What do brand designers do in an AI company?
2022/03/23⏱ 15mins entering
HELLO. CONTINUING FROM THE LAST PART, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT DESIGNERS DO IN AI COMPANIES WITH THE UPSTAGE DESIGN TEAM. THE UPSTAGE DESIGN TEAM IS SAID TO HAVE TWO TEAMS WORKING TOGETHER. BRAND DESIGN TEAM AND AI PRODUCT DESIGN TEAM. MISSED THE AI PRODUCT DESIGN EPISODE? CHECK IT OUT HERE. TODAY, I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE THE BRANDING, UPSTAGE BRAND DESIGN TEAM WORK AND COLLABORATION CULTURE OF AI COMPANIES. IN ADDITION, WE WILL TAKE TIME TO RESOLVE MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DESIGN TEAM OF A TECHNOLOGY-ORIENTED COMPANY.
DO YOU FEEL UNFAMILIAR WITH THE FIELD OF AI? I HOPE THAT THIS CONTENT WILL HELP YOU TO RELIEVE SUCH UNFAMILIARITY AND WORRIES. SO LET'S GET STARTED RIGHT AWAY.
Please briefly introduce yourself and your team.
hello. This is Lina, the leader of the brand design team. Prior to joining Upstage, he built his career at ProtoPie, a design tool development company for designers, and carpool-related startups. As a designer who has experienced both B2B and B2C, I would like to tell you a variety of stories that can answer your questions.
THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 6 DESIGN TEAMS, 2 BRAND DESIGN TEAMS AND 4 AI PRODUCT DESIGN TEAMS (UX, UI) ARE WORKING TOGETHER AS A TEAM. IN THE FUTURE, AS THE UPSTAGE PRODUCT IS BROUGHT TO MARKET AND THE ORGANIZATION GROWS, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE TEAM WILL BE DIVIDED. CURRENTLY, THEY ARE DOING THEIR BEST IN THEIR RESPECTIVE FIELDS, AND ARE WORKING IN PARALLEL WITH EACH OTHER IN INDIVIDUAL TEAM WORK AND COLLABORATION.
IS THE BRANDING OF AN AI COMPANY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER COMPANIES?
As an AI company, there is nothing special about branding. However, Upstage is a B2B company, and there seems to be a difference in branding experience in B2B and B2C companies. Speaking from my own experience, I think you can understand upstage branding as well.
I STARTED MY FIRST CAREER AS A BRAND DESIGNER AT A B2C STARTUP. THINKING BACK THEN, I WORKED ON BRANDING BY LOOKING AT THE REACTIONS OF USERS EVERY DAY. B2C COMPANIES HAVE A STRUCTURE IN WHICH USER REACTIONS ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO PROFITS. SO, BY CHANGING ONE SMALL THING, IT WAS ALWAYS DIFFICULT TO BRAND WHILE CONSIDERING THE DIFFERENCE IN EXPERIENCE THAT EXISTING USERS WOULD EXPERIENCE. OF COURSE, I LEARNED A LOT BY OBSERVING IMMEDIATE USER REACTIONS, AND I ALSO FELT HAPPY AND SATISFIED WITH THE POSITIVE FEEDBACK. NEVERTHELESS, THERE WERE RESTRICTIONS ON THE BRANDING THAT COULD BE EXPRESSED, AND THE PROPORTION OF DESIGN ACTING AS A SUPPORT ROLE FOR MARKETING WAS HIGH, SO THERE WERE NO LESS RESTRICTIONS THAN AUTONOMY.
B2B is not. It is an environment where you can boldly try what you want to do. That's a huge plus for designing. Concerns about whether small changes like B2C will give existing users a different brand experience can disappear in a B2B environment. Due to the nature of a B2B company, we work with a bigger picture because we deal with large volumes and large customers. If we look at the market and customer situation more broadly, and have a design that better expresses our essence, various attempts are possible . However, one thing that never changes is the nature of branding, which must convey the value of use and trust in our brand to buyers.
UPSTAGE IS A STARTUP, SO ALL POSSIBILITIES ARE STILL OPEN, AND THE SAME GOES FOR BRANDING. IF THERE IS A DESIGN EXPRESSION METHOD THAT CONTAINS OUR ESSENCE AND CONTRIBUTES TO LOWERING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO AI, IT IS AN ENVIRONMENT THAT CAN BE TRIED FIRST. AI WAS A DIFFICULT FIELD FOR ME TOO. I NEVER IMAGINED I WOULD WORK FOR A COMPANY RELATED TO AI. AT FIRST, I WAS LIKE, 'CAN I UNDERSTAND AND EXPRESS AI TECHNOLOGY WELL?' THERE WERE ALSO VAGUE CONCERNS. IN SPITE OF SUCH CONCERNS, AN ENVIRONMENT WAS PREPARED WHERE EVEN NON-MAJORS COULD LEARN AI TECHNOLOGY QUICKLY AND EASILY. AI MAY FEEL UNFAMILIAR AND DIFFICULT RIGHT NOW, BUT IF YOU HAVE THE WILL TO LEARN MORE ON YOUR OWN, I THINK YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BUILD UP YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND DO GREAT BRANDING AFTER YOU ENTER.
If you are curious about the AI Pack that Upstage makes, please check the AI Pack tab .
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A BRAND DESIGNER IN AN AI COMPANY?
It seems that we can talk about overlapping with the previous content. Upstage brand designers are responsible for all in-house designs except product design and design. As a result, I often collaborate with teams other than the development team (marketing team, people team, business team, etc.) rather than working with the development team.
Currently , my main work is design work that establishes the identity of the company and captures the tone and manner of the brand . I am in charge of visualizing the website, brand logo, as well as all marketing and sales materials that will go out under the upstage name. It can be said that we are building up all aspects of design to fully convey our identity, technology, and the message we want to deliver to customers and the public. For the past 4 months, we've been working on a new logo and website launch. In the future, in addition to activities to strengthen the company's identity, there will be more branding work to introduce the value of our products to customers and make them useful in line with product launches.
Can you briefly introduce the homepage renewal process you just mentioned?
In March, we opened a newly neat website. To this end, we worked hard with the marketing team during April to carry out upstage branding. Of course, it is not yet complete, but it is still in the development stage. Still, we wanted to put a message line on this website saying that we will stage you up, the mission and vision of Upstage. We tried to melt our philosophy of making a better world with upstage AI technology throughout the CI and website.
We also conducted a survey of internal members to shape the upstage image. At this time, what came out a lot was the image of a 'rocket' firing towards a high place. By matching this image with Up, which we are talking about, the website design with the current feeling of sailing came out. Upstage is working on creating something from nothing and realizing the invisible. I thought that these things were coming towards us. The result of this process of finding the identity of upstage is the current logo and website design. It may seem like a major overhaul, but to us it was now a small but huge step in introducing our identity to the world. If this version was version 1.0, we plan to continue with 2.0 and 3.0 with more precise branding that will show upstage-ness in the future.
What about a design team at a technology-driven company?
As it is a technology-oriented company, it is true that the proportion of engineers is high. However , it is a culture where everyone works with ownership and responsibility in their respective positions . We respect all the teams within the company as experts in their respective fields, and support their direction and decisions. The design team is no exception. As a technology-focused company, expectations and roles for the design team are never diminished. Upstage, for example, there are no restrictions on doing new things. A brand is something that we build up step by step over a long period of time, so we are making many attempts in the process. Each time, everyone cheers for us and expresses satisfaction with the result. From there, I got strength again and started working on a new design. There were no major restrictions in the website rebranding process mentioned above. I can say that it is an environment where I can broaden the design spectrum because I am working with such a lot of support and attention, and there are many parts that I completely trust and entrust to.
Is there a cultural difference between the company you worked for and the one you felt at Upstage?
ProtoPie, a former employee, was also a company with a culture similar to that of Upstage. It was a culture of working based on autonomy and trust, so there was no cultural difference between the two companies after changing jobs. Nevertheless , the biggest difference was the feelings of the members . Seeing the upstage leaders and the members called stars, I got the feeling that they were the types of people I had never met in other companies. I've been thinking about why. I thought it was because there was no company we could use as a reference. It is a company that creates something from nothing, and it seems that there are people who can enjoy such adventures and challenges without stress. As a company with a dream to forge a path that we think is right rather than following a set path, people who agree with that vision gather to create a unique synergy.
Upstage works remotely for all employees, so please let us know if there are any advantages or disadvantages.
How can I design work remotely? I often hear the question. Our team has some scheduled weekly meetings and project-specific meetings. These meetings and communication are conducted using various communication tools such as Google Meet, Remotion, Slack, and Zoom.
The design work tool uses Figma. The advantage of using Figma is that you can see what each person is doing and what concerns they have in the work process. It is also very useful to share the figma screen to make corrections and to give and receive feedback. In between, I leave a comment in Figma, and if I need quick communication, I use a chat tool to exchange opinions in real time. Also, when working on decks, I tend to share the cloud to check the progress, so I don't have any difficulties in designing or communicating from remote work.
Another great advantage of remote working is that it works autonomously. It is a great help in terms of work productivity as you can set the time of day when your concentration is the highest. Upstage has a culture of being completely at your own pace outside of the basic meeting schedule. So far, I seem to find more advantages than inconveniences and disappointments of remote work.
Please tell us about the image of a colleague you would like to work with.
I tend to try things quickly and find things to learn and improve from those attempts. As a result, sometimes there are parts that are missed and overlooked. At times like that, it would be nice to have a colleague who could tell me what I'm missing. I will too. Not everyone has the same tendencies or strengths and weaknesses, but I want to work with someone who can make up for each other's shortcomings and have fun working with them. So what is important is how much synergy you can create when you join us . I believe that your skills and capabilities can be fully confirmed through your portfolio. During the interview, we check the applicant's work style, insight, and communication style. As a designer, it would be good to have someone who seriously thinks about how we express ourselves and can express this through various designs.
Let's take as an example a position in one of the currently open announcements. One of them is Brand Designer (Product Experience), who will be in charge of branding the upcoming AI Pack product. You will be mainly responsible for expressing our product, AI Pack, with customer-oriented language and visuals. You should also take charge of making AI Pack-related demos and planning various mediums (video, document, visual content) that will enhance the experience of the product. Therefore, we would like to hire someone who has communication skills and project leadership experience.
In addition, I would like to invite many people. Even if the position you are interested in is not currently open, if you believe that your specialty can help you upstage with an open position, we may receive your documents and offer you a reverse offer.
LASTLY, SINCE YOU HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PART WHERE YOU ARE LISTED AS A 5-YEAR DESIGNER IN JD, PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS PART AS WELL.
We have the capabilities we expect in the 5th year. If you have enough experience and competency regardless of age, the number may not mean much. The reason I said 5 years is because I thought that when considering the number of people who have the ability to fully lead a project , that level of experience would have accumulated. I stated that it would be good for someone who can set the scope of work and make decisions on their own, but since various positions are open, interns and juniors are also welcome to apply.
concluding
The brand design team is an important team that should not be absent from the upstage. This is because it is a team that is passionate about thinking at every moment in order to find upstage-ness. Upstage new symbol, logo, and website design are the work of the brand design team. If you want to build a career with such a wonderful team, please do not hesitate to apply.
Are you hesitating because it is an AI company? Are you worried about lack of AI knowledge and background? Upstage holds various in-house seminars and studies every week so that you can upgrade your AI knowledge in all occupations. See you next time with better content. thank you
Announcements currently being recruited (* indicates the brand design team.)
Brand Designer (Product experience ) *