wonderful world of branding

On a recent trip to the Magic Kingdom, I found myself reflecting on how much Disneyland has contributed to my understanding and approach to the practice of branding.

From a young age, I’ve always had an appreciation for the work and creativity that goes into the well known theme park. At times the reason behind my fascination has been difficult to articulate. This time, I began to see the park in the context of communication design, which allowed me to gain a little more insight.

For anyone who has never visited the park, it is divided into 7 areas: Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, New Orleans Square, Mickey’s Toontown and Main Street USA. Each designated area has a specific theme associated with it. In addition to the rides, all exteriors, interiors, signage, kiosks, vendor carts, landscaping and costumes–even the trash cans– take on thematic elements. Sight, sound, taste and touch are all composed into a delectable symphony for children of all ages to explore. The art of communication is exemplified.

This process of delivering succinct messages via a wide variety of media and platforms is what the artists, designers and architects otherwise known as imagineers have been able to accomplish so remarkably. They are the pioneers of theme park design and have, to this day, managed to remain at the top of the field. The way in which the themes are developed and elements are distributed has laid the groundwork for much of what is being done in multi-platform communication design today by consumer touch-point laden giants such as Starbucks, Target and Apple.

I suppose the dreams of being an imagineer have the potential to be realized as I travel along my path in the field of communication design. The notion of creating experiences rich with context and creativity has always been and always will be my number one aspiration.

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