Design So Neat, Houdini would want to join the clientele list!
From sophisticated outlines to amalgamated generation of workforce, find out how The Neat Trick sprints as a creative branding agency in this interview!
In recent years, Creative brand design has gained massive popularity and interest, with freelancers and agencies coming together to build their own set of experimental studios. As a branding agency yourself, how do you simplify the technical norms of the Branding process to a client who is oblivious to branding ABCs?
Most clients usually do the research for their respective business models, strategy, growth aspect, and marketing but tend to think of branding as just good design, whereas branding has so much more to it. In today’s era your product might be appealing to the target group today but tomorrow it might become outdated.
Hence, creating a timeless brand around the client’s product or service without having a shaky sense of communication is the end goal of our engagement with them. In this process, the breakdown of brand strategy, brand voice and its marriage to the design is the pivotal learning factor for the client.
The trick is to keep it simple. How did the name "The Neat Trick" was finalised?
Effortless communication and design was always the core crux of starting the agency, just like a sleight of hand at a magic show. We borrowed an old English idiom that denotes the ideology of the agency in the simplest manner + the bonus abbreviation - TNT.
What is your secret trick to get that perfect brand design draft?
There’s no secret to it, just a trick done neatly; the trick being - Connecting the client’s sentiment + our branding skill sets = Effective story-driven product or service.
From the starting point till now, which has been the most challenging brand project that you have worked on? Can you spill the deets, without spilling any names?
Re-branding projects - understandably so are the most challenging projects, because anyone who has had a business for 6 months or 16 years is attached to what they have built and how it has been a major part of their journey.
With this sentiment, even the newly relevant, conceptually strong, or befitting ideas for the brand seems to struggle as the attachment to the old concept or design language overrides everything else.
Your work age range quotes, "A Gen Z - Millennial - Boomer Concoction". This is an excellent description of current work "equality" ethic. Yet, every now and then, we see a sense of imbalance in power dynamics between two age groups. As a creative company of the present times, how do you tackle such obstacles?
Power dynamic imbalances are unavoidable, even within the same age group. So, a different age group imbalance is inevitable.
We understand the difference lies in separating the art and the artist. We let the art speak for itself and as designers, we understand how bad design is noticeable while good design is not about seeing it but experiencing it With the philosophy of respecting each other’s work and of balancing out each other’s personalities, we continue our stride ahead.
Which OG brand designer or creative agency inspires you the most?
With respect to design, there are so many artists we stumble upon during our research period but the constant few would be - Noma Bar, Kevin Cantrell and Futura.
Between the global and Indian market, which one favours the experimental transitions, prepared by your strategists and writers at The Neat Trick, the most? Which market is the most crucial?
The global market surely is a more experimental one; there is a lot more difference in the key consumers. With the Indian target group being extremely diverse, especially for mass products, the clients tend to play it safe. While global audiences are more open to change and quirkiness. Nevertheless, the Indian market is evolving at a fast pace and the ones pioneering with unique designs are getting recognised.
This one's for the founders - If The Neat Trick were a coffeehouse, which music would be playing on repeat and which would be the most common order from the menu?
The song would be 'Where the money flows' by Peter Cat Recordings with a dark roasted pour-over or a Cortado.
