Danske Bank are a direct competitor to my bank brand as they are also a banking brand. First I will look at the colours they use throughout the system, as they are effective for the banking industry. They use a mostly navy and blue colour scheme throughout their design system, which represents loyalty, elegance, and sophistication, and these are all excellent values for a banking brand to have, and showing this in their colour scheme is a subtle yet tactical choice from Danske Bank. They also use the same cyan blue throughout for their key action colour, which stands out while also remaining consistent with the colour scheme. As you can see below they have used cyan as their primary action button, meaning that the user is most likely to press this button, and making it stand out in this colour means that they can do so quicker.
Danske Bank also use an exclusive typeface that they designed specifically for their brand. They have named it “Danske Human”, and the reason why they chose to use it was so that they could design their own typeface that is optimal for a variety of different screen sizes, keeping it legible throughout. The typeface looks fantastic and they have described it as informative and confident, which is great for their customers, as this is exactly what they will want from their personal bank. The typeface stays legible even when very small, which is useful for mobile devices. Online banking must display important clearly, which this typeface does very effectively.
YouTube are a brand that are also targeted towards 18-25 year olds, so I decided to do some research on their own brand guidelines. Their logo is something that they cherish highly, and they expect it too be used properly. They require a certain amount of space around the logo, and this is measured by ensuring that the white triangle in the middle is able to go around the border of the logo, and that nothing should be any closer than this. This is to keep a good amount of breathing room, as the logo has a big impact. The logo must also be the correct colour, which is a combination of these colour codes, (#212121) and (#FFFFFF). Monochrome versions are also allowed to be used for specific purposes when the original logo would be inappropriate or not as effective.
They also showed how not to use the logo, for example putting extra colours. The reason why they don’t want to do this is because it takes away from the original red and white brand that they have developed over the years, and takes away from their heritage. YouTube are a classic example of a logo done right, and in their brand guidelines they make it crystal clear what ought to be done and what shouldn’t be done when using the logo.
Monzo are a primarily screen-based banking brand, so they put a lot of work and effort into their design system, and ensuring that it is functional across lots of different screen sizes and platforms. The imagery they use is unique compared to other banking brands, as they have opted for a more fun and innovative approach by using illustrations instead of photography like other bank brands. They use these illustrations to make the brand feel more personal and this creates a better emotional connection with them and the users. It also is fresh as most other banking brands use standard photography, so they decided to switch it up and do something different.
Monzo use these illustrations throughout their designs. The UI’s are always displaying some sort of illustration or doodled icon, and this keeps each page fresh and exciting. Another thing that was mentioned in their design system, is that they use exaggerated elements, and this is done to communicate more clearly, with boldness and clarity. As you can see below they use large illustrations to show what each page is about, and large text in their lovely Oldschool Grotesk typeface to almost shout at the user, and an example of this below is how they communicate how hey are the best British Bank of 2022 in one of their adverts, ensuring that the viewer sees this and drinks it in.
Playstation are a brand that share one of the key core values that my banking brand has, which is accessibility. One of the key elements of this brand guidelines that stood out to me was the usage of photography, and how they implement it into their design system. They use high-quality photography in their brand to show off their products, and the reason why they do this is because they want to showcase their products and give customers a good look at what they could be potentially purchasing. When they advertise their systems with a TV in the background, they require an image of the UI to be displayed on the TV screen, to show what it looks like in action.
Another aspect of the design system that is effective is their usage of their creative background, made up of their theme colours along with some of the shapes that appear on the Playstation controller. This background is very recognisable as Playstation and they have done a good job at ensuring that their images have the Playstation heritage, and using the blue provokes serenity, stability, inspiration, and this sets up the customer for a great gaming experience. The overall brand guidelines for Playstation describes what needs to be considered when making design choices for the brand very well.
