19. WILLOUGHBY DESIGN GROUP
“Every discipline thinks of brand a little differently,” says Ann Willoughby of Willoughby Design Group. “These days, great brands are built through collaboration by specialists.” Because collaboration requires a common language, the board of the AIGA Center for Brand Experience decided to create a “linguistic foundation,” The Dictionary of Brand.

Willoughby and fellow board member Marty Neumeier, author of The Brand Gap, “took on the challenge to design an easy-to-use, quick-read book that defines the couple hundred most widely used words in branding.” The primary idea,” according to Willoughby, “was to keep the production value low and print as many books as possible to distribute.”

Because utility, clarity, and simplicity were key goals, illustrations were used selectively to bring key concepts to life. Notes Willoughby, “The simplicity comes from being a ‘mature’ designer, and understanding the purpose of the project. We wanted to demystify the topic and concentrate on definitions rather than commentary on branding.”
Laurel Saville