Whitepaper: How sustainable design makes brands successful

Sustainability and meaningful brand boosting seem to be trends of our time - not in spite of the Corona pandemic, but because of it. This is because the social and economic aspects of sustainability are increasingly coming into focus: companies that have acted in an economically responsible manner in recent years are now coming through the crisis better. And companies that behave respectfully toward employees and suppliers even in difficult times are gaining in reputation in the public eye. In short, it pays to pursue a sound and holistic sustainability strategy.

However, the role that design can play here is often underestimated. There are numerous starting points: Which brand codes can support a brand's sustainability message? How can sustainable design achieve positive economic effects? And is there a way to make the digital brand presence more resource-efficient? Companies that creatively exploit these potentials will be successful in the long term.

The white paper "Brand Boost: Sustainable Design" by the brand and design agency Peter Schmidt Group supports them on this path: It names the five most important fields of action for sustainable design, shows best practices and provides concrete options for action. However, an individual analysis should clarify which ones exactly fit the respective brand. For this, the Peter Schmidt Group draws on a catalog of actions that includes more than thirty indicators for sustainable design. They range from material issues and the carbon footprint of digital media to ergonomic aspects and the use of non-discriminatory imagery.

The time of the Next Normal offers the opportunity for change

"In many companies, familiar patterns of action are currently being put to the test," says Lukas Cottrell, Managing Partner of the Peter Schmidt Group. "Brand managers should use this momentum and make sustainability aspects an integral part of their future work. These are precisely the impulses people currently expect from brands." For companies, too, investing in sustainable design solutions pays off, because it saves valuable resources in the long run.

For companies from the consumer goods sector, this context is often easier to grasp: they are sensitized to the quantities of materials that can be saved in large production volumes if they optimize product packaging, dispense with foiling or minimize the use of printing inks. But there is also considerable potential for savings for all other brands - including the use of digital media: "Very few companies are aware of the impact that an elaborately animated website has on the company's carbon footprint," explains Stephanie Lam-Eschenburg, Senior Brand Strategist at the Peter Schmidt Group.

The more data that is transferred, the higher the energy required to operate the server infrastructure. The white paper provides an example of the contribution that sustainable design can make here: By switching to a font with a smaller file size alone, Google saves 1,000 terabytes of data in the space of just one week - which is roughly equivalent to the energy consumption of BASF in Ludwigshafen in an entire year.

But be careful: sustainability does not stop at ecological issues: "The low-barrier design of web content is often overlooked. To ensure accessibility for all users, color use, contrast and font selection are also crucial design aspects," says Lam-Eschenburg.

"Brand Boost: Sustainable Design" is available at here Download