Zach visits Brandland

Last Thursday, one of our graphic designers – Zach Humphreys, visited the annual Brandland conference at the UEA. The conference was hosted by the brilliant founder of Brandland, Robert Jones. This year’s theme was on the topic of creating and consuming differently and below, Zach gives us his notes, thoughts and opinions of creating and consuming differently and below.

The day was split into two parts, the opening section would be on creating differently, and the latter section focusing on consuming differently.

Chris Bosher, head of strategy of Borne got us underway. Chris was joined by guest speaker Jago Cooper, director of the Sainsbury Centre. Jago talked about his rich history of working experience within some of the world’s greatest museums, and his journey to Norwich. He wanted to find somewhere he could create change, and the Sainsbury Centre fitted the bill. It was here where Jago could start to implement a new way of interacting with museums, and art. Here’s a quote taken from the Sainsbury Centre website depicting this movement:

“From embracing an artwork to becoming an artwork yourself, our brand-new interventions break down the barriers of how we conventionally experience a museum and allow us to form deeper and more meaningful connections with art.”

Jago talked about radical thinking, and how we can all adopt this way of thinking in our chosen practices. A very thought provoking and captivating start to the day.

Chris handed the baton over to Bobby Burrage of The Click, Graham Jones of Venture Three, and Jim Sutherland, founder of Studio Sutherl&. This session, and these speakers, were of particular interest to me. Discussions ranged from the use of analogue methods in design in a digital age, to the evolving use of AI, bringing about interesting debates over its pros and cons. Jim Sutherland talked fondly about how his work for Bikedot was created using Ink rollers, creating typographic patterns. In my opinion, using analogue methods in situations like this brings a human touch to projects, something that AI cannot replace. On the opposing side to this conversation, we were joined by Two Nguyen, founder of agency From2, live on a video call from Vietnam. Two gave a presentation that served as food for thought. He talked about how his agency From2 are using AI to help with the menial tasks of design, leaving more time for the value adding, creative work.

My eyes were opened, and as a closing thought, I’m excited by the possibility of AI not being a replacement, but an accelerator in helping designers excel in their roles, allowing them more time to focus on the work that makes them so important.

Consuming differently was the topic for the second half of the day. To kickstart this conversation we were joined by a panel of businesswomen, all with a shared purpose of getting people to consume in better, more sustainable ways. Director at Weddell & Turner, Helen Adshead talked about her struggles growing up Gluten & Dairy free, how she couldn’t eat the same treats as everybody else, and always had to settle for second best. To counter this problem, Weddell & Turner was created, with the purpose of ‘everybody deserves a treat’. The company makes high quality and tasty treats. The second face of the panel was Hannah Springham, Owner of Farmyard. Farmyard specialise in high quality, chef grade frozen meals without the additives. Hannah talked about their USP’s, and the love and care that goes into each and every meal. Why settle for unfulfillment? The last speaker was Alina Veselaya, Brand & Marketer at Enstyle, a real time system that can help brands and retailers see market trends before they hit the shelves. One point that stood out to me was how Enstyle can be used as a tool to see when certain product sales are due to decline, meaning retailers and brands can be made aware ahead of schedule, resulting in less waste and a more sustainable fashion industry.

Next up, we were treated to a research presentation, led by Katherine Hawes. Katherine is a PhD researcher and Associate lecturer. The research presentation focused on the idea of a brand as a ‘self-concept’, and how brands align with certain personalities to reach their target demographic. One of my favourite quotes from Katherine’s speech was “Brands have personalities, just like humans have personalities. When the two are congruent, we see people become attracted to certain brands.” This quote really resonated with me and distilled the role of branding into a very simple message.

To round off an immense day of learning and listening, we were joined by head of Media and PR at Heineken, Joanna Dring. Joanna opened with a talk about how changing consumer behaviours are leading to a mass increase in the sale and production of low and no alcohol drinks. This proved an obvious challenge for the team at Heineken, on how they can move with the times, and embrace this change. The solution lay within the introduction of 0% beer… but not how we’ve seen it before. Heineken have started to crack scientific barriers, that mean they can now store 0% beer in kegs, bringing it to the front of the bar, on the taps, along with all the other choices of alcoholic beers. This brings higher levels of inclusion, allowing the consumer to feel as though they are still having a ‘proper pint’, pulled from a tap, just without the hangover.

With that, a day of learning & listening came to a close.

Thank you, Brandland!