In Design, Story is Number One
Lately, it feels like I keep getting hit with the fact that story trumps all. Each critique, lesson, advice — it’s all been leading me to believe that the ability to create a story for people to believe in is the ultimate tool in design. At first, I thought if I made something pretty, look cool, people would want it. I guess that isn’t true.
Last week, I was asking for feedback on a brand guide I was creating for a startup tech company specializing in filtering terms and agreements for people and businesses to easily understand. I spent A LOT of time on the logos. Perfecting the curves, adding gradients– this is cool. I was sure of it. It’s a tech company’s dream image to be cool, modern, and edgy. Right?
Apparently that’s not really true.
When showing the class my logo designs, they were really apprehensive about how my logos were communicating the standards that the company stands for. Things like security, wisdom, and trust. It’s nearly impossible to not get a little annoyed when people begin doubting your work when you’ve spent so many hours perfecting your attempts. But (and this is another huge lesson to learn in the design field which is to take feedback with grace) it wasn’t communicating correctly.
I took a piece from one of my logo designs, flipped it around, expanded two pieces jammed a circle on top of it all and it looked a bit like an angel. Huh. That took two minutes. A guardian angel means security, so I went with that and my other design which I had spent a whole day on to show to the class. It was round two of critiques on the project, so we still had another week to work on the project after this go. I showed my concepts. Now this is where things get pretty terrible and turn into forceful learning material.
The concept I had spent a whole day on was instantly rejected for looking an awful lot like a sex toy. Apparently there was an award winning female masturbator a few years ago and this logo design was a spitting image. So that one was out.
My second concept, the guardian angel, stayed in the running. It perked some interest. It wasn’t the most fitting symbol but it had a story behind it, something people could grasp on to. A guardian angel. Ok, story, you win.
I went back feeling embarrassed but also found the whole situation a little hilarious. I am in school and thank god for that. If this were to happen out in the wild, I would have needed some time to lick my wounds. Yet I went back and began to create a story for the company to tell to its future customers.
I am currently settled on a brand that is founded on a sage-like wisdom. A logo which represents this power in the form of a crystal ball, that is able to look into the future and tell you what your future holds if you are to put your name to a document. The most secure one can feel is being able to read the future and this product does that. It’s been a lot easier developing a brand off of this story. Because it actually means something. It’s not just pretty. It’s relatable, and that means everything in design.
