DNA, Skeleton, & Skin
1. The DNA is the set of foundational truths in which your company stands on.
What, at the core, does your company do? What does it not do? Why does it exist (beyond making a profit)? Where is it going? What is the big idea the brand stands on? These are the foundational elements that should shape and form your culture and customer experience. This is your courageous stake in the ground. This is where great identities are truly born- not always in the head of a designer.
2. The Skeleton is the internal alignment that shapes your internal culture.
What is your big idea? Refresh the world? Organize the world’s information? The low-cost airfare provider? Defining a rally cry, and constantly championing it, brings focus to the hard-boned structure of an organization, and that internal skeleton (your culture) inevitably shapes the external world, the skin.
3. The Skin is the tangible external surface that shapes and determines people’s perceptions.
A direct result of the DNA and skeleton, the skin is your company’s face. The challenge is to design a flag that people get excited about and rally behind. Not just a logo, but a consistent and engaging customer experience, from first touch to last, that declares why you are different.
The temptation for most companies is to skip straight to the skin, missing the heart behind it all, and trying to form a beauty that is only skin deep.
A big thanks to Jeremie Kubicek who developed this model and inspired this blog.
- Blake