My company Redwire Creative recently helped give a visual identity to the EnterChange, a consultancy that helps organizations learn about themselves and navigate into seasons of change.

Here’s the Visuals:

It’s tough to create a good logo. Even tougher to create a great logo. Logos are important for what they communicate. They’re important for creating mnemonic relationships between people and your organization. They are important to communicate for you when you can’t communicate for yourself. So here’s the question I’d ask you to answer if you’re jumping into a logo project for your organization:

What will your logo SAY ABOUT YOU…when you’re not there to SPEAK FOR YOURSELF?

Logos are gossipers. They talk about you behind your back like an 8th grader chatting on myspace about your pimples. So what is your logo saying about you behind your back?

• If your logo says, “I’m complicated.” you lose.
• If your logo says, “I look this way because my owner is too cheap to pay someone to make me look pretty.” you lose.
• If your logo says, “I think I’m adopted because I don’t look like my parent organization.” you lose.
• If your logo says, “I’m the logo for Org A and I look just like the logo for Org B.” you lose.

So, what  can you do to help your logo be on the same team you are?

Simplify.
Your logo can’t say it all; not even if you tell it to. If your logo requires instructions or a legend to map out and make sense of, then it’s not doing your organization any good. In fact, it’s likely a distraction from bringing people to you.

Emotify.
Ok, that’s not a word, but let’s pretend you’re going on a date with this hot new logo. At the end of the night, your hands lightly graze each other and you get all tingly inside. I know, a bit dramatic. But the point is, you want more. You had a great first encounter and you’re ready to go to the next level. This is all about an emotional connection. A desire to go deeper. Deeper, because you don’t know everything about the oganization, but you believe the encounter could be the start of something great. Your logo should share the same energy as your organization. That helps others know whether they want to have anything to do with you. Don’t be afraid to express yourself.

Burn.
You want to burn your image in someone else’s memory. That’s it. Recollection. Recall. Brining it back. That’s what it’s all about.  Like a branding iron leaving its mark, a logo should mark it’s territory in your brain. Don’t let it look like all the others. What’s unique about you that you can easily communicate? Make it plain, and make it memorable.

Today, Seth Godin took a pragmatic approach to design in a blog article that allowed him the opportunity to be accosted by designers all over the internet. Go ahead, have your opinions, I have mine.

He said,

“Why aren’t you (really) good at graphic design?

Ten years ago, you had a wide range of excuses for being a lousy visuals person. Starting with no talent, leading to no skill and going from there.

But now, in a world where it is expected that professionals will be able to make beautiful powerpoint slides, handsome business cards, clever bio photos and a decent website, it’s as important as driving. And easier to learn and do, and requiring less talent.”

And I agree. Design can be formulaic. Totally awesome design is not always formulaic. It requires sheer talent. But, the tools available these days make it easier than ever to make something that is not total crap. And really, isn’t the goal to always be a little better than you were before.

I’m not foolish enough to think as a designer that I’m a novelty act. Used to be, if you were a journalist, you worked at a newspaper. Now, there’s millions of people on the web with very useful things to say and stories to report that really can wow me with their precision at times.  There’s still a lot of total crap out there, but there’s a ton of people doing great work. It’s the same with design. The days of boutique design aren’t over, but the door is wide open for real innovation to happen that makes it easy for non-designers to make life more beautiful and communicate better. We should be thankful that we all get to partake in something that makes life a little less crappy.

Realistically, you can find design on the same continuums that other industries use as indicated in the awesome scale below. The language may be different, but 10 points is still more than 0.
75 points is still more than 30.
And a big step in the right direction is better than being total crap.

The campaign postcards aren’t over yet. Sure you’ve been inundated with them for the last year. How funny it will be to get one more handed to you by a friend or co-worker this week. 

Thanks to some graphics from GCC, we’re going to be diving into a series called Change We Can Believe In. 

No, it’s not about our excitement over the Obama victory. It’s about you. Your heart. Your growth. Our journey together. We’re making some changes at Sanctuary, and we want to let you know what it’s going to mean for all of us. Through it all, our goal is to help you become fully engaged followers of Christ…and now we’re making strides to help us all get there. 

ChangeThis has a fresh take on branding from Jonathan Salem Baskin.

Basically, Baskin is taking the approach that the old ways of creating “Brand Awareness” are dead. Getting awareness and recognition means nothing to the post-modern consumer who is longing for experiences in our society that is in constant change through the latest technical, cultural, and behavioral trends. 

You can’t afford to just talk about brands and branding in a post-branded world. You have to do them

10 Rules for Branding in the Post-Branding world

1. You Can ’t Brand Your Way Out of Reality
2. Say What You Meant to Say
3. Everybody is Selling a Service
4. Shoot For the Moon, Not the Stars
5. Integrate Over Time, Not On Content
6. There ’s No Time Like Now
7. Reality Has To Trump Virtual
8. Kill Your Mascot
9. No More Secret Codes
10. Talk is Cheaper Than Ever Before

Today’s post from Seth Godin really sums up my approach to marketing.

Often times, in my business, we’re working with clients who may have never had any marketing strategy, save networking. When we come in to design or redesign their identity or collateral, we have an approach that says, your materials should look every bit as good and connect just as well as your programs. 

But in the end, it’s our hope that programs exceed the expectation that is hyped through the materials we produce. We hope you blow away potential expectations that your consumers come to the table with…

I love the way Seth sums it up…

Make Big Promises; Overdeliver.

In the kitchen with Moby

Tony Morgan on Seth Godin…
Your Branding Sucks

FortyOneTwenty
Hot church media

A surly group of friends doing great work, from their passion, here and in Rwanda.
Scallywags – I’m continually amazed by them.

Safari is still the best browsing experience, but Apple still needs to fix a few things.
$10,000 exploit

This is a brilliantly well-done slideshow.

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Favorite lines:

It’s not what YOU say it is. It’s what THEY say it is.

The Focus Test:
1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. What does it matter?

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Last week I shared 3 Easy Ways to Lose Your Identity. This week, I thought I’d flip it around.

Maintaining your identity essentially means you will be intentional about looking on the outside like you really are on the inside.

1. In the words of Buddha, “Be One With Everything.”

In everything you do, maintain one front, one ethos, one spirit that is supported by the overall purpose of your organization. Don’t stray from your purpose. What drives your organization? That should drive your identity too. Remember that identity design is simply about making your outside appearance match the inner heartbeat of the organization. Don’t let the two go in different directions.

2. In the words of Outkast, “So Fresh, So Clean.”

Maintaining your identity doesn’t mean that the same look you had back in ’88 should still be lingering in ’08. Your audience changes and so should you. Freshen up. Clean out. Your logo might stay the same, but you can modernize your logo without changing everything. Subtle shifts in color to keep the palette current or even font variations can help you keep your look familiar to your long-term audience while growing and reaching new markets. Don’t be afraid to freshen up a bit.

3. In the words of Madonna, “Express Yourself!”

What’s brilliant and innovative about you. What do you do that sets you apart from the next organization? Your Identity should express yourself. Take all that is unique about you and let your audience know about it and celebrate it. If hip hop is your sound and your culture, then don’t be trendy and scenester. If you use flashy media in your worship services, don’t dilute your print materials by keeping them mundane. Your potential audience needs a reason to choose you over everything else in their lives. Show them why you’re unique and you just might give them a good enough reason.

]]> http://jeremyscheller.com/2008/02/28/3-ways-to-maintain-your-identity/feed/ 0 http://jeremyscheller.com/2008/02/20/3-easy-ways-to-lose-your-identity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=3-easy-ways-to-lose-your-identity http://jeremyscheller.com/2008/02/20/3-easy-ways-to-lose-your-identity/#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:23:39 +0000 jeremyscheller http://urbanjesus.wordpress.com/?p=184

1. Have too many of them.

Not everything in your organization needs a name, logo and stylesheet all to itself. When you overbrand, you dilute your core message. When everything has it’s own identity, you end up competing with yourself. It’s like Fight Club all over again.

 

2. Borrow it from Someone else.

It’s easy to get inspired by design. Somethings are just drop dead beautiful. But it’s hard to be yourself, if you’re trying to be somebody else. Be inspired, but design yourself, don’t design to be somebody else.

 

3. All Sparkle, No Substance.

Design is great, when it communicates truth. if you’re trying to sell yourself as more than you really are, eventually, people will figure you out. You can only fool people for so long. A candy coated brussels sprout isn’t going to hide the bitter taste when you bite into the core.

As a designer, I’ve been guilty of all of these, but I always strive to be a better communicator.

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