On Objects Of Desire & Emotional Design | Conclusions

“Desire is an expression of individuality, our free choice, our preferences of our identity… Pleasure and connection are rooted on desire. Desire represents adventure, novelty, mystery, risk, danger, unknown, surprise, journey and travel.” – Esther Perel, 2013.

The creation of brands, as objects of desire is a complex human-centric process that needs to consider people’s needs, aspirations, lifestyles and desires.

The understanding of what inspires and connects emotionally with a specific demographic is relevant in the creation of desire and the decision-making process for the inclusion of features that trigger emotional responses. As audiences vary from project to project, the understanding of different group’s needs varies accordingly.

In this research, I discovered that the ultimate goal is to create objects of significant value that display characteristics that are not only aligned to a specific system of personal beliefs but they can also add something relevant to people’s lives. For instance, an object of desire can be a channel through which people let others know about their success and achievements, – as it happens in the case of Origins Southland Reserve whisky. Alternatively, these objects can have a more intimate and personal relationship such as creating a moment of connection with another person – in the act of giving, as it’s Bloom Crafted Floristry’s case. These objects can also provide a personal escape from the world, a lifetime experience that transcends from anything else a person has done in his or her life. In this case, the object of desire becomes a “dream come true”, a fantasy that can only happen in the mind but becomes a real life experience; such as the case of Startling Aerospace Corporation with its space tourism destination.

Let’s break it down case by case:

ORIGINS SOUTHLAND RESERVE

Origins, a single malt whisky that marks the beginning of a new era, connects emotionally because it appeals to an elite lifestyle. The lifestyle many people aspire to achieve.

The fact that it “marks the beginning of a new era” can symbolize and create an emotional connection with a personal belief such as “the beginning of a new success” or a new step in life. It can represent the beginning of where a young entrepreneurial man wants to position himself.

This whisky appeals to the Reptilian brain, the one that governs the instincts, in its aesthetic value, elegant shapes and sober colours. It displays qualities of youth, success, pride and achievement.

In the Neo-mammalian part of the brain, Origins creates meaning by telling a captivating story of mystery –“star-like” hidden gold in each bottle – that is made true in its elements such as the constellations pattern, the gold fabric and printing finish on the bottle as well as elements associated with the packaging such as the opening mechanism as a means of discovery.

The emotional value increases when the whisky becomes a limited edition, which provides men with access to an exclusive invitation-only members group.

In this whisky, the behavioural value, which is governed by the Mammalian part of the brain, represents the bottom line of the object, its performance. This is the liquid contained in the bottle. And it is valuable because the whisky itself is smooth, of a high quality and has unique flavour notes.

BLOOM

Bloom’s case is one of subtle love and care. It is not loud in its emotional value or appeal since its aesthetics is humble and soft, yet it delivers a strong emotional connection when the brand is experienced. And it is in the act of giving itself that this brand is best experienced.

This brand is built upon the concepts of organic materials, handcrafted gifts, artistic expression and connection with nature.

Bloom’s brand displays characteristics of storytelling rooted in a personal story as it is an extension of the person who created the brand, Violeta Azuzena, the owner. Violeta is a person who cares about people and finds herself in nature. Giving and receiving is part of her life and through flowers and crafting gifts and flower arrangements she fulfils her desire to share a positive outlook with people.

This brand lives in its small expressions such as gift tags where people can create a personalized message, organic wrapping materials neutral in colour to allow the colour of the flowers to take over and express its beauty.

This brand appeals at a visceral level (Reptilian brain) in emotional design through its most expressive feature, its typography. The typeface reveals a personal and expressive value, which adds to the aesthetic appeal of the brand identity.

The functional or behavioural aspects (Mammalian brain) of this brand are the flowers themselves. They are unique, artistic flower arrangements with a refined taste for flower selection based on the meaning of flowers and their unique personality, to suit specific moments in life.

The reflective aspects that create meaning (Neo-mamalian brain) rely on expressions such as the personalized messages and inspirational quotes part of the brand.

STARTLING AEROSPACE CORPORATION

Startling Aerospace is a dream come true. It represents the dream that has been latent in humanity’s collective memory, the dream of spaceflight, exploration and discovery.

The emotional connection of this brand has been built upon the pioneering spirit of few brave New Zealanders that have change paradigms of what is possible to achieve and what is not. It is a brand of possibilities, of unique experiences and bravery.

Jean Batten, New Zealand’s icon of the most important aviatrix is an expression of all Startling Aerospace’s values, as well as its vision. This woman embodies all desirable aspects of the brand through the story she wrote in her life by breaking several solo-flight records and doing something that many didn’t achieve. She is an example of determination, confidence, exploration and achievement. Jean Batten connects the brand to its New Zealand’s roots and the pioneering and resourceful spirit that characterizes kiwi ingenuity.

At a visceral level, this brand utilizes a clean aesthetic with its muted backgrounds in duo tone. The instinctive reactions to this brands take place with the visual connection to elements such as graphs and high-technology visual language. The use of colour and typographic treatment plays an important role in this process.

At a reflective level and the creation of meaning, the use of two main corporate colours reflects the seriousness of this business and provides a level of reliability characteristic of corporate brands. The use of imagery such as the outer space, white clouds, Jean Batten’s portrait, the female pilot in a confident pose and the child playing with an aircraft, is important to convey optimistic messages with positive meaning and trust.

The behavioural level of the brand, the one that is concerned with the brands performance, is addressed in the creation of a spaceflight programme that is affordable, well planned, allows multiple space travel experiences and provides a quality and dedicated customer service and support. Features such as the website and different apps to help future space tourist to plan their trips and find more information about the experience reinforces the performance and delivery of the brand.

FINAL WORDS

The creation of objects of desire relies in the right combination of the characteristics that make objects desirable such as storytelling, brand personality, authenticity, aesthetics, lifestyle, scarcity, emotional connection and performance.

Objects of desire have value. It is the designer who creates the brand value based on the authenticity of the brand story and performance. The ability of objects of desire to trigger emotional responses lies on their emotional appeal to people’s brain/heart and creation of meaningful connections based on self-expression and social expression.