Listen to Ben Wright on Airbnb's design-led rebrand

When Ben Wright, the co-founder of DesignStudio, joined us recently for a take 5 talk, we were really hoping he'd share his experience of working with Airbnb on their rebrand.

Our wish was granted, and Ben gave us his insider's perspective on one of 2014's biggest design stories. If you missed the talk, or want to remind yourself of how a small London agency collaborated with a major Silicon Valley tech business, you can listen again here:

Whilst he did talk about DesignStudio's project with Airbnb, Ben didn't take us through the Airbnb creative, the "Bélo" logo, the colour palette. Instead he used this case study to talk about the value of design, and design thinking, being deeply embedded in a business. Two of Airbnb's founders, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, are graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design, and he felt this made quite an impact on their company. Ben talked about how design has created a point of difference, which has helped Airbnb to succeed.

This is a great example of a design-led branding project, but also a great example of a design-led business.

Ben Wright, Co-Founder - DesignStudio

We share Ben's belief that design can play an important part in the success of any business. Last year we carried out a qualitative piece of research which asked senior leaders in world-class companies including Barclays, O2 and Diageo how they used design, and what impact that has on their business. One of the main findings of the research was that design is most powerful when it has strong support throughout an organisation, but especially from senior management. You can find out more and read the 12 business case studies here.

We are continuing our Leading business by design research in 2015 with studies into the high-value manufacturing sector. The results will be published in June to coincide with our Design Summit. To be among the first to hear these new insights into the strategic importance of design in the automotive and aerospace industries, register today.