How Do You Draw a Bike?
We think we know what a bike looks like but surprisingly few people could actually draw one from memory.
This is harder than you may think.
Gianluca Gimini’s “Velocipedi” Project illustrates this in a fun and artful way with bizarre computer-generated, photo-realistic images he created from the sketches of people he asked to draw a bike from memory.
My point? Sometimes we just don’t know what we think we know.
We draw conclusions and make suppositions when we need to look more carefully and see more clearly. This is the value of hiring someone from the outside to take a good, in-depth look at things. Objectively and with fresh eyes.
You do things the way you do things and seldom stop to consider why. And sometimes the magic solution that will breathe new life into your brand or your product is lurking behind one uninformed and unbiased question. A question from someone who has not marinated in your corporate culture or grown up with your brand may seem dumb, but if you stop to consider it for a moment, it may bring some amazing insights.
Sometimes we’re in a hurry to get the design done and get our product to market. (actually, I’m sure that’s more often the case than not). But if we allow ourselves the opportunity of taking a step back and bringing in some objective opinion, we may find amazing possibilities lurking under those questions.
Questions like “why is the logo so big?” or “what’s the significance of this symbol on your identity?” or “have you considered changing the pack size and shape?”
These are big and sometimes frustrating questions to be asked when you’re well on the way with your company, but given consideration, they can open the doors to new customers, new product lines, and new sales opportunities.
Design is important. No question. But design that takes the entirety of the company, the brand, the product and the future plans of a company can be infinitely more important. It’s the difference between execution and long-term, strategic thinking. Between random blurts and considered opinion.
When was the last time you invited some “stupid questions” into your boardroom? Maybe it’s time.
Wondering about some of your corporate branding decisions? Think maybe you could do better? We’d love to bring a suitcase full of insight and objectivity to bear. Get in touch and let’s have a chat about what could be.
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