I had bilateral knee surgery Tuesday afternoon and have since been enjoying a whole new view of life—namely the patch of blue sky above the dumpster outside the bay window, through the frame of my bandaged feet propped on the arm of the couch.
Needless to say, this has left me with a great deal of time (but very little energy) to think…
According to my [very capable] surgeon, the primary reason arthroscopy works so well is that it redirects the body’s healing resources to address the real problem. When traumatized in any way, the body will react immediately to what it considers the greatest threat—outside infection. If the skin (the body’s armor) has been compromised, it concentrates energy on healing that breach, even if the more serious injury is actually below the surface. With arthroscopy, the surface incisions are very small (3-4 slits each about a centimeter long) allowing the body to quickly seal itself off from infection and get to work healing where the real damage is.
What’s all this got to do with branding, you ask? Perhaps nothing. In which case you can blame the Percocet soup I’ve been swimming in the past 3 days and tell me to go back to sleep. But perhaps…perhaps it presents an interesting paradigm.
Think of a brand, just for a moment, in terms of the body: corporate culture forms a skeleton to support the vital organs of products and services. Core values and goals direct activity and user experience is at the heart. Brands have skin too—and some could definitely use a face-lift. It’s tempting, when presented with such a brand, to immediately reach for the design scalpal and carve out a 10� incision (the way my knees would have been done 10 years ago.) But, the more we as designers/consultants abrade the surface of a brand (the terrible logo, the hodge-podge website) the less likely we are to get to address the real causes of the client’s “pain.�
If, instead, we take an arthroscopic approach; carefully evaluating and making only the surface “incisions� absolutely necessary, we might be able to help the client direct those “healing� resources to the deeper problems (inconsistent user experience, poorly defined target audience, weak messaging etc.) and revitalize the brand from the inside out.
In the end, isn’t that better for everyone?
The much more lucid thoughts (from presumably un-drugged designers) that sparked this entry can be perused here and here.
I hope to find yours here.
So impressive, SArajoy.
In taking in folks like you, I sometimes think there's this club to which admittance is impossible except by chance... but I do enjoy standing back to watch the genious.
You make the world more pretty. Thanks.
I like people, who can find relations between such different things. It is everywhere and you got some advantage before others when you see that things. So thanks for showing it to us.
I agree that bad branding/marketing can be a reflection of other problems, but in most of the cases I've dealt with, it's a matter of simple ignorance. The company often just doesn't know the importance of good branding, and, being money-minded business people, spending money on brochures and a website seems superfluous. The value of good marketing is rarely known among business/financial types (at least the ones I've known).
I think the designer's role is more than Arthroscopic. The designer is in the burn unit scraping off dead skin and grafting on new, fresh material so the company can grow into something smooth and wonderful. The changes should be direct, clear-cut, and undaunted.
Thanks for the comments, all.
Clifton~ Well said. You make some good points. I think I may have come across too narrow in my expression. The way I see it, there is a good deal more to a brand than the logo, brochures, website etc. A brand is a promise. A promise of an experience. It goes so much deeper than the public face of an organization. And while debridment and grafts may give it a new face (which of course is part of the fun of being a designer...and which, as you pointed out, is best and least painfully done decisively) if there is something wrong at the heart of the brand, it's only a matter of time before the new face, no matter how lovely it is, becomes sallow and lifeless. Thanks for the counter-point, friend.
I think we agree, we're just discussing two different sides of the matter. In my current and previous interactions with business, I grow weary of the aesthetic ignorance/apathy of most of the corporate world. Worse yet, facing many of the common designer struggles of "We don't need a new design" or "We don't care."
A pillar under Apple's business model has been a focus on aethetics, and it's making them wildly successful. That same attention to design should be had everywhere.
Oh my God! I found your site through CSS Princess and this must be among the most beautiful designs I´ve ever seen! You are so talented!
Hey Sarah, I found your site through WebCreme. Your site is beautiful and I love how you articluate your thoughts. A client came to me yesterday and said: "I want a brand like Coca-cola.... design me a logo." This is not the first time I came across such request. I grow to like it... because I would tell him: "your logo is not your brand. Your brand must be developed from inside out....." Most small business owners don't know much about branding. But they are good at what they do - products and services. It's the consultants' job to fullfill that need. Hopefully we can do it well.
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Awsome post !! What blog platform do you use on your site ?