The Lead

The process has to involve more than a "deep think" and then a handoff to a designer. I often refer to "articulation before art" because it emphasizes the need to get the branding down in writing before any design begins. Brand creative is not simply design or artwork. There is a transitional phase that we call brand expression -- that stage in the branding process when you begin to interpret the brand promise and architecture in a much more expressive way. That means developing both a verbal and visual palette. Thinking of it as a palette is important because the objective, as the effort shifts to a right-brained exercise, is to begin gathering an array of both words and graphics before any actual identity design begins. They don't have to work individually yet because we're just globbing them on the palette before we begin layering them together on one canvas.

For example, possible expressions or interpretations of the same brand architecture may be very human . . . another organic . . . .and another playful and high energy. Then with testing, you can see which direction is most expressive of the brand. The palette then becomes an array of words, images, colors and possibly fonts that creative team can use to paint the final picture of your organization's brand identity.