Brand imagery: Omniscient Grocer
Omniscient Grocer is an AI-driven SaaS solution for retail grocers operating within a venture accelerator unit at Deloitte. Because we were functionally operating as a startup, I worked across all visual aspects of the project, from internal and external presentations to product design to marketing assets.
One of my many fascinating challenges was creating thematic imagery that communicated the concept’s both profoundly incisive consumer insights and a bold assertion of technology’s promises kept. Meaning, multidimensional human insights that are implemented with careful consideration for user privacy can facilitate new, and actual, freedoms.
When we spoke about customer and operational intelligence, I was aware of the danger of implying unwelcome surveillance. As I came to understand the project, I also saw the possibility that we could finally reverse technology’s historic trends of continuously introducing the increased time and attention burdens that plague businesses and their customers.
How could we express a sense of earned trust, as well as a positive alliance between individuals, businesses and technology? I explored many possibilities as I developed our visual vocabulary, and while I am generally not a fan of the many dots-and-lines motifs when it comes to depicting network intricacies, I wondered if there was a fresh way to see them.
Freedom from drudgery and repetitive tasks and freedom to focus on relationships—between business and individual, between individual and individual. Freedom from business and home management headaches and freedom to make last minute plan changes without setting off a disastrous domino effect on 4 or 400 other plans.
To go through one’s day, anywhere, with the confidence that needs like these are in intelligent, resourceful hands… If it could really be done, how liberating! Technology could at last be our wings.
Am I being overly optimistic? Maybe. But as I actively advocate for people and business goals in the product design phase, my optimism isn’t passive. The opportunities to inch forward toward a better future are one of my reasons to love design.
A note about brand guidelines
Having worked with major brands from Coca-Cola to Home Depot, I approached Deloitte’s guidelines with deep awareness of the impact any of my choices would make. Before even touching imagery, and regularly throughout, I familiarized myself with Deloitte’s brand principles and requirements. The system is complex and fluid, which is both challenging and freeing for an experienced designer. Thankfully, all assets were quickly approved by brand governance, with only minor adjustments to some of the peripheral assets.