Why Good Design is a Great Investment
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I’ve been working as a designer for a while now. I bring this up not to brag but as someone with the benefit of being able to recognize patterns.
One topic that feels like it’s often lurking just out of frame in most “getting to know you” conversations between designer and prospective client is the question of whether good design is worth the investment. The ROI question.
I’m going to provide an answer in the form of a quick story and ask that you try to guess 1) the name of the well-known company I’m writing about and 2) the position of the person mentioned within that company. (Don’t worry, there are hints peppered throughout.)
In 1915, a senior executive named Harold Hirsch wrote to his management team that they needed a new package for their product. It wasn’t simply an offhand suggestion. He came to the table with some specific ideas.
His outline of features included:
A distinctive appearance to fight generic substitutes in the marketplace
Contours so unique people would know the product by touch in the dark
A shape so iconic it would be recognizable even when broken into pieces
Hirsch’s list was a pretty tall order.
You may be zeroing in on the company already, but I’m going to provide a few more hints:
The list of specifications was given to the Root Glass Company for final design and production
The resulting package shape was inspired by one of the main product ingredients, the African kola nut
The glass used for the final package had a subtle green tint
The result ended up looking like this:
I’m sure you’ve figured out I’m talking about Coca-Cola and its distinctive contoured glass bottle, the one with fluted sides and bulging middle. It’s iconic. How iconic? Coke conducted a study in 1949 and found that more than 99% of the U.S. population could identify the bottle by shape alone.
In fact, this bottle is so important to the company that rather than continuing to renew patents it was trademarked in 1961.
So who was Harold Hirsch? The trademark note may help to define his role at Coke. He wasn’t the CEO. He wasn’t their head of marketing. In fact, he had no marketing training at all.
He was the company’s legal counsel.
Why would a lawyer advocate for distinctive packaging?
It made Coca-Cola’s presentation familiar. (Remember how Coke’s soda fountain glasses have similar features to their bottle shape?)
It provided consistency in a fragmented landscape. (There were dozens of different competing bottled sodas in America at the time.)
Its unique appearance built trust and was ownable. (Remember my trademark note?)
The short answer is that yes, good design is worth the investment. Over 100 years later, Coke’s bottle still meets all the original criteria and is an important anchoring element in its brand expression across the globe.
In fact, it’s so notable that over the years it was called “perfect liquid wrapper” by industrial designer Raymond Loewy, included in artwork by Andy Warhol as a representation of mass culture, and compared to The Beetle by Volkswagen. Not bad company to be in.
One additional takeaway from this story is the notion that great ideas can come from anywhere and opportunities can present themselves in nontraditional forms. Sometimes a crisis (counterfeit products) can lead to an incredible result (global recognition).
And do you know who came up with Coke’s name and distinctive logo? It wasn’t the founder. It wasn’t an early ad agency. It was Frank Robinson, their bookkeeper.
But that’s a story for another day.
Thoughts? Questions? Let me know.
Elliot Strunk, an award-winning designer and strategist with over 25 years of experience, is the Creative Director and Principal of Fifth Letter.
You can learn more about him here.