Brands are today looking for new ways to convey their identity. Currently, brands sound identity is mostly based on music for ads or for selling places, and communication elements like voice or jingles. In this thesis, we focus on products sound design as a way to convey brand identity. Is it possible to take into account brand values in the writing of the requirements for a sound designer? For a given object, what are the relevant design features to consider in order to communicate a desired identity? In our works, we propose a sound design methodology for the translation of brand values into sound attributes, and for conveying the resulting sound identity through a series of products. Based on the analysis of several studies on sound verbal description, we elicited a sound lexicon of 35 words adapted to the description of sound properties. We propose to use this lexicon along with two communication tools, moodboards and a “sound design deck”, to translate brand identity into words easily understandable by both experts and non-experts. We also propose a methodology for linking the physical constraints of the objects to design to words of the lexicon. This method is based on a sound indexing experiment, inspired from sensory analysis. The methodology we propose is applied to the design of SNCF sound identity through different elements (alarms, validating machines, split-flap displays…). The originality of this work resides in its interdisciplinarity combining different approaches such as marketing, design, sensory analysis and auditory perception. This work proposes both methodologies and tools that facilitate communication in sound design, and shows that it is possible to convey brand identity through products sound design.
展开▼
