What is brand design?
Currently there is no formal defined discipline for the study or application of design in Branding or platform for information and application exchange or discourse.
None of the current available forums for brand research and discussion consider design (both as a process and a humanist approach) as one of the most relevant disciplines of branding itself.
The most design-oriented arenas, such as the Design Research Society Conference or Cumulus, do not include a specific route for brand research. The remaining events are either scientifically lead by marketing academics and delivered in business schools (International Colloquium on Design, Branding and Marketing, Global Brand Conference, Annual International Colloquium on Branding, among others), or are highly professionalised and top industry-oriented (Brand New Conference, AIGA Design Conference), lacking the academic contribution by not including any call for papers process.
This scenario leaves both the academics (postgraduate students and researchers) and small agencies or design start-ups without a stage to present their valuable ideas.
The International Conference in Brand Design, taking place on the 21 and 22 September 2018, as part of the London Design Festival, will promote Brand Design as a new priority area that is full of potential for cross-disciplinary research and impact on marketing strategies,
economic development, communication and socialisation options, and 21st century technological demands. The conference is organised by Brand Design Research, a research cluster at the London School of Film Media and Design, University of West London.