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	Edition 6: Branding

Graphics Usage for Brand and Personalization Qualities within SAP Applications

By Mark Rolston, Creative Director, frogdesign, inc.

Abstract

Software interface design has traditionally focused only on spacial effectiveness with little or no regard for aesthetic quality or brand recognition. This document describes the benefits of improving the aesthetic quality of the SAP software as well as the benefits of building a recongnizable SAP visual brand through the software's interface.

Software interfaces have traditionally been focused purely on functionality with the onscreen elements being restricted to the most space-effective designs possible. This has left very little time or room for considerations such as brand, customization, and purely aesthetic affectations. Part of the focus of the Enjoy design initiative was introduce a softer, more visually pleasing aesthetic to the interface by incorporating concepts such as brand qualities, user customization and an emotional quality. In conjunction with the new Enjoy language’s addition of sophisticated color and redesigned controls, the new design adds a simple and effective layer of bitmap imagery into several screen elements for visual appeal. Examples of this are the image present just to the right of the logo on both the SAP R/3 and the SAP Web interfaces and the bitmap used as a background texture on SAP web applications.

For Branding

The bitmaps add their own level of brand recognition to the screen designs. Each of the images present in this upper right-hand corner has been selected and refined to represent the abstract qualities of the SAP Enjoy brand. They are all images representing elegant forms found in nature and each is considered to have it’s own Zen-like quality. This is designed to contribute positively to the overall SAP Enjoy brand and not specifically to the individual applications.

For Aesthetic Qualities

The simplest value of the use of imagery throughout the software is to improve the aesthetic quality of the overall experience. The bitmap serves as a natural-world respite from the otherwise hard edged and artificial onscreen forms. Secondarily, the image provides visual closure to this corner of the screen and complements the image of the SAP logo.

For Functionality

The most minor consideration is the functionality these images provide. The bitmap in the top right hard corner animates whenever the system is retrieving data from the network. This serves as a subtle visual reminder that the system is at work.

Selecting Images

The images are always to be from either photographic sources or from alternative photo-real renderings such as 3D illustration or paintings. As components of the Enjoy language they are not to ever be selected to represent functionality nor any other explicit factor of the host application. They are only ever selected based on their own independent compatibility to the stated Zen-like qualities as well as the photography’s own aesthetic quality.

In conclusion, this addition to the design adds a simple and effective layer of imagery into several screen elements and improves the visual appeal, brand recognition, and user customization opportunities of the interface.

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