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Brand Engine
By: American Design Awards
Brand Engine is a strategic branding and design consultancy firm dedicated to designing successful, sustainable brands that deliver positive business results. With a focus on consumer brands, their expertise is launching new brands, as well as repositioning existing brands, that change the conversation with today’s consumer.
In late 1997, the founders Will Burke and Eric Read launched Brand Engine in Will's one bedroom apartment, fueled with the belief that they could make a positive difference and help others realize their goals by doing what they do best — branding and design. From one room and one client, Brand Engine is now a 25-person studio overlooking the Sausalito harbor, designing over 100 brands from start-ups to Fortune 100 clients to achieve their goals.
The Brand Engine Executive Team: Tom Davidson, Kirk Gelardi, Johanna Pino, Will Burke, Heidi Caldwell, Eric Read.
"Branding is the most powerful and valuable asset for companies to develop an enduring relationship with their consumer. Being open to new ideas, and developing a unique and compelling brand story that is authentic and memorable is the first step in changing the conversation with your consumer," says Will Burke. "It's the core from which of all our design work is created," adds Eric Read. "The more meaningful the brand story, the more enriching and enduring the brand experience becomes to establish the emotional bond with the consumer."
Brand Engine's mission is to collaborate with forward thinkers to design brands that create positive change and lasting business value. To learn more, visit www.brandengine.com.
Who is your inspiration?
WB: Design visionaries from all walks of life -- Raymond Loewy, Walter Landor, Paul Rand, Eero Saarinen, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Charles and Ray Eames, Colin Chapman, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Karl Lagerfeld, Picasso.
ER: Bauhaus, Chermayeff & Geismar, Armin Hoffman, AM Cassandre, Massimo Vignelli, "The Michaels", Primo Angeli, John Van Hamersveld, April Greiman -- all old school.
What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?
WB: My strength and weakness is the same: asking the big question -- why?
ER: My strength is listening. My weakness is patience.
If you had a word of advice for an up-and-coming designer, what would it be?
WB: Be passionate, solve a problem, play well with others.
ER: Work from a strategic position, make a difference, and aim high.
Do you prefer to use a PC or a Mac? Why?
WB: Neither. A sheet of white unlined paper and my Caran d'Ache pink-barreled pen works best for me.
ER: Mac, worked on one since 1984 -- it’s the only way to go, no turning back now.
How do you deal with creative block?
WB: Usually when you are struggling, you haven't asked the right question. I revisit the stated problem and come up with new questions that don't seem obvious or relevant to determine what the real pain is.
ER: Keep focused on the real problem, and the solution will come...when that doesn't work, meditate.
What is your favorite snack food in your office?
WB: Haribo Gold Bears. There is no other.
ER: No Snacks...but I'm a junkie for TeJava.
Are large companies easier to work with, or small ones?
WB: It's not about company size. It's about the person you are collaborating with. The best relationships are built on mutual respect and trust, and a few rounds of pinball.
ER: It all depends on the trust of the client, there are ups and downs at all scales.
Did you major in art or graphic design in college?
WB: Neither. I'm doing what I do because I love it. It's like being at recess and there is no bell calling you back to class.
ER: I wanted to be a painter, but ended up as a designer.
What is the motto of your design firm? What does it imply?
WB: Change the Conversation. There are many facets to that motto. One facet is building a strong emotional bond with your consumer. It's like dating -- do you want a short or long term relationship? The successful, sustainable brands are focused on an enduring passionate relationship with their consumers. Change the conversation.
ER: Change the Conversation: we look at brands and products from a consumer’s perspective..
If you could do it all over again, would you?
WB: Yes. I would have never met my future wife if I had gone to Wall Street.
ER: Just the same, I've been very fortunate to have been surrounded by incredible talent and people of conviction throughout my career.
 Editor's Note: Brand Engine has impressed our judges through their clean, modern, and impactful design pieces. Their design sense combined with marketability and true understanding of the end-user has enabled them to soar above their competition.
 Brand Engine
80 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 1
Sausalito, CA 94965 USA
brandengine.com
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