brand process

is to observe it through the lens of, a journalist.

Who, what, when, where, why and how.

Establishing these circumstances as questions

can help us develop an understanding.

Of how to help our clients with these projects, as well

as help us as designers inform our process and gauge its purpose.

I share the sentiments with Eddie Opara, partner and designer of Pentagram, when

he says, I wanna create a process that excites me as a person.