If a Creative Director, a client, or even a partner/friend gives this unkind feedback, it can be extremely hard to take. But it’s even more unkind when you start to label yourself in these ways.

This will almost always diminish your creative effectiveness unless you have some ways to counter it. And the good news is – you can. I have put together a list of creative mindsets, tools, and techniques that I wish I adopted earlier in my 20+ years of design career.

I wanted to share it because I often see creatives brewing in their own stew, lamenting about their creative block, imposter syndrome, lack of ideas, or even deeper than that – feeling like they’re not fulfiling their creative potential.

But there are plenty of ways to empower your creative genius to shine. And while I don’t claim that they will all work for you – these mindsets have helped me deal with the ‘dark side’ of creativity.

Take each for a spin and see how it fits. While some of these sound counter-intuitive, you might just find a solution to a year-long creative handicap.

Make friends with your own identity

You know that Golden Rule ‘treat others like you want to be treated’? It’s well-meaning, but in my opinion, fairly inaccurate. Everyone will be much better off if we treat others as they need to be treated. Like those 5 Love Languages. Why? Because everyone is different. What works for me may not work for you.

That’s why I’m very careful about sharing these tips not as the end-all-be-all cure for your problem but as a potential solution you could try. We all have certain traits, preferences, and life experiences. Meaning that different tactics and tools may be more or less useful, depending on our own identity.

Ever since taking my first personality test (and even before that when reading horoscopes my mother sent), I was fascinated to see how some of my identified traits help me to be better at follow-through. Or how certain characteristics make me appear cold and uninterested to those I’m talking to.

I am captivated by human nature. Always learning about what makes humans tick. I think that is why designers are best placed to create businesses of the future – we understand humans.

But it should all start by understanding yourself first. What makes you tick? What makes you unproductive? What habits, behaviours, or interactions tend to lead to successful outcomes? Naturally, this learning is an ongoing process. But the sooner you define your own identity, the more success you will have as a creative (and human being in general).

There are lots of tests you can take. More sources mean more opportunities to spot patterns and similarities. From ‘just for fun‘ tests to more career-specific ones, and more entrepreneur-focused tests. These are not meant to lock you into a box – but to help you spot your strengths and areas for improvement.

Lose your perfectionism

Do you sometimes feel like it’s your job to have a brilliant idea in the first few minutes of thinking about a problem? You might suffer from perfectionism. Do you believe that you need to get every detail perfect before sharing it with anyone? Yup – you’re riding the perfectionism train.

We are putting so much pressure on the end result because we expect it to be judged harshly. That fear won’t necessarily evaporate, no matter how long you do this. But it might get easier if you focus on your effort. You can control the effort you put in, but not always the results.

Think about playing chess with an opponent. You may plan to play ‘the perfect game’, but you’re also dependant on what your opponent will do. So you can’t expect a ‘perfect’ outcome every time – however, you can control your preparation and effort. Focus on that.

Procrastinate like a champion

Like many designers, I used to beat myself up for my ‘laziness’ because I’d often procrastinate throughout a mentally or creatively challenging task or project.

Hustle culture advocates demonise anyone who isn’t fanatically working their bones off every minute of every day. And it’s hard not to feel guilty even for going to the loo, or doing something else even remotely ‘unproductive’.

But what I’d found with my work is that structured, balanced procrastination enables me to explore and discover better ideas and solutions. Just like with design, where white space is required, you need to embrace these moments of planned boredom within your creative process.

As I mentioned, being ‘boring’ is one of the worst things you can be described as a creative, but there are plenty of studies conducted that boredom done right enhances creativity. Forcing yourself to work every minute might sound noble and productive, but it will very quickly lead to burnout and resentment.

Fill up the creative tank

As a 10-year-old, I used to hate reading. My mother would need to force and threaten me to read even 3 or 4 pages for school. Even attempting to read supposed classics such as Adventures of Tom Sawyer didn’t transform me into an enthusiastic reader.

It wasn’t until late into my 20’s that I’d voluntarily picked up a book.

You might already be an avid reader, and you might say “Well duh, books are amazing”, or you might be the way I was and think “Nah, you’re not convincing me”.

If you’re the latter, think about books as your superpower to connect dots. After all, creativity is all about connecting dots – combining sometimes unrelated concepts, ideas, and knowledge into something fun, unique, even daring. More books = more creativity.

If you’re the former, you also need to ensure you’re not just sitting in your area of comfort with your Harry Potter series and the like. Pick up books from different industries and of different genres. Pick up a few books on business. Books on technology. Personal development. Anything that gets you outside of your comfort zone tends to open up further possibilities for your creative up-levelling.

Block out time for deep work

It can be hard to imagine any kind of structure or process to creative work.

But contrary to popular belief, inspiration doesn’t come out of the blue. It often comes once you’ve allowed yourself to focus on some deep work related to the task to achieve that ‘flow’ state. Typically that’s something that requires a lot of mental energy and focus.

If you are constantly getting interrupted by notifications, it can be challenging to gain that flow state. Even for the most talented. So schedule (literally schedule it in your calendar) 3-5 time slots of at least 2–3 hours of interrupted work throughout the week. This is when you ‘lock yourself away’ from all distractions and disturbances.

That doesn’t mean NOT taking breaks to stretch or get up from the computer every now and then. It just means picking one main task to focus on and removing any notifications and other distractions.

Unlearn the answer

Even today, after 20+ years of working with clients I often still worry that I won’t know an answer to something important. I fear they will call me out as a fraud, take their money and leave.

Here’s a secret – it’s not your job to know everything about your client’s business or industry.

And even if you do feel you have your answer – bite your lip. Often our answers are based on our assumptions. And that lens we’re viewing everything through prevents us from spotting a glaring obstacle, insight, or opportunity.

Practice becoming a good ‘mechanic’ – seek to understand all the components of a problem first before you dive into solutions. How do you do that? Ask better questions.

Ask better questions

We often see this kind of advice from brand strategy experts and coaches on social media. But what does that even mean?

While there’s no magic-cure-all-solution, there are some general question guidelines you can try. Questions can help you gather more info so you can provide better recommendations.

And why-led questions can help you get more insights into someone’s decision. Good creative directors will often ask designers: “Why did you select this colour/typeface/image?”. But a why question puts us in a defensive state of mind. We automatically feel like we need to justify our actions. Emotions flare-up. You lose your objectivity. Your cognitive ability is diminished.

Next time you get a why question, imagine they’d asked “How did you arrive at this colour selection?” – and focus your answer on the process that got you there. Much easier to answer, while still providing the necessary insights.

A well-constructed how or what question can help you build trust with the other person while providing you the necessary info to make the next steps. It works whether you’re dealing with a client, a creative director, or even asking for feedback. “What does success look like to you for this project?” or “How will we know when we’re off-track.” are great questions.

You can also benefit from a how-question when generating ideas for yourself. Rather than thinking about a vague task “I need a great idea for this logotype” try rephrasing to a process-oriented how: “How might we create a logo that communicates X?”.

Deal with today first

One of the handicaps I see with designers, and especially with solopreneurs and freelancers, is that they get overwhelmed by the massive task they have in front of them.

When you start to think about everything that needs to get done with a project, it’s hard not to. This renders most of us frozen, unable to perform.

But remember how you eat an elephant? You focus on the first few steps you need to accomplish, rather than the overall goal. Accomplishing each small task will inevitably lead you towards completing the overall task as well, without feeling overwhelmed.

Assign specific goals and subtasks for your bigger task, prioritise them and get to work.

For me personally, I found that a prioritised To-Do list helps me to focus my energy. Although, instead of treating the To-Do as a ‘To-Day’ list, I think about it as a Weekly list. That means you’ll have the opportunity to allow for plenty of planned procrastination moments, time blocks for deep work, and other inevitable distractions you’ll be faced with during your days.

Remember: most people overestimate what they can achieve short-term (i.e. in a day) and underestimate what they can achieve long-term (i.e. in a week/month). The compound effect of small accomplished tasks will help to build the momentum to achieve those bigger goals.

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MAGIC /noun/ the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.

Whether coming up with a strategy-led brand name, creating a packaging design for your product, or seeing overarching visuals like logo and sub graphics take shape. It can all definitely feel like magic happening before your eyes.

And perhaps this is because strategy in itself can often feel a little ambiguous until you see something concrete in front of you.

Quick sidebar: if you Google ‘how to translate brand strategy into visuals’, you will get plenty of articles about the pillars of brand strategy required to make this happen.

Things like uncovering insights about your target audience, defining a brand personality and values, defining your tone of voice, looking for a gap in the market, and more to define your strategic positioning that will guide everything else. 

So to spare you reading duplicate content, I will assume that you have already gone through some kind of a strategic process to define those elements. And instead, I will focus on some practical examples that you can start implementing in your own business or for your clients.

Firstly though, why should you listen to me?

This is a valid question. Thank you for asking.

With so many ‘branding experts’, especially with the rise of Instagram and other social media platforms where a new copy/paste ‘expert’ pops up every time someone in the world sneezes, you’d be forgiven to feel skeptical.

I’ve had several creative ‘lives’. In one of my past lives (a decade ago), I worked as a lead designer at a web agency. For those of you with good memories, this was when Macromedia Flash was just becoming popular and every website owner wanted a cool animated intro.

I helped to run a web development team. Responsible for overseeing the development of apps, websites, interactive kiosks (also a thing back then). And they called me the interpreter. Why?

I seemed to possess the uncanny ability to translate the requirements from visuals to functionality and vice versa when other designers on the team failed. 

Later in my other creative ‘lives’, Creative Directors only wanted me to execute a strategy, and business owners wanted to work with me directly after seeing their brands come to life visually. 

All of this considering I see myself as only an above-average designer.

After 20+ years into my journey within the creative industries, I’ve understood something. The ability to translate strategy into anything is my superpower. Similarly, I could reverse-engineer visuals or a brand name back to strategic insights that might have influenced its creation.

So rest assured, what you will find in this article is not just stuff I’d read in a blog or a social media post. It’s been applied to probably thousands of real-world projects.

Where do you start with translating a brand strategy?

Before you create anything (a brand name, a logo, visuals), you will need some sort of a checklist. That checklist will need to be based on those strategic insights, and you will use it to test the validity of whatever it is you’re creating.

In most cases, a roadmap for future brand and marketing activities will be generated following the strategic workshop. And you will have access to the previously mentioned brand strategy pillars (brand values, customer needs, etc). 

So your checklist can either be generated from those individual pillars or by unpacking them from the distilled Positioning Statement created for the brand in the strategy stage.

Let’s take a look at an example. A procurement business I worked with to create a new logotype. This was their positioning statement.

Through innovation and technology, we are changing the way procurement is implemented, allowing us to find creative solutions for our business partners. We will challenge you to look past the obvious solutions so that a step-change solution can be delivered. This renewed approach will give you deeper confidence and control over your contracts and suppliers.

And from that I’d unpacked four key objectives that I wanted my logo to convey:

1. Create a brand that feels like a catalyst for change, with visual cues of ‘different thinking’
2. Convey that the company focuses on unique solutions for clients, not one size fits all
3. Position the brand as a partner for the client rather than another transaction (most of the competitors were cold and corporate in nature so we wanted to be positioned as a human brand)
4. Convey innovation, providing creative solutions, and going beyond the obvious

Naturally, this should stimulate plenty of ideas to generate visuals for the logo design or other deliverables. And similarly, these become objective anchors and items you can ‘check off’ a list whenever validating or presenting design options to the decision-makers.

You can use a tool like the Morphological Matrix to list your objectives, then generate ideas for each, and then mix-and-match until you have some novel and unique ideas, while still objectively communicating the desired aspect/s for that brand.

Grab a copy of the Worksheet that contains the Morphological Matrix and other idea-generation tools by joining this Creativity Challenge here. 

Another useful framework for generating the checklist

I will begin by saying that frameworks aren’t something that should be implemented blindly. Everything is contextual. A framework is only a toolbox that helps you to frame the work.

But ultimately, this simple framework can be a great start to create a valid checklist. It can even be implemented regardless of whether you have a brand strategy document and insights to work with or not.

Whenever I create a checklist I make sure to cover each key aspect of a brand that is important to communicate. 

At the very least, these will be:

1. What is the brand’s customer’s pain point/s?
2. What is the brand’s promise or story?
3. What is the brand’s USP or differentiation?
4. What is the brand’s customer’s transformation?

Customer’s Pain Points – What are the key pain points, challenges, or obstacles that customers might be facing when using similar products or services?

The Promise – What do you promise to your customers if they use your product or service?

The USP – What makes your product or service different?

The Transformation – What happens differently when your product or service is implemented?

For each of these four sections, distill the answer into 2-3 keywords that you will then be able to use as your ‘checklist’ for creating brand deliverables. 

When you’re generating the adjectives think of them in the context of a trait for your brand as if it were a person. These make it easy to generate ideas for your business name, product name/s, logotype ideas, a tagline, or virtually anything else.

So let’s say if Google were to do this exercise they might end up with something like this:

Customer’s Pain Points – Too many distractions on other platforms to enable a seamless search. You might generate adjectives like seamless, minimal, easy.

The promise – Create a search platform accessible to all humans. You might generate adjectives such as accessible, convenient, universal.

The USP – Predictive search recommendations based on data collected on each user’s preferences. Adjectives might be well-informed, intuitive, resourceful.

The Transformation – As if by magic, users can find more relevant results than anywhere else. Adjectives that come to mind are magical, dynamic, wise.

Can you see how Google’s brand, logo, and overall interface all play into and communicate these types of adjectives?

Can we have more examples please, Ilya?

Speaking of Google, let’s take a look at a few other well-known brands. And try to see if we can reverse-engineer how they might have created their visuals or other brand assets.

Example number one 

We believe in making the whole world a big community that we all belong to. We connect our guests with unique authentic local accommodation experiences provided by our host at competitive prices anywhere and everywhere, utilising the power of technology.

This is a positioning statement for a brand you most likely have heard of. Can you guess the name?

That’s right. Airbnb. 

They do a great job connecting to the Customer Needs of belonging and community, by using inclusive, inspiring language and imagery choice and creation of sub graphics. 

Their icons are friendly and inviting, projecting a feeling of warmth and belonging. Airbnb carefully considers every communication and element of its website to make sure it communicates in a way that will resonate with its customers.

Example number two

Entertainment, like friendship, is a fundamental human need; it changes how we feel and gives us common ground. We want to entertain the world. If we succeed, there is more laughter, more empathy, and more joy. We believe that great stories are universal: they come from anywhere and are loved everywhere.

Let’s see if we can guess the brand from the above statement. 

Entertainment. Universal stories. 

If you guessed Netflix, you would be correct. The way they live and breathe through their culture and values is evident in the way they approach their business. Netflix is one of the few platforms that doesn’t interrupt viewers’ experience with countless advertisements.

But it’s also clear to see how they might have approached the design of their now-iconic red logo and the ribbon N symbol. They say that the N brand symbol represents connection and a never-ending stream of stories to our subscribers, whilst the arc in the full logo version is a nod to the vintage CinemaScope lens. But you can see how it also manages to allude to the ‘globe’ and ‘world’ references from the statement above.

Example number three

To offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low, that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. To create a better everyday life for many people.

No golden stars or medals for guessing this brand. IKEA is a great example of staying current in terms of its service offering, whilst remaining true to its values and mission. But what about the connection between their strategic pillars and the brand execution?

The logo wasn’t always blue and yellow. But cleverly, IKEA recognised the opportunity to reference their Swedish heritage, while simultaneously representing trust, openness, happiness, optimism, and imagination – all key pillars for the brand. 

And you can also see how the current logo references the globe and world through the use of that oval shape, alluding to ‘many people’. While the rectangular logo shape may allude to the strong brand pillars and provide structure for the brand (as well as their furniture being stable, functional, and reliable).

Now over to you

If you enjoyed reading this article, consider signing up for the Studeo Insider, and receive more insights like this one. If you know someone who might enjoy this article, please share it. If you have any questions or would like a chat, please reach out via email or on Instagram, I’d love to hear from you!

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Having said that, one of the most frequent requests I get from designers wanting to dive deeper into brand strategy and strategic design is book recommendations.

I’m all about empowering you with additional insights. And books have been a huge resource in my own journey to becoming the (strategic) designer I am today. So I’m creating this list with the aspiration that it will help you to upskill as well. Plus also it will be an easier place to send people to whenever I get yet another book recommendation question.

I’ll preface this list by saying that not all books mentioned here are ‘brand strategy’ specific. And there’s a reason for that. To me, to think more strategically means having the ability to see the bigger picture. To be able to see the bigger picture often means having just enough knowledge about lots of different areas. That enables you to spot the gaps better when you’re talking to clients.

It’s much the same when you work as a creative director or another leader responsible for a cross-disciplined team. The shoes of that role can be much better filled by someone with a deep generalist makeup rather than a specialist. Hence why lots of books here are not JUST on brand strategy. Some are on building a business in general, others on marketing, a few on influence and communication skills, and more.

Let’s begin.

1 How to win Friends & Influence People

What?! A self-help book?!? Hear me out – Dale Carnegie’s books have made a massive impact on my development as a human being in general and as a creative. Many of the concepts in How to win Friends & Influence People were somewhat obvious and yet enlightening at the same time. I often return to the many notes and scribbles I’ve left in my copy, reminding myself of those timeless concepts taught. Although on the surface this particular book has very little to do with branding, the mindset shifts in interacting with others have enabled me to nurture better empathy, communication, negotiation, and influence skills. All crucial if you want to have your ideas be heard and implemented by clients, partners, and peers.

2 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

As authors, Al Ries and Jack Trout argue, everything in nature has laws that most things adhere to, so why not marketing. Although I can’t say I agree with every idea in the book (a few things have changed since 1993), The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing does provide a great snapshot of how marketing works. And if you want to get more into the world of brand strategy as a designer, you will definitely need to get fluent in marketing. That is if you want to be able to influence marketing managers and key decision-makers of a business. Not to mention, having the added insights to base your strategic recommendations on.

3 Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind 

Since I’d already brought up Al Ries and Jack Trout, I might as well mention their other behemoth contribution to marketing – their book on Positioning. Many brand strategists I’ve spoken to who worked for the larger marketing and branding consultancies like Interbrand and Landor still use the ideas from the book as the foundation for their frameworks. The book is all about uncovering, defining, and communicating that one place that you can ‘own’ in consumers’ minds – positioning. A crucial skill to master for brand strategists, and one of the most critical components of my own brand strategy framework.

4 This is Marketing

While we are still on the topic of marketing (I wonder how many of you designer friends out there are rolling your eyes by now), we need to consider more up-to-date views on marketing as well. Like Seth Godin’s book, This is Marketing. Seth Godin’s concept of permission marketing is one of the reasons I started getting more interested in marketing in the first place. Up until that point, I’ve looked at marketing, on par with sales, as a sleazy one-to-many series of bombardments, ramming products down people’s throats. This is Marketing opened up a different perspective for me of how marketing can be a force for good and how it can be made more customer-centric.

5 Company of One

Paul Jarvis, the author of Company of One, is an entrepreneur with whom I really resonate. The premise of this book is that while many businesses tend to focus on quick growth, expansion, and revenue, there is an alternative way to business building. And that’s to create a more automated and profitable business that enables you to have more freedom and autonomy for the things that you love doing outside of your business. Staying intentionally small or finding ways to outsource, in order to keep business simple. This kind of perspective is what’s helped me to embrace concepts like MVP in launching my own business initiatives, products, and campaigns, as well as those of my clients.

6 The E-Myth Revisited

If you want to do a better job of getting into the shoes of your clients and understanding the challenges that many entrepreneurs and business owners face, whatever stage of a business they are at, then you’ll find The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber really insightful. The book draws the distinction between working on your business and working in your business, showing how systems and processes can improve the businesses’ productivity and effectiveness. This kind of perspective can help you uncover and recommend solutions and opportunities beyond just logo and colours, once you have the chance to quiz your clients and experience how they run their businesses.

7 Designing Brand Identity

While I have mixed views on concepts like deliberate differentiation for brands (I think there’s a time and a place for that, but not a hard-set rule), I do think that Alina Wheeler’s Designing Brand Identity provides some great structure and process to follow for designing cohesive overarching brand identities. It also offers some very helpful perspectives on helping you change your mindset from ‘I’m just creating visuals’ to ‘how do I help create more value for my clients’ – something many designers I’ve spoken to still struggle with.

8 Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

Finally, a strategy book! Were you wondering if I’ll ever get to one in this list?! I’m always trying to see multiple perspectives in whatever I tackle, and the title of Richard Rumelt’s book Good Strategy, Bad Strategy immediately drew me in. I resonated with many concepts in the book, like needing to approach strategy in a more holistic way. Larger organisations and businesses tend to operate in silos and are managed in a chain-link manner, meaning that they can get stuck in a ‘low-effectiveness gear’. So if you’re dealing with a business like this, it will be difficult to have them implement and adopt your strategic recommendations if you’re a branding professional. Unless you find a way to address that with your client early.

9 Creative Strategy and the Business of Design

Another book that I knew was my kind of resource, directly from the title. In my own content here, as well as over on Instagram, I always talk about the importance for designers to develop their soft skills. Design skills will only get you so far. That’s mostly due to the fact that I see myself as an average designer, so I try to overcompensate by developing additional skills like negotiation, communication, and others so it balances out. Now imagine if you’re already an ace designer, who’s got the creativity part covered. What Douglas Davis will teach you in Creative Strategy and the Business of Design will empower you to gain the business skills and insight needed to be seen as a valued partner, not just a creative service provider.

10 Branding: In Five and a Half Steps

In Branding: In Five and a Half Steps Michael Johnson offers probably the most simplified branding process I have seen. And that’s great, actually. The thing is, there is a darker side to some brand strategists – overinflated egos. Hence the 75page strategy decks that are designed to stroke it, rather than provide something genuinely usable for their clients. Those decks tend to be filled with a lot of jargon, aspirational and ambiguous terminology, and language that’s hard to translate into anything actionable. And I think that’s largely because those strategists need those bulky processes, dozens of diagrams to illustrate the client’s brand values, and expensive-sounding terminology to justify their hefty fees. Instead, Michael Johnson offers a refreshingly simple take on branding, a field that is unfortunately full of pseudo-science.

Now over to you

If you enjoyed reading this article, consider signing up for the Studeo Insider, and receive more insights like this one. If you know someone who might enjoy this article, please share it. If you have any questions or would like a chat, please reach out via email or on Instagram, I’d love to hear from you!

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Different types of logo designs.

I find that logo designs can be divided into two types. First category is reserved for logos that are aesthetically pleasing but unimaginative and show no signs of creativity (and with current software it’s so easy to churn them out). I personally prefer the second logo design category – logos that carry a well thought out idea or concept and can stand the test of time.

For years I have worked in design studios. I’ve outsourced work to freelance designers and managed external resources. I’ve also ran and participated in portfolio review sessions with design students. Needless to say, I have seen a lot of logo design projects. I’ve seen some very strong logo designs and some poor ones. And I’ve also seen beautifully designed logos that are weak because they lack meaning and would age very quickly.

There is one common drawback that stands out with the latter.

Enter the $5 dollar logo designer.

Let’s examine a scenario – a designer is tasked with creating a logo for a company, and is keen to impress their new client. They dive in and start exploring design ideas for a logo, often applying the current trends. However they give very little thought to the objectives of a brand and concept behind the logo.

With this type of approach, you might as well pay $5 for the logo created (tragically we know what kind of logo $5 gets you). Why? Because in a few months time, when that particular design trend passes and the logo looks aged, you will have to go through the process once again. Only to be stuck with another logo good for a few months.

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.

There are lots of online classes and tutorials out there teaching designers how to create a logo using grids, golden ratio and other design principles. These are all fantastic, useful and you may even say vital for a well balanced design. However what I always preach to design students is that a logo needs to work both from an aesthetic as well as a conceptual point of view. I even created a class about it, because I felt so passionate about the topic! You can find out more about the class  ‘Creating Conceptual Work: Logo Design with Meaning‘ here.

Logo designers debate – concept vs. aesthetics.

There is a large group of designers claiming that a logo is just a logo. It should be pretty, perhaps clever – but ultimately it is just a small piece of the larger brand puzzle and doesn’t need to do much.

It’s true that a logo is only part of a brand. However a logo can often be the first and only impression for a new customer, so you need to make it count!

I like to think of a logo as an ‘Amuse-bouche’ for a brand.

For those not familiar with the term, amuse-bouche is a single bite-sized course in a restaurant, typically preceding other courses that follow, and is preselected by the chef. The function of an amuse-bouche is to offer a glimpse of the chef’s style and to set the expectation for the guests, and it has become a showcase of the artistry and style of the chef.

Imagine then receiving a bland and uninspired amuse-bouche,  which would set your expectations for the rest of the meal. Or perhaps worse – getting a delicious amuse-bouche only to be tragically disappointed by the rest of the courses.

The power of a great logo design introduction.

So you can say that a logo is a single introductory bite of a brand. It has to provide an accurate introduction and convey the essence of the business, ensuring it matches the personality of the rest of the brand components and communications.

And you can only do that with a proper strategy, conceptual thinking and asking key stakeholders quality questions, rather than designing another ‘pretty’ logo with no meaning.

When a logo is a part of a larger visual system (otherwise known as a brand identity), which is based on a solid brand strategy, it can certainly take some of the pressure away from the logo. However if a logo fails to convey the essence of a brand, or sets the wrong expectations for the customer, I believe you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

Ultimately a logo needs to strike a balance between aesthetics, simplicity, relevance and meaning, in order to last a lifetime. Otherwise be prepared to spend a lot of time and money on those $5 logos!

The post The Harsh Reality with Logo Designers Today appeared first on Studeo.

At the end of 2018 we’ve made some internal predictions in design and marketing, some of which already began to gain momentum in 2018, whilst others had the potential to blow up even more – so let’s see which are still relevant right now.

Here are our top 5 design trend predictions for the rest of 2019:

Trend 1: Bold, Highly Saturated Colours.

With digital design being more and more prominent, the bold, oversaturated, almost fluoro colours, are on-point, and we expect this trend to continue to grow bigger, well past 2019. If you’re looking to rebrand in 2019, and want your business to stand out, maybe it’s worth considering a more unexpected colour scheme for your brand (before it becomes the norm).

Project by Ali Ozden

Project by Sagmeister & Walsh

Trend 2: Typography Take Over.

There are so many great typography artists out there, and many brands are embracing typography as their hero. Sometimes even to the point of where the typography becomes the principal face for the brand, removing the need for imagery. It can be a an appropriate branding move for a business with no imagery to show, but can also take a lot of courage for a brand to pull off.

Project by Beetroot Design

Project by Snask

Trend 3: Animation Galore!

There are few things capable of bringing design to life other than animation. Animations are engaging and interactive, and can transform even the plain design into something full of character and personality. Granted, animation is better suited for specific mediums, but with digital medium become more and more prevalent, this trend is likely to keep growing in 2019!

Project by Re Agency

Project by Ragged Edge

Trend 4: Handcrafted Illustrations!

Similar to the typography trend, a lot of brands are opting to use custom, tailored illustrations instead of imagery, to create a personable and human feel for the brand. The illustration styles can vary a great deal, as every illustrator has a unique ‘voice’. This is why it’s important to properly scout an appropriate illustrator that can accurately represent your brand’s personality.

Project by Bigfish

Project by COLLINS

Trend 5: Rebelling Against Grids and Uniformity.

In order to communicate your brand’s bold and creative personality you need to demonstrate how you’re ‘breaking out of the box’ and doing things differently visually. One of the ways this can be achieved in design, is to use open compositions and ignoring the grid structure. To further create more drama and movement, textures, glitch effects and seemingly random graphics are often also added. This method can create a lot of ‘noise’ and attention for a brand and ultimately set a very unique tone for your business. Ultimately each new marketing item you create will feel like a distinctive piece of artwork.

Project by Snask

Project by Art Nikitin

Special Mention: Virtual and Augmented Reality

I expect that virtual and mixed reality will only continue becoming more ubiquitous, as there is a conscious push from brands to inject movement and interactivity into traditional mediums. Mark my words – VR and AR will be everywhere at the end of 2019 and beyond!

Is Your Business Ready for a Rebrand?

If you’d like to review your current brand’s visual identity, then get in touch today and let’s transform and grow your business.

P.S. If you’re looking for more up-to-date trend reports, I suggest you check out designrush.com/best-designs

The post Top 5 Design Trend Predictions for Brands in 2019 appeared first on Studeo.

We love a free font as much as the next designer, so as a little treat we have compiled a list of our favourite ten fonts you can use in your project right now. Best of all, they are free!

Feeling the love?
We would be happy to see how you’ve used these fonts in your own projects. So reach out and say hi, and spread that fuzzy feeling all around!

The post Free Fonts We Love, That You Can Use For Your Business appeared first on Studeo.