Designing in a crisis

The reality of that particular kind of business is that there are certain things that just radically have to be rethought. The mechanics of how you convert in a beauty store, that will change. And that might be one of the things that changes for good. We might look back in five years and go, “my god, I can’t believe I used to try on makeup that som... See more

And I think that is going to remain, easily for the next year or two. And it might be a fundamental shift, you know, just like there’s going to be a fundamental shift in consumption patterns, online versus offline. I think people are going to be up for making brands that have a bit of emotion. And make decisions not always with the bottom line in m... See more

We’ve strived really hard to make sure that there’s a real humanity and a bit of a soul in the brands we create — knowing full well they’re still a company, they’re still for-profit — but in terms of the persona, in terms of how they’re brought to life, having that empathy and having that humanity is something that we work really hard for.

So, it’s funny. Some things have just, within days, gotten re-briefed, and all guns pointed in a different direction. And all of our talent and staff rethinking things on the fly. And then long-term, having to understand what the ramifications are.

It’s still early, but Sperduti thinks this will push brands even more toward what he calls a “progressive posture.” And something like this, he says, “just accelerates the trend tenfold.”