ZIBA Design and the FedEx Project

摘要

When designers even subtly change the framing of the problem they set out to solve, they change the nature of their practice. ZIBA looked to brand as the foundation for an entire platform of products, and found themselves forging innovative methods in order to translate the brand concept into visual criteria they could use. ZIBA critiqued the interaction component of the WSC project, and research became a necessary and vital component of the redesign. They argued that interaction and appearance were valuable missing elements from the FedEx product development process, and the shift in perspective made the customer present in the retail environment and the courier an extension of the brand. In each instance, the change to ZIBA's practice was influenced by a new way of thinking that then was translated into a new way of working. This distinction between the vision and the method is an important one. Adopting new methods does not mean much if the idea guiding the process is the same as before. In fact, a well-articulated vision can be more enduring than the resulting product. Trace the line from FedEx's old retail centers to their decision to purchase Kinko's in 2003. It runs right through an awakening to the customer's values.