Although weâve mentioned brands throughout this webinar series, this week we took a deep dive into what makes your brand human. Enjoy our fourth installment of Online Optimismâs âHumanizing Your Brandâ webinar series to learn just what it takes to give your brand that personal touch that will build awareness and trust with your audience. This week we presented our two guest speakers: LaVon Lewis and Sherrod Shackelford of Connect, an Atlanta-based marketing and branding agency along with Juan Pablo Madrid, Online Optimismâs Design Director.Â
To begin, we hear from LaVonm , who serves as Co-Founder, President, and Creative Director of Connect, and Sherrod, Co-Founder, CEO, and Strategic Architect of Connect Branding & Marketing. With over 50 awards under their belts, LaVon and Sherrod are experts in the intersection of design, technology, and branding. After introductions, they discussed their approach to branding businesses, which relies on acknowledging two facets of all businesses harp on: What they sell and the feeling it gives consumers.Â
After that, Juan Pablo, who spearheads all design, animation, and website projects at Online Optimism, took over the second half of the episode. JP joined us this week to discuss how a more humanized brand can be achieved through emotional design. Most modern creativity is dictated by a standard of conformity, a cycle which JP explained can be broken through means of emotional design. Whether itâs a small condolence acknowledging user emotions or design functions that mimic human behavior, emotional design plays a large, yet often subconscious, role in how we relate to brands.Â
Watch until the Q&A portion of this weekâs episode to find out LaVon, Sherrod, and JPâs opinions on topics from favorite brands to more accessible design.