It's Art

I've been in the field of design for about 18 years now. There’s only one thing that I’ve been doing longer besides the obvious stuff like breathing, eating, sleeping, etc.

In all of those years I’ve dealt with a lot of brands and brand guidelines. As a designer I felt like they were unnecessary and hampered my creative style... I was too cool for guidelines! My art needed to flow randomly creating as it went along, spewing forth creative juices like a spit-take at the comedy club. Those things are restrictive!!

Now, as a Creative Director I not only see the value of brand guidelines, I help to create them (with the use of the audience and what they like in relationship to our corporate values). They are meant to build a consistency of look and feel, to communicate trust and value, and all of the other things a corporation, mission, or want to communicate. The brand guidelines are the rule book for play of any kind of interaction with the marketplace. Follow them or die!

The truth is somewhere in the middle. There has to be a balance. You do have to understand your audience and what will communicate your particular message the best but you also have to understand that the brand guidelines are not a rule book—they are not law—they are guidelines. Not every question can be answered in such a document. On the other side, there are some things that are virtually absolute and should be followed—logo treatments for example, fonts, colors, etc. Whatever components that your place values.

So what does that mean?

You have to learn as creatives to take what the business values and find your own creative space within that. It can be done, and more importantly, Should be done. It’s all a matter of building consistency within your marketplace, and consistency is a form of trust building. It may also mean that within your environment you have tighter or looser guidelines. Follow them, find the boundaries, and THEN get really creative by staying within those guidelines and Creating!

If you’re creative this shouldn’t be a problem.