Consumers today tend to favor brands that strongly commit to social responsibility. In most cases, buyers want to purchase from brands they believe share their values. This gives them a sense of personal fulfillment by supporting brands committed to community sustainability.
Elias Grau argues that though the idea for sustainable branding might not sit well with everyone, it is an essential strategy you can leverage to align a brand's values and vision to its target market, which has a significant impact beyond the "surface value”.
Elias is a German designer and creative director focusing on branding design, UI/UX design, and product design. He is notable for his exceptional skills in developing and designing brand identity. Elias also established an international client base in Germany and the US. His strategies focus on designing timeless elements that speak to a brand's mission, vision, and value statements, allowing the branding to be sustainable for businesses. This means developing strong visuals that speak to a company's target audience and creating long-term brand recognition.
According to Elias, one of the key benefits of sustainable branding is transparency about the materials and processes used in manufacturing a product. This allows consumers to make informed purchase decisions that boost their confidence and buying habits toward a more natural lifestyle.
Though he faced multiple other challenges, Elias terms learning how to prototype his designs to be his biggest hurdle. Overcoming this was also a series of trials and errors and designing features that didn't work. But with hard work, resilience, and innovation, he finally got it right.
"What's important to learn as a designer, especially if you're designing user interfaces, is that creating design systems that other people need to navigate requires thinking on behalf of someone you've never met and comparing your work to what is already standard in the industry," Elias explains.
To young and upcoming designers, Elias encourages you to continue giving your best. It can be challenging, especially when getting started, but just start from where you are with what you have. To him, design is a tool that uses visuals to communicate messages that create trust between brands and customers. Don't be afraid to design something bad. Make sure you're designing something you like. Designing brand identities means focusing on communicating the brand's voice. Discovering a company's brand identity means only saying yes to what matters. Therefore, keep your eyes on the bigger dreams and never give up.
A born winner, Elias wants to grow and expand his brand to the next level. He envisions himself working as a designer and creative director on many different culturally meaningful projects for companies and organizations. One of his goals is to work on graphic design for company branding, product design, and fashion design. To Elias, the ultimate dream is to leverage his passion and talent in design and establish his voice through the projects he is working on. He also remains passionate about inspiring and mentoring other young designers to find success in the industry.
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