[MUSIC] 0:00 Hey guys, my name is Matt, and I'll be your teacher through this course. 0:04 I'm a proud graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, 0:07 and I'm a brand identity designer at Focus Lab in Savannah, Georgia. 0:10 Check out my website at mattyow.com. 0:14 Design is my passion, and I especially love branding. 0:17 Brand identity has always intrigued me because 0:20 it is so often discussed and disagreed on. 0:22 It is so intellectual and contemplative 0:25 while also being very, emotional and irrational. 0:27 When building a house for instance, there is a 0:30 strict process, the floor plan, materials, measurements, so on. 0:32 Otherwise the building will fall, not fit it's 0:35 occupants or simply be uncomfortable to be in. 0:38 Branding is unique, however. 0:40 Designs can look amazing and we can, as designers, 0:42 drool over how beautiful a logo or branding system is. 0:45 But if the user base doesn't latch on, it's a failure. 0:48 The same can be said of ugly, poorly designed brand 0:51 images that somehow still retain consumers and continue to grow. 0:53 Just like you I'm still learning, so I wrote an essay on the branding process 0:57 to explore experiences and practices to try to hone my skills and better my work. 1:00 It's called Salt. 1:05 Check it out online. 1:07 And I've read books on design trying 1:08 to find a faultless brand identity design process. 1:09 So far I've only read very good books 1:12 that talk around it, rather than talk through it. 1:14 I'm learning there is not one design process, but with enough practice and 1:17 exercise we can create our best work by following formulas best suited to us. 1:20 A good way to begin this whole brand process 1:26 is to observe it through the lens of, a journalist. 1:28 Who, what, when, where, why and how. 1:31 Establishing these circumstances as questions 1:35 can help us develop an understanding. 1:37 Of how to help our clients with these projects, as well 1:39 as help us as designers inform our process and gauge its purpose. 1:42 I share the sentiments with Eddie Opara, partner and designer of Pentagram, when 1:46 he says, I wanna create a process that excites me as a person. 1:49