Product Styling
At D2M we understand that the success of your product relies on more than its function. Throughout a product’s life, from first launch to final sale, successful adoption hinges on creating products with functionality combined with strong, enduring consumer appeal. One aspect that is critical to cultivating this appeal is the product’s styling.
Styling has the potential to stir the emotions, excite, tantalise and create the powerful attracting force that influences your potential customers into making the all important purchase.
Our Process
Research, Consumer & Trends Analysis
The journey of crafting the perfect product style commences with a deep dive into the dynamic currents of the market. We immerse ourselves in the ever-evolving landscape of trends and consumer preferences, navigating the tides of what’s in and what’s out. Our mission is clear: to grasp the heartbeat of the consumer and discern the nuances of what resonates with your audience.
- Market Analysis: We start by diving into the market to understand current trends and consumer preferences. We analyse what’s working and what’s not. This research serves as the foundation for your product’s styling direction
- Consumer Insights: Through in-depth research and analysis, we uncover the desires, expectations, and aspirations of your target audience. Understanding the psychology of your consumers is paramount in shaping a style that strikes a chord with them.
- Competitive Landscape: We survey your competitors, dissecting their successes and failures in the realm of product styling. By learning from the industry’s key players, we position your product to stand out in the crowd.
Moodboarding & Design Language Definition
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” they say, and we believe that moodboards are worth even more. In this creative phase, we curate collections of images, colours, textures, and elements. Each of these moodboards encapsulate the visual essence of a direction your product’s styling could take based on the research we have undergone.
- Visual Storytelling: Our moodboards tell a visual story. They encapsulate the emotions, moods, and atmospheres we intend to convey through your product’s aesthetics. It’s a glimpse into the world your product will create.
- Colour Palette: We meticulously choose a colour palette that resonates with your product’s identity. These hues will define the visual journey and set the tone for your brand.
- Texture and Material Exploration: From smooth silk to rugged textures, we explore a multitude of materials that align with your style. The right textures add depth, tactility and character to your product, making it uniquely yours.
Design Directions
Using our research and moodboards, we start a creative journey to come up with different design options for your product. Think of these design options as maps, each showing a unique way to style your product. You can pick the one that matches your vision and brand identity the best.
- Creative Exploration: Our designers let their creativity run wild to explore various styles for your product. Each design option shows the many possibilities for bringing your idea to life.
- Vision Alignment: We show you these design options, giving you a good look at the different paths your product can take. This way, we make sure your vision is the most important thing in making decisions.
- Refinement and Selection: Together, we make these options even better, and in the end, we choose the one that best represents your product and fits well with your brand.
Your product’s journey to get its style is a mix of research, creativity, and working together. It’s all about creating a visual story that captivates and connects with your audience. This process makes sure your product doesn’t just meet but exceeds what your audience expects, leaving a strong impression in the market.
Creating Desirability
Product styling plays a pivotal role in shaping your product’s appeal to potential customers. Think of it as the visual allure that draws people in. When your product boasts an attractive and well-thought-out design, it instantly becomes more desirable to your target market.
It’s like the difference between a plain white t-shirt and a stylishly tailored one – people naturally gravitate towards what looks better. By investing in product styling, you are investing in the product’s ability to ignite the desire in customers to own and use your product, making them more likely to make the purchase and more likely to choose it over competitors.
We ensure that your product’s styling is perfectly crafted with a deep understanding of the tastes and sensibilities of your target customers through the tailored use of form, material, colour, layout and product architecture. In doing so, we ensure that attention and intrigue is caught from first contact to ensure your product stands out from the pack and ignites desire in prospective customers.
Building Customer Affinity and Connection
Product styling is the visual language your product speaks to your audience. Imagine if you were investing in a high-quality coffee machine – the product you choose has to make great coffee, that’s a given, but that’s not its only goal. The machine you choose has to fit perfectly into your kitchen, the styling has to appeal to you, fit into your lifestyle and make a statement that resonates with your aspirations… Are you looking for a machine that embodies a complex, ritualistic experience that feels technical and controllable? Are you after a beautifully simple, minimalist styled machine that takes the complexity out of great coffee?
When your product’s design resonates with your customer’s tastes and values, it creates a connecting bond that transforms the way customers engage with it. A strong connection through deeply considered styling makes customers feel like your product understands them and by doing so, fosters a connection from the first sight and influences the purchase.
We ensure that your design goes beyond utility and fosters this deep connection between your product and your customers. Our customer-centric styling approach considers exactly how the styling can be designed to fit perfectly with your target users and ensures the connection between product and customer has strong foundations that lead to increased brand loyalty, repeat business, word-of-mouth recommendations, and continued sales.
Create a Unique Identity
In a crowded marketplace, standing out is crucial, and product styling is your secret weapon. Styling can craft a unique visual identity for your product that sets it apart from the sea of competitors. Think of iconic brands like Apple, Dyson or Joseph Joseph – their product styling is instantly recognizable and their presence in the marketplace is front and centre over their competitors, thanks in large part to the deeply considered styling language.
When your product has a distinct style, it becomes memorable, making it easier for customers to identify and remember. This distinctiveness not only helps with brand recognition but also piques curiosity and interest, increasing sales and consumer recognition beyond those who own the products. Furthermore, for fledgling and established business alike, deep consideration into the styling of your product can help create a ‘Design Language’ (a guideline for the overall look and feel of the product) that can form as the foundation for future product families to look and feel consistent and give your brand an instantly identifiable and memorable visual identity across its entire future range.
FAQs
What is meant by “product styling” in the context of Product Design?
Product styling in design is the process of enhancing a product’s visual appeal to create a strong emotional connection with consumers. It involves carefully crafting the product’s aesthetics (form language, detailing, colours, materials and finishes) to tell a compelling visual story that evokes desire, interest and creates strong purchase-appeal.
How does product styling affect consumer perception?
Product styling significantly impacts consumer perception by influencing how consumers perceive a product’s quality, functionality, and identity. Well-executed styling creates an emotional connection that generates an affinity from the product, even before making the purchase decision. Prospective customers subconsciously gravitate toward expertly styled products that are designed to resonate with what they are looking for, sometimes even over products that are technically more performant. Put simply, customers do not respond well to high-performing products with poor visual appeal.
What industries commonly use product styling services?
Product styling services are utilised across almost every industry creating products meant for end users. This includes but is not limited to consumer electronics, domestic & family products, fashion, automotive, and home goods. Any sector aiming to create visually appealing and consumer-centric products can benefit from these services. Styling is, however, especially important for consumer and professional retail products in any space where there is threat from existing or future competitors or a highly competitive market landscape.
Who should be responsible for the product styling phase?
Product styling is an integral part of the product development process. It influences technical and engineering choices, materials and manufacture methods, and user interfaces, ensuring that the product’s aesthetics align with its functionality.
By considering styling from an early stage, a holistic product can be created that ensures that what the customer wants and needs from the product physically is not sidelined by the pursuit of technical performance. Styling heavily informs later development by forming the guiding foundations for technical development and engineering.
How does product styling integrate with overall product development?
Product styling is an integral part of the product development process. It influences technical and engineering choices, materials and manufacture methods, and user interfaces, ensuring that the product’s aesthetics align with its functionality.
By considering styling from an early stage, a holistic product can be created that ensures that what the customer wants and needs from the product physically is not sidelined by the pursuit of technical performance. Styling heavily informs later development by forming the guiding foundations for technical development and engineering.
Overview of Product Styling
What exactly is Product Styling in Design?
In a nutshell Product Styling is the crafting of a product’s visual appeal by making it not just functional but also aesthetically captivating. It’s the process of shaping how consumers perceive and connect with your product. In product design, styling encompasses everything that affects the user’s perception of the product. This includes deeply understanding your target user’s aspirations and sensibilities to define the shapes, forms and physical architecture of the product, the materials and colours, the visual features, controls, interfaces and indications all the way through to the textures, touchpoints and tactility.
Understanding the Value of Product Styling
Whilst the styling of a product can sometimes feel secondary to ensuring excellent functionality, it in fact plays an equally crucial role in persuading potential customers to purchase your product. Investment in analytical, well considered Product Styling ensures that your product’s looks perfectly match to the desires, tastes and needs of your target consumers to create strong appeal that drives sales, customer satisfaction and lasting affinity with your product and brand.
As an example, a product designed for use in the office (think wall mounted air conditioners, office lighting products etc.) will not fit well in the context of the home and will not appeal to customers buying for their home, likewise a product designed with say, a soft-domestic aesthetic (think Google Home mini/Apple Homepod) is unlikely to be suitable for, or appeal to professional office/business customers.
This is why investing in well considered Styling is so important. It is all about understanding where the product will be used, who the product is for and through which, knowing exactly what it needs to look like to appeal to that market.
How can Investing in Product styling Drives Market Success:
Investing in product styling isn’t just a creative endeavour; it’s a pragmatic and strategic choice that can significantly impact the success of your product and brand. Here’s why:
- Competitive Edge: When consumers are presented with a multitude of choices, exceptional product styling gives you a competitive edge. It allows you to stand out, capturing the attention of potential customers amidst the noise of similar offerings.
- Market Expansion: Product styling enables you to tailor your product to specific markets and customer segments. By understanding the unique preferences and needs of your target audience, you can expand your market reach and appeal to a broader customer base.
- Brand Cohesion: Consistent and well-crafted product styling creates and reinforces brand identity. It ensures that your products not only look good individually but also fit seamlessly into the larger brand aesthetic as you continue to expand.
- Market Resilience: By aligning your product styling with current trends and customer preferences, you ensure that your product remains relevant over time. This adaptability helps your brand weather shifts in the market and changing consumer demands.
- Customer Trust: High-quality, well-styled products build trust with your customers. When your product looks and feels right, it conveys a sense of craftsmanship and attention to detail, instilling confidence in your brand.
Investing in product styling is not just an aesthetic choice; it’s a strategic investment in the long-term success and sustainability of your product and brand. It sets the stage for differentiation, customer connection, and market resilience, making it a pragmatic decision for any business looking to excel in today’s competitive landscape.
Crafting Your Product Styling and Design Language – What’s Included?
Creating the ideal style and design for your product involves a step-by-step process. First, we do in-depth research to understand what’s popular in the market and what people like. This information becomes the basis for how your product will look. We then use moodboards, which are like visual guides with pictures, colours, and textures to show the style we’re aiming for. This helps us make sure we’re all on the same page about how your product should look. Finally, we give you a few different design options to choose from, each one showing a unique way your product could look. You get to pick the one that matches your vision the best.
Flexibility and Refinement
Whilst our product styling phase will lay a strong foundation for the look and feel of your product throughout its development, styling can be expected to evolve and refine as the project progresses. We embrace this flexibility post-styling phase and work closely with you to ensure your vision takes shape as seamlessly as possible. Once the Styling Phase is completed, our iterative design process allows for adjustments and improvements along the way. We value your input and encourage ongoing communication to fine-tune every detail. This collaborative approach ensures that the product styling defined in the Styling Phase is able to adapt and align perfectly with the evolving needs of the project and engineering, but also strongly influences the ongoing design work to keep things on track to success.