Marty Neumeier, American author and speaker, returned to Brunel to deliver another exclusive branding Masterclass as part of the Brunel on Design workshop and lecture series.
Neumeier writes on the topics of brand, design, innovation, and creativity. He currently serves as Director of CEO Branding for Liquid Agency, a branding agency in San Jose, California.
He came last came in March to give our students a brand masterclass, and liked the experience and our students so much that he came back to teach another:
John asked me to come back and I jumped at it!
Neumeier was joined by Andy Starr, a brand thinker, practitioner and designer in his own right, who co-facilitated the workshop.
Students spent the day working in groups known in the industry as ‘brand swarms’ to brainstorm ideas for real life client, Mike from the charity Camden Town Shed. The Camden Town Shed is an association offering a workspace where users can work on practical projects or follow hobbies with others. Although its free to attend the workshop is substantially funded by member donations and any items they make that are offered for sale.
The Design students came up with their ideas through the course of the day, with of Neiumer and Starr available to answer their questions and encourage discussion.
At the end of the day a representative from each swarm pitched to the client in real time, and after our judging panel of the client, Neiumer, Starr and the Design faculty staff, one lucky swarm were awarded the titles of brand stars.
Client Mike of Camden Town Shed was impressed with the quality of the pitches, and said:
‘They had great ideas. There isn’t a single group here that I haven’t had an idea from, and I’ll be translating it back to sheds all around the country.’
Postgraduate student Nevena writes of the session:
‘The MA Marty Neumeier Workshop organised by the module leaders seemed like a fantastic experience for the students. One MA student mentioned that it was very insightful and a great opportunity working on a real-life project. Having undergone the MA Design Strategy course myself, before embarking on a career in industry, this is exactly the sort of experience that employers are looking for. Introducing students to this type of work early on means that they know what is expected of them, this will feel familiar once they graduate and can hit the ground running. Top form is required when it comes to intensively delivering design strategy on a brief in a short space of time and the students so early on in the course really stood up to the task.’
