I came up with a couple of paragraphs a few nights back, that demonstrate what happens to a man when he drinks too much coffee, stays up too late and leans himself up (they’re not in the final cut, although I was tempted):
“We kept coming back to the list. We pinned it up on our noticeboard, we wrote down words on post it notes and stuck them on the fridge. We drew strange diagrams and argued about whether colours captured a particular emotion or whether a font was too austere or too boutique. We checked everything we made against the list and sometimes this meant starting over or making tough decisions. On occasion, we pulled our hair out and ripped up the bits of paper scattered on the floor, cursing the cat for putting paw prints on our prototypes and banged our heads on the wall, rueful of the day we had determined to visually express the concepts of ‘creative’ and ‘heavyweight’ at the same time.
These were good days, and the reason I mention them is that I want to make the point that getting branding right is difficult, but worthwhile. Successful branding is about opening up a compelling dialogue with your audience and offers you the chance to express your work in its best light. It should evoke consistent associations, while allowing room for creative freedom, debate and playfulness. It is about being clear about who you are and having the confidence to deliver consistent messages, within a consistent visual framework that increases the impact of what you do and what you say. ”
It was then, I knew for sure that I had passed over the threshold of Bill Hick’s simple categorisation of evil. I was an animal, and I was proud of myself.