Designer Thoughts
by BETO LÓPEZ TRISTÁN, graphic designer + typography geek
I was recently inspired after I read this interview with Wally Ollins, a long time authority when it comes to branding and identity design. This guy has been around a while – since even before “branding” was
wally olins of saffron brand consultants
actually called branding!
What I found really interesting about this interview is how he speaks about collaboration and the team effort needed to create really inspirational branding. Good branding is not just about a strong identity or a cool logo, or even following the trends… it is about stating a personality across all the communication assets and possibilities of any given product or company. He mentions that his favorite or most significant project was the one where they could establish a strong system from the get-go, Orange, a mobile phone provider.
What this means to me, coming from a guy that has “been around the block” a time or two is that it doesn’t matter how hard we work, how cool the logo is that I create or how many ads a firm publishes, beyond the budget even; it is the clarity – and the consistency of the message we are telling and having it match the personality that has been given to the product, service or company that is most important. The actual origin of the word “brand” was a signal to identify cattle, to establish clear ownership and facilitate clear identification. If we build brands to that concept and extrapolate it towards a productive marketing and selling tool, we can say that this is one of the most powerful assets of any company, because it provides the user with a connection and a promise of who they are, and what we, as a branding firm, are giving them.
Great article – I suggest checking it out.
– B