Not your style

One design trend that is very popular at the moment is vintage and I love it! I really like the muted colour palettes, flat graphics and retro type but I know it doesn’t suit a lot of companies and I definitely wouldn’t be using it for a client unless it was relevant.

Every few years design trends come and go. There was the ‘web 2.0’ look and the grunge approach of the mid 90’s, layered photo montages in the early 90’s and who can forget the fluoro palettes of the 80’s? Whilst trends have their place if you are serious about the positioning of your business now and into the future they are best avoided. If it’s super trendy now it’s likely to date pretty quickly which means in a few years time you will be either looking at a re-brand or risk looking dated.

When creating a brand it is important to consider the objectives it needs to achieve. It needs to appeal to the target market, stand out against competitors, be a reflection of the organisational culture, have the ability to be implemented across all livery and applications the company might need and most of all it needs to position the company correctly. There is no point packaging organic, handmade jam in a sleek jar with a 3D rendered label, it would just send the wrong message to the consumer. Just like packaging the latest high-tech gadget in a vintage style package would also be inappropriate.

The key when designing a brand is to get a really good understanding or the company you are dealing with and the product or service they sell and create something that is unique to them. It is more important to create a look that reflects the company or their product accurately than one that reflects the current trend. We often spend hours tweaking type or creating it from scratch just to get it to speak in the ‘correct voice’ and we deliberate over the feelings certain colour combinations create – not something that is likely to be achieved by following the current style.

A brand should be like your signature – truly unique and not easily replicated.