With a penchant for visual communication, photography and design, Joakim Carlström works as a senior digital designer at Aimfor. Here, he helps market managers and decision-makers create brand awareness through web design, motion design and branding. In our interview, Joakim shares his best advice for marketing managers who want a better effect with a well-thought-out and stylish design.
According to recent statistics from Adobe, businesses with appealing designs perform as much as 219% better than businesses that don't. In a world permeated by marketing that aims to have a quick impact, it can be easy to forget the importance of one's brand making an impression, even visually.
With a background as a photographer, the visual has always been close to his heart. Joakim is convinced that digital design can strengthen a company's brand identity. Joakim explains how design strategy can support and advance a company's overall business goals:
– Initially, the most important thing is to deeply understand the company's overall goals, vision and values. This also includes knowing its target market, competitive position and long-term ambitions. When you have the above in place, and the operational design work begins, it is essential that the focus is customer-centric; this means creating a design that speaks to and engages the company's target group.
The first impression you get from a brand is vital, which can almost always be linked to a graphic style. Joakim elaborates:
– According to studies, a visitor forms an opinion after only 50 milliseconds on a company's website; aspects such as the choice of colors, fonts, structure, air and amount of copy are decisive factors for how visitors, users or potential clients perceive your brand.
“The function must always be at the center, and it takes creativity to functionality in a neat, user-friendly and converting way”.
A common challenge for designers is balancing the creative with functionality. According to Joakim, however, it is almost a non-issue:
– The function must always be at the center, and it takes creativity to functionality in a neat, user-friendly and converting way, says Joakim.
What current trends in digital design do you think are most effective in capturing and retaining consumer attention?
– In recent years, there has generally been more focus on UX design than before and, even more importantly, the collaboration between UX, UI and CRO. It creates a more seamless experience from the first interaction to the desired action. Another positive trend is that alternative means, such as motion design and interactive illustrations, to communicate a message more effectively than through text are being experimented with and implemented more frequently, says Joakim.
When asked how Joakim thinks the designer's role will develop in the future, as well as which skills he thinks will be most valuable, he admits that the design role is facing significant changes, he elaborates:
– The designer role will evolve quite dramatically, driven by technological changes. The emphasis will also be on an increased focus on user experience and interface and an increased need for skills in emerging technologies such as AR, VR and AI. Designers must also be adaptable to new tools and platforms, with a strong understanding of data analysis to make design decisions. In addition, collaborative skills, a commitment to accessibility and inclusion, sustainable design practices, brand storytelling, motion design, remote collaboration and project management will become increasingly important.
How do you integrate new technology, such as AI, into your design work to create innovative and dynamic communication strategies?
– In AI, I have experimented with everything from AI-generated site maps, wireframes and UI components to prompt-based image generation, AI vector design and AI rotoscoping. So far, AI is a tremendous resource that facilitates my work and thus enables more excellent value for my and Aimfor's customers. AI is also an incredible resource from an inspiration perspective as I get customized inspiration for the exact project I am working on.
What are you allergic to when it comes to design? In other words, what do you think designers need to stop doing immediately?
– Focus on other stakeholders' goals and less on the designer's self-interest. In general, designers, myself included, need to get better at arguing and presenting a clearer solution to the client's problem. It is, above all, better from a holistic perspective because it is well substantiated.