When designing brand identity, one will think about in all its gloriousness. They will think about and look at all the possibilities of what could be with this identity. When it's all said and done, they send it out into the mean, cluttered world of the free market and all the rules change.

Much like raising a child, when designing an identity, it must be done with perspective.  We all know kids who grew up sheltered from the real world and once they enter it, they don't know what to do or how to behave.  Many decisions and harsh realities exist that they weren't prepared for.

The same is true for brand identity.  When we're designing and making key decisions, we have to ask ourselves the hard questions:

• How does it match up with direct competition?

• Are we saying the same things as our competitors?

• Are we using the same colors as the competition?

• What does it look like in a Twitter feed? As a favicon?

• What does it look like as a sticker on the back of a car?  Or a patch on a backpack?

• How will the experience with the brand match up to the claims?

Make sure your decision making process includes context.  Don't think about the identity in a vacuum because no one will ever experience it in a vacuum.  It needs to be prepared for the real world.

Back to Blog