'Simplicity'_2nd Principle of Spacebranding

Jooyun Kim's 
Spacebranding vol.07


"Simplicity is the art of transforming complexity into Clarity."


<'Simplicity' is another name for clarity>
There is a first impression that remains in our minds when we first visit an old city center in Europe like Paris. Its first impression makes visitors feel familiar with Europe and makes them want to visit again. 

The impression is a simple urban landscape created by the same height of buildings and similar materials. The low-height simplicity, which is not overbearing, makes the city comfortable.

The presence of small stores and cafes on the first floor naturally catches our eyes on the streets, where simplicity is the background. The calm simplicity, like a park, is a friendly impression of branding the city into space and space. 

Common sense is the wisdom that everyone shares. It is a wise approach to space branding to use the memory that everyone has similarly as a common sense of design. Common sense is defined in the dictionary as "a correct judgment in a pure sense, free from prejudice or intellectual difficulty."1)

The common-sense approach refers to the simplicity that customers can understand as they are, without any special experience or knowledge. 

Bruder Klaus Field Chapel(2007) by Peter Zumthor, The rectangular concrete simplicity embodies a story and primordial diversity inside. ©Song Injun

Bruder Klaus Field Chapel(2007), The sky is shining from the top of the hole. ©Song Injun

Bruder Klaus Field Chapel(2007), A primitive space is a prayer room for a family. ©Song Injun

Cities, the living spaces of modern people, are very complex and change at a fast pace. And there are many stimuli in the space where modern people stay, Numerous stimuli in urban space, called stimulation excess in psychological terms, make people tired and exhausted.

In fact, in an environment with excessive stimulation, unexpectedly empty spaces without stimulation attract more people's attention. The only defense customers can take in a communication excess society is to simplify their minds.2)

Common sense and simplicity are the reasons for gaining strength. Simplifying complexity into common sense makes it easier for people to remember something without thinking too much.3)

<'Simplicity is the key to the customer's sense>
What should we do about space banding for businesses or businesses? In the space branding of businesses with access to various styles, space and architecture should seek a simple form based on common sense. 

What space branding requires is "capturing the moment of awareness that exists in the human mind. There is no need for deep thinking and no suggestion."4) Simplicity based on common sense provides clues that customers can easily approach. 

Customers looking at the Apple store are drawn into the store by the image of the empty space. The reason is a clear and easy-to-read design, i.e. simplicity. The sooner the customer can check the clues of the senses, the more interested and liked they become. 

Simplicity refers to the comfort or relationship of a customer's first encounter with the space. When the customer does not feel the need for any question, analysis, or interpretation in the space, the customer unwittingly builds trust in the space.5)

<'Simplicity' is the key to the 'likeness' message>
Space branding is to match the 'signifier(image of company)' and 'signified(corporate values, likeness)'. Generally, we do not judge simplicity positively. For simple people, it means fool, so it can be viewed negatively.

People avoid simplicity because they are afraid of being treated as simple.6) However, the exact concept of simplicity for space branding is to deliver the message it is trying to convey. 

To get to the point, you need to get rid of unnecessary elements. It's really hard, but one of the most important things to do in the space branding process is to get rid of unimportant images and messages. 

Dior's flagship(2014), Omotesando, Japan by SANNA, The simplicity of transparent glass wall placed in front of a translucent wavy acrylic screen becomes a space that dramatically illuminates the interior at night. ©Jooyun Kim

In 2001, the first Apple flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York was a successful example of space branding with simplicity. Look at the transparent glass cube and the white Apple logo floating in it. It is the pinnacle of simplicity that can no longer be subtracted from, and cannot be made simpler.

<'Simplicity' is the artistic holy grail of transforms complexity into clarity>
The French author Saint-Exupery defines simplicity as follows: "Perfection is completed not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to subtract."7)

Eliminate all factors that interfere with first impressions. What can be remembered is simple. First impressions remain the most accurate judgment in most cases. Simplicity is the art of transforming complexity into clarity.8)

There is an interesting story related to Blaise Pascal, a French writer, mathematician, and philosopher who said, "Man is thinking reed." When his friend's parents passed away, Pascal wrote 40 pages of condolences and said that in the last sentence he wrote, "Please forgive me for not having enough time to write on one page."

If a company's business plan is a 'nail', then space and space branding is a 'hammer' that drives the nail. Marketing theorist Jack Trout particularly emphasizes simplicity. Focus on one special thing and differentiate it with simplicity. A single, condensed message or word is better than a variety that can confuse the customer. He even says, "Simplicity is the 'Holy Grail'."9)

Complexity obscures people's thoughts, but simplicity comes close to 'truth'. In Mark Twain's <Letter to Young Freind>, there is this sentence. 

"I found out that you are using simple and simple language, short words, and short sentences. That's the way to use English. It's not only modern but also the best way to write. Keep up the good work."10)

'Condensed simplicity' for the first impression 'likeness' of a space is by no means an easy proposition in space branding. The 'condensed simplicity' of space is similar to the Japanese on-line poem 'haiku', which is said to be the shorted poem in the world. Eliminate all elements that interfere with the first impression.

<'Simplicity' with diversity>
However, essentially space is forced to perform a combination of various functions and roles. This is why the simplicity of space for space branding cannot be approached only in the dictionary meaning. Humans prefer moderate stimulation. Too little stimulation makes you bored, and too much stimulation tends to stress you out. 

The space branding space should be a space that is simple in an overall image so that it can be easily read but embodies empirical diversity in detail. Simplicity can be achieved through the unification of form, formative order, materials, and colors.

Perfect Diary Chengdu flagship store(2019) by Betwin Space, Chengdu, China. 
It was strongly space-branded with simplicity. The first impression of the facade and floor space of the building is simple, but over time, you experience the diversity of the impressions.©Betwin Space

Perfect Diary Chengdu flagship store(2019) by Betwin Space ©Betwin Space

Perfect Diary Chengdu flagship store(2019) by Betwin Space, The first impression of the facade and floor space of the building is simple, but over time, you experience the diversity of the impressions. ©Betwin Space

Perfect Diary Chengdu flagship store(2019) by Betwin Space ©Betwin Space

When viewed from afar, the overall simplicity of the space is felt, and when viewed up close, customers can experience the space sensibly and richly through the tension between simplicity and diversity when there is a variety of shapes and materials. Novalis says, "In a work of art, confusion must be felt through the veil of order."11)







<5 Summaries>

"Simplicity is the art of transforming complexity into clarity."

"One simple condensed message is the Holy Grail."

"Space branding is to match the 'signifier' and 'signified'."

"Perfection is completed when there is nothing more to subtract."

"What space branding requires is capturing the moment of awareness that exists in the human mind."



Jooyun Kim <Spacebranding> pp76-79
1) Jack Trout & Steve Rivkin, The Power of Simplicity, McGraw-Hill Education, 1998., pp 21
2) Jack Trout & Al Ries, Positioning, McGraw-Hill Education, 2001., pp25
3) Jack Trout & Steve Rivkin, The Power of Simplicity, McGraw-Hill Education, 1998., pp15
4) Jack Trout, jack trout on strategy, McGraw-Hill Education, 2004., pp134
5) Dan Hill, body of truth : leveraging what consumers can't or won't say, Wiley, 2003., pp69
6) Jack Trout & Steve Rivkin, The Power of Simplicity, McGraw-Hill Education, 1998., pp13
7) Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Made to Stick, Random House, 2007., pp52-53
8) Jack Trout, jack trout on strategy, McGraw-Hill Education, 2004., pp130
9) Jack Trout & Al Ries, Positioning, McGraw-Hill Education, 2001., pp200
10) Jack Trout & Steve Rivkin, The Power of Simplicity, McGraw-Hill Education, 1998., pp27
11) De Botton, Alain, The Architecture of Happiness, Simon Vance(NRT), 2009., pp210 


Jooyun Kim
jykim@hongik.ac.kr

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