Branding Masterclass for AI FoundersㅣSmith & Diction

Key Concepts

• Branding: How people perceive a company or product, encompassing design, messaging, and customer experience.
• Verbal Identity: The words, tone, and personality a brand uses to communicate externally.
• Copywriting: Crafting words to evoke emotion and drive action, going beyond simply conveying information.
• Emotional Connection: Creating a feeling or resonance with the audience through branding and copywriting.
• Differentiation: Identifying unique aspects of a brand to stand out in a crowded market.
• Design Ethos: The underlying principles and values that guide the design process.

Branding: Beyond Logo, Type, and Color

• Definition: Brand is simply how people see you. It exists whether you actively invest in it or not. Even a simple bagel shop with a Sharpie-drawn logo on a paper bag conveys a brand message.
• Control: The goal is to understand and control your brand, rather than letting the audience define it for you.
• Living Brand: Branding is not a one-time purchase but a continuous process. Every interaction, from customer service to product experience, shapes the brand.
• Emotional Connection: A good brand becomes part of people's lives, something they want to associate with, like a sticker on their laptop.
• Beyond Transactional: Branding should aim to create a lasting connection, making the brand part of the customer's mental ecosystem.
• Respect for Attention: When "invading people's lives" with a product, respect their attention by creating a brand that improves their experience.
• Mistakes: A common mistake is thinking that branding is just logo, type, and color. It's much deeper, involving photography, art direction, and movement.
• Shallow Brand: A shallow brand relies heavily on the product being impeccable, which is a dangerous territory.

Verbal Identity: Tone and Personality

• Definition: Verbal identity is all the words that you use to communicate externally.
• Purpose: It defines the tone, personality, and core messaging of the brand.
• Dynamic: Unlike design elements like logos, words change frequently, requiring a consistent tone.
• Guidance: A verbal identity sets the tone for future writing, ensuring all communication feels on-brand.
• Example: Gamma: The verbal identity for Gamma was rooted in the idea of "get your ideas out there," with a tone that was imaginative and fun.
• Example: Contra: Contra, a platform for freelancers, required a verbal identity that appealed to both freelancers and those hiring them, using the concept of "get more creative."

Copywriting: Evoking Emotion

• Fine Copy vs. Good Copy: The main difference is the emotion it evokes.
• Beyond Information: Bad copywriting stops at conveying information, while good copywriting makes people feel something.
• Storytelling: Copywriting should be approached from a storytelling or cinematic perspective, creating an emotional connection.
• Relevance: People read when it makes them feel something, not just when it's informative.
• AI Advantage: Human copywriters have an advantage over AI because they can write with genuine emotion.
• Advice: "Write with your heart" and put as much emotion as possible into your writing.
• Common Mistake: Writing exactly what you want people to do, instead of making them want to do it.
• AI Space Example: Ads in the AI space often focus on efficiency, which is not an emotion that resonates with people.

Case Studies

• Perplexity: The challenge was to appeal to everyone. The key differentiator was citations, turning the AI experience into a portal to knowledge. The headline became "Where knowledge begins."
• Gamma: Identifying the target audience (e.g., educators) and understanding their needs helped create relevant messaging.
• Exposure: The logo is a globe with a star in it.

Design Process and Ethos

• Logo Design: Push designs to extremes, then simplify. Aim for a 10% "strange" element to make them unique.
• Color: Think deeply about color, considering light and dark modes, and finding exciting combinations.
• Print Ethos: Bring a print-making sensibility to design, focusing on creating something people want to hang on their walls.
• Learning from Failure: Embrace mistakes as a learning opportunity.
• Reinvention: Aim to reinvent, not just collage existing ideas.

Smith & Diction: Studio Philosophy

• Small Team: Intentionally small team to maintain direct involvement of founders in all projects.
• Design-Focused: Minimize meetings and administrative tasks to allow designers to focus on their craft.
• Non-Scalable: The goal is not to become a large company, but to remain small and continue doing the work.
• Design for Good: Inspired by Charity Water, the studio aims to use design to make a positive impact on the world.
• No Backup Plan: A commitment to design as a lifelong pursuit.

Conclusion

Smith & Diction's approach to branding and design emphasizes emotional connection, strategic messaging, and a deep understanding of the audience. They prioritize creating unique and meaningful brands that resonate with people on a personal level, going beyond superficial elements like logos and color palettes. Their commitment to staying small and design-focused allows them to maintain a high level of quality and continue doing the work they love.