Sometimes there is a certain expectation from a piece of commissioned visual communication work; an expectation not based on research, but merely on a “feeling” that it has to be a certain way — a case of comfortable “intuition”.

Brand identity design is not a beauty contest. To lower its importance when deciding on the budget details of a project shows a lack of responsibility. Viewing branding simply as logo design or wordmark typography is a dangerous starting point.

We see communication professionals and their customers sticking to such a shallow decision “strategy” when deciding on branding. As a consequence they then have to face the ugly truth: the end-users do not “understand”, or trust their product or service. And this failure can be really expensive!

The perception of the product, created by the designer’s and the customer’s biases, is not the key to its success. It is how people understand and experience your product that counts. As John Berger says, “the way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe.”

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Design work and market perception challenge our biases towards how we emotionally react to a brand.

Some argue that you do not even need branding to access a market, and that their experience is all the proof they need. This is worse than just a fallacy, as it is a misconception. It is the result of taking the value of a product as a whole, and not examining the influence of design on any step of the process.

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Focused branding can help a weak product. But it can also help a strong or more straightforward product; greater value is always better than great value.

Of course, if done wrong, bad communication or poor branding can also lower the value of a product*.

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Make what you need, not what you like.

If your product is not an art project, you can’t get away with it. In brand identity design, focusing on the target market is more sensible, no matter the clarification level.

You can easily tell when the direction is wrong, when one asks for a certain solution, instead of providing the details on the problem that needs to be addressed.

It is the branding professional that needs to direct this process, and educate the client if there is any ambiguity on how the decisions will be made. Branding does create value, even in a product’s early stages.

Most of the time, a well-structured presentation of the requirements is adequate to move things towards a desirable direction.

Having said that, it’s important to note that vague and unsupported negative feedback is sometimes indeed a valuable resource, if the focus is right.

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Feedback such as “My accountant didn’t like the logo” could be of some value, if the target actually is accountants.

Further reading

Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team
(Alina Wheeler, 2003) http://amzn.eu/0GFAzgR

Design is a Job
(Mike Monteiro, 2012) https://abookapart.com/products/design-is-a-job

Ways of Seeing
(John Berger, 1972) http://amzn.eu/gbgvH11

* the recent film “The Square” by Ruben Östlund shows an example of a communication failure in its greatness

Originally published at www.starttech.vc on December 14, 2017.

My accountant didn’t like the logo was originally published in Starttech Design Stories on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

So Ioannis, what is it that you do in Starttech?
Coordinate the startups’ and Starttech teams, and help them build a brand identity, plan effectively and avoid derailments.

What’s your proudest Starttech work moment so far?
This one over here.

And something your least proud of? Work-related please, let’s keep this as clean as possible.
Having not explained a design decision, and, as a consequence, having to accept work not worth doing (both for me and the startup). Really bad.

Right, let’s move on to the more important aspects of your daily routine. What’s the first thing you do when you get to the office?
Evaluate coffee requirements and make appropriate arrangements. Also ask peers if they watched that film I had suggested the day before.

Which tools do you use daily and do you have any secret tips and tricks which help your productivity?
A comfortable working space. A large screen also helps. A lot.

What would you say to anyone considering getting involved in a startup?
Avoid co-founders who get together a lot to do “brainstorming”; prefer people who do actual work.

For the Starttech Ventures blog, interview by Graham Wood.
This is a shorter version for the sake of context.

Originally published at www.starttech.vc on July 19, 2017.