There is no simple fix here. Becoming a brand strategist involves a combination of education, experience, and developing specific skills related to branding, marketing, and business strategy.
It doesn’t matter how great the design is, if it isn’t conceptual, it means nothing - Takeaway #1 Takeaway #2 - Strategy is everything. Without strategy, how can you direct great design?
Maybe because i'm a noob to everything, but i believe both is importation, without strategy you've created children drawing, everything design is strategic - but strategy without design is just inspired words, they mean nothing. Strategy is the plan, the thought an idea, design is the physical work that brings those ideas to practice. Neither are interchangeable, and neither has a meaningful existence without the other. Life isn't black and white people, it's not one or the other, life is a shade from black to white.
Man this is so good to see people who are bringing perspective to business besides marketing, its like everywhere I go all I here about is Analytics, or Marketing strategy, never Branding. Now that you bring it up! I see this Branding thing is in it's own league, WOW.... So basically Branding Strategy and Marketing Strategy are of its own like husband and wife, they think differently with different features but go hand in hand, SPECTACULAR GOD BLESS U.
I was looking for something I am passionate about.I tried data scientist, UI UX, and other fields too and finally decided to go for brand strategist. I was looking for a way and this episode gave me everything I needed. Fantastic episode ✨ Thanks 👍
I have watched this about 3 times and it was a bit hard to understand at first, until I payed more attention to the details of what was being said. I now understand the value in this video and now that I have a career in Brand Strategy. It is a bit tasking to strategise especially if you are dealing with a company that is in its renewal state or is extremely not subject to sudden change or a company that is not malleable anymore. You have to love the process and not be there for the money alone. It is the most daunting but interesting opportunity I have ever had. It is possible to be a Brand Strategist without being a Brand Designer.
I'm not even in the creative or designing industry, why am I watching this? Really resonate with the talk and the points were just golden nuggets of wisdom.
As a designer I totally agree with the guy about the first half of the video. Design always have a purpose or something to solve. In order to understand what to solve and how, you need a strategy based on research and data. What I don't like with strategist is that when a project fail because of wrong/manipulated data or wrong assumptions (intuition - as he called it in the video) and understanding of the data they will usualy blame the design or creative direction. I wish you asked him if he ever failed with his strategies and why?
I am doing brand strategy in Quebec, and I am actually doing an MBA in marketing. I did go to university to obtain my design diploma before. And I was asking myself if the MBA was right for me. And thanks for the answer, it actually is! I don't think anyone who became a strategist in Quebec did all the studies you named in the video, and I am proud of making it. It will probably differentiate me from the competition.
"the minute i stop designing gives me more distance" Threw me back to 2011, i realised i was never going to be a hot shot designer but fell in love with getting the best out of designers for my clients. loved this.
OMG Nodding my head all the way through this!! So timely as I'm working on growing my business. Definitely one for the archive - so many gems! Thanks guys
I'm so glad i stumbled upon this interview. I'm a freelancer who's finishing up UI/UX bootcamp and I have a decent amount of experience strategizing with business owners. I actually love communicating, training and planning with clients on what they need. it's probably one of my most favorite things aside from the actual design and coding of any solution.
Love the honest answer that the real struggle is juggling all the clients. Knowing something about so many different types of businesses off the top of your head is definitely challenging!
My favorite part about this is the idea of "Brand Therapy". You see it all the time whenever Chris does a mock client talk with people. He analyzes the "why's" and I think not enough businesses and creatives especially really dive down into the "why's" of making decisions. Lots of amazing content. Happy to start applying things as I grow my career!
Yup, i totally agreed with Chris Do & Fabian explanations that’s a lot of areas that you need to master especially in the areas of business. In Fabian case he has a lots of experience with many years of involvement with the clients and solving business problems. To reach his level, you got to go down to multiple trenches and its not just about creative design.
I am a sustaining member because of this kind of stuff - I had a $12k month in April because of all the info I learnt and implemented from you Chris, Ben, Matthew and all your guests . Buying the Stylescape course was a great investment too. Up-levelling my skill set to include strategy. I still do artwork & design because I love it, but adding that new level has been a game changer. And reading Bigger Than This helped me with a keynote I gave at a business conference recently.
This motivates me again to make something. I came back to re-watch this video and took more notes. I might make a post about it. - What classes would you take ? - Business class - Marketing - Positioning - copywriting - launch a company - experience it yourself and see what's your pain points are. - entrepreneurship - philosophy rhetoric - psychology Notice: none of them are about aesthetic and making. If you want to be a strategist that's where i would begin.
As a Mass Communication- PR Major who is horrendous at graphic design, this gives me some hope for success in a field that has become extremely design focused.
This is a fantastic episode! I can for sure confirm what he's saying about being closer to the client when you are the brand strategist. Their developer ended up bailing on them so the client kept me on to help them find a new person and manage the project because they had spent so much time with me and trusted me to make decisions on their behalf.
40:02 - "the intestinal fortitude" 43:18 - "you should just know enough to be dangerous to hold a conversation with pretty much anyone" 44:13 Chris: "I'm gonna have to get you to answer questions faster if we want more questions..." Fabian: "Quick! YES, NO, YES, NO!" Lots of moments made me laugh heartily or ponder deeply. I'm an English teacher from Russia, but I'm exploring so much new stuff from this channel for myself, and sometimes share this with students. Thank you!
Pausing the video to write this Chris do, you are amazing. The way you frame questions so instantaneously and bring out so much valuable information for the audience to understand the real work that should be put behind to cause impact. The best channel on RUclips which actually creates value. Thank you very much Chris :)
Yes - strategy is key... designers bring strategy to life. They make it a reality. Designers create and build systems that drive content to client/audience accurately/efficiently. I'm not sure how many projects I have worked on where I have had to creatively bring to life "the strategy"... often half baked. That's the values of a good designer. It takes time and experience to be good at your job. Often, I am part strategist but fighting out of my corner because I am "just" a designer. Let's not devalue design. It get's devalued enough.
I love how Chris gave an example on how to incorporate Brand Strategy with Video Creation. It's really interesting the questions you can come up with if you are not attached to the business. The curiosity can unearth hidden or core problems the client couldn't see - and that's why he gets paid the big $$$!
12 minutes into this I hear David Baker's name get casually tossed into the mix. Think I'm in the right place, listening to the right people more than ever!
Hopefully many creatives will watch this and make a decision and ask themselves the question “is brand strategy for me”... and it’s OK if it’s not. It’s totally ok.
isn't that supposed to be the guidance counselor? There are some awesome jokes about guidance counselors and their uselessness. I agree with you that this is SO needed.
Great debate. My take is that anything you create is up for rejection therefor takes some courage to present. Strategy is deeply researched (psychology, marketing, sociology, business etc) directives for an aligned design to delivery with minimal risk of missing meeting the true need / solving the actual problem. Strategy steers the ship and is a craft unto itself (also includes facilitation and other team skills) and therefore risks on behalf of so many. It can be a thankless job, as all leadership positions are. In that light, Strategy is a call for a lot of courage, emotional intelligence and discipline. I learned most from business, cultural anthropology, communications, marketing including copywriting and semiotics. Most useful daily resources are practical psychology and storytelling.
@@thefutur Thank you for your response, may I also ask how is it possible? Because I'm not saying I'm the best graphic designer nor art director and I'm having a lot of feedback saying that I have no focus and there's just too many things I want to do.
They are often intertwined; you may not be 'amazing' at all three but being really good at brand strategy sets you up to be a good advertiser and design may be the foundation that gets you there. I am not saying I consider myself belonging to that rare species you describe, but then again I am not not saying that either : )
@@FabianGeyrhalter Thank you for your opinion on this! I really appreciate it. I've just been told a lot by industry professionals here in my country that I need to find a focus and work on it instead. I've recently been very into brand strategy as I am learning how to build brands as a side job while studying. I realised how fun it is to understand deeper a group of people as well as an individual and of course the stakeholders involved. Thank you to you and Chris Do this video was very enlightening and inspiring!
This has been so incredibly clarifying for my personal experience of going through art school and working as a designer. Thank you all so much for this!
You two have a great dynamic. I was so stuck because I couldn't figure out how to merge my Left brain with my Right brain but this video gave me some great insight.
Absolutely amazing ! I feel like this is what I always wanted to do and everyone around me kept telling me it was not possible and that to do it I had to work in a given field for a long time and then when I would get old from gathering experience I could do this type of work. I feel like the most important part in this type of work is good pattern recognition and analysis in complex and multilayered environments as well as good ability to mentally dissossiate to see the bigger picture, in which you can clearly perceive the path from starting point to desired end result. These are all thing that come so naturally to me that I didn't even use to value them, because I thought it was just how everyone thaugh. This resonated with me deeply and I definitely want to learn more from Fabian and hopefully do the sort of work that he does, which shapes the world around us.
Hello Fab and Chris! Das war doch lustig! I am Greek, but so happy to hear mentions to one of my favorite countries in the world! And about brand strategy, I am convinced. I came long way from engineering to UX design and I always took pride in being able to write, code and draw. But now I realise that I should take pride in the impact I leave on my clients, in my ability to built relationships and be in a "flow" with them. I am gonna pivot tomorrow already!
Most successful brand strategist or consultancies seem to be good designers. I believe a designer with business knowledge makes a great brand strategist. If you are a designer you on the right path I'm sure.
Apparently this resonated b/c I bought the book a year ago when you had him on! It must be time to revisit. Great episode, Fab has really reignited my love for brand strategy, and his simple roadmap for making it your career is great.
Design is implementation of strategy, otherwise it is not design. Designed to do what? Express an aesthetic only? This is art. If it has no business focus, it is not customer focused, then it is not design, but if it does, then it must be following a strategy.
I feel so lefting behind because I'm watching this after 3 years of its release, but overall I wish that I'll keep discovering more things make me feel like that in the "futur", so THANKS A LOT GUYS, I really love you ❤
Wow, I m not from Designer or Brand Strategists but I believe it can help me to understand something which may help in future to exploring my own personality. Thanks 🙏
This is fun I got to say. Love to go after these types of thought processes :D so here I go. Please be critical, give advice, if you disagree. I mean it's basic logic if we think what design is because design can't even exist without strategy. If design has no strategy then it's not design, then it is styling. Styling can also be done as an order while art can also be done without anyone ordering it. Let's not confuse styling with design and vice versa. Styling is about visualising one or multiple styles in a new context. Design is translating a problems solution (strategy) into a tangible outcome. Design is not limited by styling, it incorporates fields that have nothing to do with style. Design only uses styling when strategy involves the benefits of cultural norms. If it does not then the style of the tangible has no importance in design (it can be whatever) as long as the outcome reflects the strategy.
This is a great video for those in College/Art school currently. I am 3 years out, with a Bachelors in Art Education and I currently teach High School Art within an inner city district. I have been following this channel for a while , and am really interested in possibly doing a slow career shift towards becoming something of a brand strategist. I just dont know where to quite start, should I go back to school/take evening classes of the courses mentioned in the video? I also have no graphic design background, but t'was mentioned that is not important for the specific position. This video has a lot of great information, but I am just not quite sure where to even start! I love teaching, but the way education is going especially at the k-12 level - its a spooky sight - and I would like to plan for my 'futur'. I see doing something like this and loving it as well.
Well since no one answered, I'll give you my input and you can choose to take it or leave it. If I were you I would study (either through online courses or night college courses) the fundamentals of Graphic design and as Chris said, you'll want some business, marketing, psychology, and entrepreneurship courses as well. Understanding the business side of things will help to identify what a client (business) is lacking, Psychology and marketing will help you to identify those who are actually buying in as well as communicate with your client effectively, your graphic design knowledge will help you to be able to communicate with the designers that carry out the work, identify weaknesses and strengths in the design work. Entrepreneurship ( with a mix of sales/business and psychology) will help you to run your sidehustle/business profitably to the point where you are making enough to hire people to delegate the work to that are professionals and grow as you want from there. In short, build your foundation*, Seek out and "consume" high-quality content**, market to the people who you are trying to work with. *Sales, marketing, graphic design, business, psychology, entrepreneurship **You have to "build your palate" so you can recognize not only that it is great work but WHY it is great work and on top of that being able to identify weaknesses in that great work as well...we all have flaws and the work we create is not exempt. Good Luck!
Awesome!!!!.....every designer must become the strategist of the job they are to undertake...how can we offer solutions without strategy?...it's just common sense!!!....great show time and again Chris!....thank you for your precious time and lessons!
Great interview. I agree, the hard part is leading everyone to one conclusion that hasn't even happened yet. It's like being a dream seller. It really comes down to trust and credibility. If you don't hit a home run the first time, how do you continue to manage those expectations and trust with the client?
I know it's too late but the classes he named are actually available at business school in business/marketing programs. They aren't part of art school. As a senior Marketing student in business school, I'm learning all those things which Chris has named.
I'm studying in an Asian university "Indus University" affiliated with some unis in UK and Turkey. Classes are Consumer Behavior (all psych stuff), Marketing Principles, Brand Management, Sociology & Psychology, Ethics, Business Communications (includes copywriting, content writing) etc. These are super helpful courses to learn about overall marketing and specifically brand strategy.
my background is graphic design. Before I did my Master's degree in communication, I didn't think about being a brand strategist, working with data and have a strategic approach.
This convo has been soooo inspiring!! Lots of Golden Nuggets from Fabian to write down. I've been pausing and writing notes the entire video!! I've been running a small creative agency for a while and in the last three years or so, I have become more of a brand designer. Recently, I have really fallen in love with the strategy side of that process. What is the biggest piece of advice for someone that wants to make that transition from Agency Owner/Brand Designer to the single focus of being a Brand Strategist?
We need more brand strategy content once in a while.
There is no simple fix here. Becoming a brand strategist involves a combination of education, experience, and developing specific skills related to branding, marketing, and business strategy.
"There is no reason to have design if there's no strategy" I concur!
100% agree. Design without function, without strategy, without a purpose - is just art.
I really believe that even art must have a purpose - why do people like certain paintings? Maybe they solve some emotional needs by looking at them.
Well no. Art must have a story too. Otherwise it's decoration. You mean decoration.
Definitely not. It's just eye candy
I hope the girl sued this clown, for destroying property. THAT would be strategy.
Sue him over damaging property with no monetary value, good luck with that!
It doesn’t matter how great the design is, if it isn’t conceptual, it means nothing - Takeaway #1
Takeaway #2 - Strategy is everything. Without strategy, how can you direct great design?
Unique Designz - The Brand Doctor, Henry Kaminski Jr. Hey Henry, how much of what you do is strategic Vs delivering design ?
unless its art
Maybe because i'm a noob to everything, but i believe both is importation, without strategy you've created children drawing, everything design is strategic - but strategy without design is just inspired words, they mean nothing. Strategy is the plan, the thought an idea, design is the physical work that brings those ideas to practice. Neither are interchangeable, and neither has a meaningful existence without the other. Life isn't black and white people, it's not one or the other, life is a shade from black to white.
I can't´decide if I'm learning about design, or branding or storytelling, but this is blowing my mind!!
So true. The ego battle of a designer is nightmare.
Watching Futur Videos now for straight 4 hours and 35 minutes. So much value. I'm glad I found this channel. Thank you so much.
Thank you 🙏
Man this is so good to see people who are bringing perspective to business besides marketing, its like everywhere I go all I here about is Analytics, or Marketing strategy, never Branding. Now that you bring it up! I see this Branding thing is in it's own league, WOW.... So basically Branding Strategy and Marketing Strategy are of its own like husband and wife, they think differently with different features but go hand in hand, SPECTACULAR GOD BLESS U.
I was looking for something I am passionate about.I tried data scientist, UI UX, and other fields too and finally decided to go for brand strategist. I was looking for a way and this episode gave me everything I needed. Fantastic episode ✨ Thanks 👍
I have watched this about 3 times and it was a bit hard to understand at first, until I payed more attention to the details of what was being said. I now understand the value in this video and now that I have a career in Brand Strategy. It is a bit tasking to strategise especially if you are dealing with a company that is in its renewal state or is extremely not subject to sudden change or a company that is not malleable anymore. You have to love the process and not be there for the money alone. It is the most daunting but interesting opportunity I have ever had. It is possible to be a Brand Strategist without being a Brand Designer.
Glad to hear
I'm not even in the creative or designing industry, why am I watching this? Really resonate with the talk and the points were just golden nuggets of wisdom.
“Know your buyers are, and create something that they would value.”
As a designer I totally agree with the guy about the first half of the video. Design always have a purpose or something to solve. In order to understand what to solve and how, you need a strategy based on research and data. What I don't like with strategist is that when a project fail because of wrong/manipulated data or wrong assumptions (intuition - as he called it in the video) and understanding of the data they will usualy blame the design or creative direction. I wish you asked him if he ever failed with his strategies and why?
I am doing brand strategy in Quebec, and I am actually doing an MBA in marketing. I did go to university to obtain my design diploma before. And I was asking myself if the MBA was right for me. And thanks for the answer, it actually is! I don't think anyone who became a strategist in Quebec did all the studies you named in the video, and I am proud of making it. It will probably differentiate me from the competition.
It's a game, you get better with time. Know your game, PRACTICE, be good, and win. PERIOD.
"the minute i stop designing gives me more distance" Threw me back to 2011, i realised i was never going to be a hot shot designer but fell in love with getting the best out of designers for my clients. loved this.
Siddaraiya yessss!
I haven't felt Chris enjoy this much ever! So nice to seem him vibe with his friends
Right on time. Just when I'm rebranding as a creative and brand strategist with a specialization in mass media.
Second time listening to Fabian. First time I listened to him, he made me loathe pixel pushing and inspired me to start my own consulting firm.
Wow, I hope it was the right decision. Great to hear that I had such an impact on you. What will the second time listening bring, I wonder…
OMG Nodding my head all the way through this!! So timely as I'm working on growing my business. Definitely one for the archive - so many gems! Thanks guys
I'm so glad i stumbled upon this interview. I'm a freelancer who's finishing up UI/UX bootcamp and I have a decent amount of experience strategizing with business owners. I actually love communicating, training and planning with clients on what they need. it's probably one of my most favorite things aside from the actual design and coding of any solution.
Love the honest answer that the real struggle is juggling all the clients. Knowing something about so many different types of businesses off the top of your head is definitely challenging!
"do you need to be a good designer to be a good strategist" I was very glad to hear Fabian say no.
My favorite part about this is the idea of "Brand Therapy". You see it all the time whenever Chris does a mock client talk with people. He analyzes the "why's" and I think not enough businesses and creatives especially really dive down into the "why's" of making decisions. Lots of amazing content. Happy to start applying things as I grow my career!
Yup, i totally agreed with Chris Do & Fabian explanations that’s a lot of areas that you need to master especially in the areas of business. In Fabian case he has a lots of experience with many years of involvement with the clients and solving business problems. To reach his level, you got to go down to multiple trenches and its not just about creative design.
The fact explained by Fabian that Branding strategy can be done intuitively blew my mind.
I am a sustaining member because of this kind of stuff - I had a $12k month in April because of all the info I learnt and implemented from you Chris, Ben, Matthew and all your guests . Buying the Stylescape course was a great investment too. Up-levelling my skill set to include strategy. I still do artwork & design because I love it, but adding that new level has been a game changer. And reading Bigger Than This helped me with a keynote I gave at a business conference recently.
Wow. Congrats!! Thank you for your support.
This motivates me again to make something. I came back to re-watch this video and took more notes. I might make a post about it.
- What classes would you take ?
- Business class
- Marketing
- Positioning
- copywriting
- launch a company
- experience it yourself and see what's your pain points are.
- entrepreneurship
- philosophy rhetoric
- psychology
Notice: none of them are about aesthetic and making.
If you want to be a strategist that's where i would begin.
Philosophy would be a great start
Imagination would be the best start
"Strategy will compensate for talent. But talent will never compensate for strategy." -Marco Pierre White, British chef
As a Mass Communication- PR Major who is horrendous at graphic design, this gives me some hope for success in a field that has become extremely design focused.
Take away-
When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.
Dalai Lama
Design is courage as long as you find a client who's willing to risk their entire business on your emotions
This is a fantastic episode! I can for sure confirm what he's saying about being closer to the client when you are the brand strategist. Their developer ended up bailing on them so the client kept me on to help them find a new person and manage the project because they had spent so much time with me and trusted me to make decisions on their behalf.
40:02 - "the intestinal fortitude"
43:18 - "you should just know enough to be
dangerous to hold a conversation with pretty much anyone"
44:13 Chris: "I'm gonna have to get
you to answer questions faster if we want more questions..."
Fabian: "Quick! YES, NO, YES, NO!"
Lots of moments made me laugh heartily or ponder deeply. I'm an English teacher from Russia, but I'm exploring so much new stuff from this channel for myself, and sometimes share this with students. Thank you!
Thank you. Welcome to the Futur
Pausing the video to write this
Chris do, you are amazing. The way you frame questions so instantaneously and bring out so much valuable information for the audience to understand the real work that should be put behind to cause impact.
The best channel on RUclips which actually creates value. Thank you very much Chris :)
Thank you very much
Yes - strategy is key... designers bring strategy to life. They make it a reality. Designers create and build systems that drive content to client/audience accurately/efficiently. I'm not sure how many projects I have worked on where I have had to creatively bring to life "the strategy"... often half baked. That's the values of a good designer. It takes time and experience to be good at your job. Often, I am part strategist but fighting out of my corner because I am "just" a designer. Let's not devalue design. It get's devalued enough.
I love how Chris gave an example on how to incorporate Brand Strategy with Video Creation. It's really interesting the questions you can come up with if you are not attached to the business. The curiosity can unearth hidden or core problems the client couldn't see - and that's why he gets paid the big $$$!
Never have i received so much value in such a short period of time.
Wow - thank you, that's really great to hear!
@@FabianGeyrhalter It took one person, no thank you !
One of my favourite Live Shows so far. I instantly love Fabien!
He’s very lovable.
If there is a problem, there must be a strategy to solve it. Creativity alone won't be enough.
12 minutes into this I hear David Baker's name get casually tossed into the mix. Think I'm in the right place, listening to the right people more than ever!
Absolutely
Great guest, performed well under Chris’s pressure
Tried to hang in there ; ) Thanks!
I genuinely enjoyed the bants between you two. Loved this session. love from Lagos, Nigeria
This is most clear video I’ve ever seen on RUclips..
Hopefully many creatives will watch this and make a decision and ask themselves the question “is brand strategy for me”... and it’s OK if it’s not. It’s totally ok.
Right.
I'm in love with this channel. A gold mine for brand people. Thank you for the contents.
I wish every high school and college in the US had a career psychologist for students
isn't that supposed to be the guidance counselor? There are some awesome jokes about guidance counselors and their uselessness. I agree with you that this is SO needed.
Amazing content. Loved the guest.
Thank you!
Great debate. My take is that anything you create is up for rejection therefor takes some courage to present. Strategy is deeply researched (psychology, marketing, sociology, business etc) directives for an aligned design to delivery with minimal risk of missing meeting the true need / solving the actual problem. Strategy steers the ship and is a craft unto itself (also includes facilitation and other team skills) and therefore risks on behalf of so many. It can be a thankless job, as all leadership positions are. In that light, Strategy is a call for a lot of courage, emotional intelligence and discipline. I learned most from business, cultural anthropology, communications, marketing including copywriting and semiotics. Most useful daily resources are practical psychology and storytelling.
Is it possible to be an amazing graphic designer, advertiser and brand strategist simultaneously? Someone like a really amazing and versatile genius
Yes. Why not?
@@thefutur Thank you for your response, may I also ask how is it possible? Because I'm not saying I'm the best graphic designer nor art director and I'm having a lot of feedback saying that I have no focus and there's just too many things I want to do.
They are often intertwined; you may not be 'amazing' at all three but being really good at brand strategy sets you up to be a good advertiser and design may be the foundation that gets you there. I am not saying I consider myself belonging to that rare species you describe, but then again I am not not saying that either : )
@@FabianGeyrhalter Thank you for your opinion on this! I really appreciate it. I've just been told a lot by industry professionals here in my country that I need to find a focus and work on it instead. I've recently been very into brand strategy as I am learning how to build brands as a side job while studying. I realised how fun it is to understand deeper a group of people as well as an individual and of course the stakeholders involved. Thank you to you and Chris Do this video was very enlightening and inspiring!
This has been so incredibly clarifying for my personal experience of going through art school and working as a designer. Thank you all so much for this!
This session is super motivating and eye opening to help growing my brand. Thanks to Chris Do and Team Futur... Shout out from Nigeria, Africa.
Hello Nigeria
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
I really appreciate you guys for doing this and giving me a good look into the Brand Strategist world.
You two have a great dynamic. I was so stuck because I couldn't figure out how to merge my Left brain with my Right brain but this video gave me some great insight.
This really resonated with me.
One of the videos I was completely immersed into and never had an impulse to switch to some other thing.
Awesome!!
This was one of the best interviews I have ever watched. Thank you!
Thank you!
This was so perfect, I feel like he is literally describing me & the value I can provide! Thank you!
Absolutely amazing !
I feel like this is what I always wanted to do and everyone around me kept telling me it was not possible and that to do it I had to work in a given field for a long time and then when I would get old from gathering experience I could do this type of work.
I feel like the most important part in this type of work is good pattern recognition and analysis in complex and multilayered environments as well as good ability to mentally dissossiate to see the bigger picture, in which you can clearly perceive the path from starting point to desired end result. These are all thing that come so naturally to me that I didn't even use to value them, because I thought it was just how everyone thaugh.
This resonated with me deeply and I definitely want to learn more from Fabian and hopefully do the sort of work that he does, which shapes the world around us.
This video is a GEM ❤ Fabian is spitting fact after fact. I need to rewatch and take notes. Thanks and Greetings from Fabians hometown Vienna 😊
Vielen Dank und LG🙌🏻
I understand why you need to pull yourself back from your creative to see it clearly. Thanks.
What a teaching. I'm really looking forward for more talks like this.
Hello Fab and Chris! Das war doch lustig! I am Greek, but so happy to hear mentions to one of my favorite countries in the world! And about brand strategy, I am convinced. I came long way from engineering to UX design and I always took pride in being able to write, code and draw. But now I realise that I should take pride in the impact I leave on my clients, in my ability to built relationships and be in a "flow" with them. I am gonna pivot tomorrow already!
I like the lighting in these videos. Also, he's backstory is speaking directly into my soul.
What an authentic talk!
Design follows function, in this case, strategy.
Most successful brand strategist or consultancies seem to be good designers. I believe a designer with business knowledge makes a great brand strategist. If you are a designer you on the right path I'm sure.
Apparently this resonated b/c I bought the book a year ago when you had him on! It must be time to revisit. Great episode, Fab has really reignited my love for brand strategy, and his simple roadmap for making it your career is great.
Context to understanding, designers are like cooks while strategist is chef in restaurant, latter get paid more and respected.
Fabian should be more on The Futur! Love it
Yesterday i watched this podcast and it really helped me and opened my eyes, thank you so much ✌️✌️
Design is implementation of strategy, otherwise it is not design. Designed to do what? Express an aesthetic only? This is art. If it has no business focus, it is not customer focused, then it is not design, but if it does, then it must be following a strategy.
i feel totally blessed every time i tune in to your show man
I like how Fabian says “design” and “designer” in his accent!
You're welcome ; )
I love the insight this channel delivers
Best video i’ve ever watched on RUclips
Designers are mere stylists. They need a good brief to submit work that serves the client properly. Brand strategy is what creates that brief.
Shots fired! This is how Tupac and Biggie started.
I wonder who they were talking about
His ad played just before this video. I totally heard the German accent!!! Grias di Fabian.
Haha
Yeah I recorded that ad in like 5 minutes and it clearly shows ; ) Grias di!
I feel so lefting behind because I'm watching this after 3 years of its release, but overall I wish that I'll keep discovering more things make me feel like that in the "futur", so THANKS A LOT GUYS, I really love you ❤
You’re very welcome
Wow, I m not from Designer or Brand Strategists but I believe it can help me to understand something which may help in future to exploring my own personality. Thanks 🙏
Another video of pure gold!
This was a really fun one to watch, I couldn't drag myself away for a moment!
I didn't know I needed this.
Man sakes alive. German American here, and this SOUNDS LIKE ME. I think I'm a brand strategy GENIUS. ...and humble. ;)
My favorite interview. Grabbed so much from this.
My 2nd favorite has been the Hoodtzpah twins
Thank you, those are big words based on the amazing content The Futur team is putting out there!
Such a great lesson. Thank you for that! And I bought 3 books already and omg... Fabian's glance... I love it :D
Thank you, Weronika ; )
He is dreamy.
Graphic design works within the strategic policy and corporate identity. It's the visual communication of the strategy. Both shouldn't be arbitrary.
This is fun I got to say. Love to go after these types of thought processes :D so here I go. Please be critical, give advice, if you disagree.
I mean it's basic logic if we think what design is because design can't even exist without strategy. If design has no strategy then it's not design, then it is styling. Styling can also be done as an order while art can also be done without anyone ordering it.
Let's not confuse styling with design and vice versa. Styling is about visualising one or multiple styles in a new context. Design is translating a problems solution (strategy) into a tangible outcome. Design is not limited by styling, it incorporates fields that have nothing to do with style. Design only uses styling when strategy involves the benefits of cultural norms. If it does not then the style of the tangible has no importance in design (it can be whatever) as long as the outcome reflects the strategy.
Whether you design or you're a strategist- there's always the intention behind both - so pretty much apples and oranges at this point for me.
This is a great video for those in College/Art school currently. I am 3 years out, with a Bachelors in Art Education and I currently teach High School Art within an inner city district. I have been following this channel for a while , and am really interested in possibly doing a slow career shift towards becoming something of a brand strategist. I just dont know where to quite start, should I go back to school/take evening classes of the courses mentioned in the video? I also have no graphic design background, but t'was mentioned that is not important for the specific position. This video has a lot of great information, but I am just not quite sure where to even start!
I love teaching, but the way education is going especially at the k-12 level - its a spooky sight - and I would like to plan for my 'futur'. I see doing something like this and loving it as well.
Well since no one answered, I'll give you my input and you can choose to take it or leave it.
If I were you I would study (either through online courses or night college courses) the fundamentals of Graphic design and as Chris said, you'll want some business, marketing, psychology, and entrepreneurship courses as well. Understanding the business side of things will help to identify what a client (business) is lacking, Psychology and marketing will help you to identify those who are actually buying in as well as communicate with your client effectively, your graphic design knowledge will help you to be able to communicate with the designers that carry out the work, identify weaknesses and strengths in the design work. Entrepreneurship ( with a mix of sales/business and psychology) will help you to run your sidehustle/business profitably to the point where you are making enough to hire people to delegate the work to that are professionals and grow as you want from there.
In short, build your foundation*, Seek out and "consume" high-quality content**, market to the people who you are trying to work with.
*Sales, marketing, graphic design, business, psychology, entrepreneurship
**You have to "build your palate" so you can recognize not only that it is great work but WHY it is great work and on top of that being able to identify weaknesses in that great work as well...we all have flaws and the work we create is not exempt.
Good Luck!
How come The Futur is dropping so much gold lately? Maybe it's been going on since forever and I'm just starting to notice. 10/10
Started listening... ;-)
Awesome!!!!.....every designer must become the strategist of the job they are to undertake...how can we offer solutions without strategy?...it's just common sense!!!....great show time and again Chris!....thank you for your precious time and lessons!
Great interview. I agree, the hard part is leading everyone to one conclusion that hasn't even happened yet. It's like being a dream seller. It really comes down to trust and credibility. If you don't hit a home run the first time, how do you continue to manage those expectations and trust with the client?
I would not call it a home run, if you approach it systematically it's the small wins that keep counting up to success.
I know it's too late but the classes he named are actually available at business school in business/marketing programs. They aren't part of art school. As a senior Marketing student in business school, I'm learning all those things which Chris has named.
Which school? What’s the name of your classes?
I'm studying in an Asian university "Indus University" affiliated with some unis in UK and Turkey. Classes are Consumer Behavior (all psych stuff), Marketing Principles, Brand Management, Sociology & Psychology, Ethics, Business Communications (includes copywriting, content writing) etc. These are super helpful courses to learn about overall marketing and specifically brand strategy.
We learned a lot in consumer behavior specially lot of positioning stuff! STP analysis, perceptual mapping etc. It was a very useful plus fun class.
I'm sure you won't guess what i like the most watching a video on The Futur channel! 😉
I still have a book reference. Thanks to all the team.
my background is graphic design. Before I did my Master's degree in communication, I didn't think about being a brand strategist, working with data and have a strategic approach.
Thank you Chris and Fabien! Massive value!
Design solves the problem, strategy identifies it.
Design is definitely courage, but only if the client adopts the solution
This convo has been soooo inspiring!! Lots of Golden Nuggets from Fabian to write down. I've been pausing and writing notes the entire video!! I've been running a small creative agency for a while and in the last three years or so, I have become more of a brand designer. Recently, I have really fallen in love with the strategy side of that process. What is the biggest piece of advice for someone that wants to make that transition from Agency Owner/Brand Designer to the single focus of being a Brand Strategist?