Branding is not complicated
First, let's recognize where branding starts: you, a customer, and a product/service.
It's really not complicated. But it is complex.
Your brand is not a thing, it's a lot of things. It's a system of things. There are two types of systems: complicated and complex.
A complicated system has a lot of shit going on, but is still predictable. It is the sum of its parts
A complex system has a lot of shit going on, but is totally unpredictable. A complex system is more than the sum of its parts
According to Google:
with [a complicated system], one can usually predict outcomes by knowing the starting conditions. In a complex system, the same starting conditions can produce different outcomes, depending on the interactions of the elements in the system.
THE SAME STARTING CONDITIONS CAN PRODUCE DIFFERENT OUTCOMES.
Remember the starting conditions? You, a customer, and a product/service.
So yeah, branding is not complicated. It is complex.
A brand system without customer interaction is predictable. Just look at any good brand standards manual. It might as well be a brand prescription. And like a prescription, a brand system without human interaction is pointless.
If the complicated system in a brand guide is supposed to leave a lasting impression, then you need a human to impress. And the moment there's human interaction, the system becomes complex.
When you do one thing it affects many things. And you don't always know if they'll be positive because humans are complex. So when it comes to branding, you can't fully anticipate the long-game results.
So what do you do? Watch. Listen. Pay attention.
Keep the things that work and lose everything that doesn't. No amount of imposing top shelf brand strategy or design is going to support a brand system if the humans don't give a shit.
✌️Rvw
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