A recent New York Times article explores how scientists are trying to track creativity in the human brain. In the article, Rex Jung says “Creativity is kind of like pornography — you know it when you see it,” I liked that statement but wonder if it really is that simple in the real world. I believe the definition of what constitutes creativity, like pornography, is determined by the individual exposed to it. It seems as graphic designers, the way we promote and define creativity to our clients has changed.
Branding Starts With a Purpose Informing its Logo
Your logo is not something you change over night. If it does change, there needs to be some pretty strong rationale behind it — like the organization is repositioning itself in the marketplace and is launching new innovations to back up the change. So, my point is, a logo is something that should be well thought through and reflective of your organization’s brand essence.
That Dirty Word — “Creative.”
I needed my appendix removed so while being wheeled into surgery, I told the doctor I only budgeted $200 for the operation but if I liked his work, I had other organs he could remove down the line at a higher fee. I asked if he wouldn’t mind if I had a few people look over his work and make some suggestions on how he performed the operation. One of them was my 10 year-old son because he was a whiz at the game “Operation.” When I came to, I was in the gutter wearing nothing but a hospital gown and my appendix still rupturing.
I see nothing wrong with what I said as my work as a designer seems to be open to such negotiations and “design by committee.” Clients almost always have a child who does creative finger painting and therefore are used as barometers of good design. A recent client, while sitting at a bar had my logo design redrawn by an alcoholic college student on a cocktail napkin and he showed me it in a fit of inebriated excitement. After an hour of my showing him why pencil sketches wouldn’t translate to size, color and readability, he still didn’t understand why the drunken scrawls wouldn’t work.
Using Mind Maps to Provide Creative Direction
The thing about brand design is that it brings with it a communication imperative. We are a creative brand agency providing brand strategy and design to clients across almost every conceivable market. Our methodology is built-upon the belief that the role of brand is to serve the business. It then follows that the role of design is to deliver the promise of the brand. Many designers see this approach as unnecessarily restrictive, we we see it as not just completely necessary, but also the launching pad for unrestricted design with purpose.
The primary demand we place on our brand identity design is that the solution must communicate both the brand proposition and the brand personality to the market — something a solution of style alone can never achieve. Whilst the defined brand personality drives the style dimension of the design, the conceptual message provides the cues for communicating the brand proposition.
Do Clients Deserve the Blame?
We blame clients too often. We blame them for not having an understanding of what we do as designers. We blame them for not meeting deadlines, and for being upset with additional charges. We blame them when a project doesn’t come together as we had hoped, and we blame them for not providing a clear budget. I am guilty of each of these thoughts from time to time but the reality is the client is my responsibility and sometimes I forget that.
When Clients Ask to Spitball
For me, logo design is an exercise in minimalism, balance, and abstract forms. It is something that doesn’t lend itself to discussion but rather to exploration and experimentation on paper by one individual or a number of designers working individually and then coming together.
Designer Bait and Switch
What clients rarely ask when selecting a studio is “Who designed this particular piece, and will they be working on my project?” It is seldom discussed, but portfolios can contain work by designers no longer with the studio, or who will not be working on every identity project. Is there any value in seeing work you like by a designer who will not be directly involved in your project? What can clients and designers do?
Revisions, Redesigns and the Creative Process
The topic of revisions is one of the more confusing aspects of any design project and possibly even more so when designing a logo. A great logo is usually a simple image in perfect balance, where nothing can be added or taken away without having a negative effect. Because of this delicate balance, small changes to the design can have a big impact. There are times when the goals of a project, and therefore the client, are better served by starting over, rather than changing and weakening a presented concept. It is a subjective decision that needs to be made by the designer and client every time revisions to a presented concept are requested. The difference between a revision and a redesign is open to interpretation, so it’s important to provide as much clarity as possible.
My Clients are Paying for the Process First and the Logo Second
A well-designed logo is the distillation and prioritization of information regarding a specific set of behaviors, needs and goals. A logo created without critical thought often rings untrue, does not provide value and can in fact, do damage to a brand. A creative process ensures that clients have a substantial personal investment in their visual identity, as they should. A visual identity should be viewed as a long-term investment of time, capital and resources. Guiding clients towards making that investment is one of the functions of the creative process. When clients are guided through a creative process they are investing in exploring key business decisions and exposing critical issues they may not have been aware of or were choosing to ignore. They have to be able to answer the questions above for a designer to create an appropriate visual identity.
Sharing How You Got There
The site will serve both as a source of inspiration to designers as well as a platform to illustrate the benefits that only a customized and structured process can achieve. Unlike the logo-of-the-day sites that exist, all work shown will be the result of a client/designer relationship, so all designs will be from published projects.
