Data meets design.

By Leo Pérez, Creative DirectorImagine going to an interview for an Art Director role. You are filled with confidence, you know you’re qualified for the position, you think you’re an expert on the subject and you’re certain that you will get the job. A minute before meeting the interview, you notice that your shirt is missing a button and that you skipped a belt loop.Your nerves start shaking inside and out. Your confidence drops!Attention to detail is the very first step in any creative strategy.To listen, not only to things that can be heard, but mostly to what cannot, and to what exists in the silence. Sometimes, the truth is not in what is said but in how it’s said. Sometimes, the truth lies in what is left unsaid.To see, not only visually, but in a deeper way. Colours, shapes, styles have their own alphabet, their own language and meaning, their own myths and symbology.The observation process, which happens during meetings with clients, is in the note-taking of both the tangible and intangible, and leads to a very satisfactory feeling: delight.Delight is the reward of paying attention and the very first step before putting together a creative strategy. It is that sense of clarity. Delight provides the enthusiasm for strategy to define a way, the best way; a compass, guiding the path.At Anstice, we delve into people’s hearts, navigate through their emotions, understand their feelings, their needs and their problems. As strategists, we need to know exactly when a mom is exhausted in order for her tablet to show a spa coupon, when a teenager is bored for her phone to show a skydiving banner, and when a senior is frustrated because he can’t figure out how to pay his energy bill online. This last one probably needs a website redesign.This is exactly what we realized a year ago when we were submerged into the discovery phase with our energy client and noticed that most of its customers were feeling angry, anxious, and annoyed every time they visited their site. We needed to improve the online experience, reduce calls to the Customer Service Centre, offer a mobile user experience, and overall evolve the brand.Before jumping into design right away, we wanted to ask their customers what was causing them these unpleasant emotions. We needed to hear it from them, and we needed to listen. After an extended market research effort, we let data guide the architectural decisions for the site. The data helped us determine where the Payment Plans would be found, that a brighter and bigger Sign Up Call To Action would attract more online registrations and that custom imagery would speak a more candid language.Having the destination clear, a visual brand exploration is next. Sometimes the obvious, the most direct path, might not be the best. This is a very pleasurable process, where the artist can play with typography, colours and shapes, and with textures and movements. A poet playing with words.Intuition also plays an important role when making structural and visual decisions, however, that intuition is guided by insights and not just aesthetics. When we understand exactly what’s causing an emotion, here’s when the magic starts. Emotions meet actions. Problems meet solutions. Data meets design.Anstice, got the job!