October 16, 2006 @ 7:35 AM
Client: “We really like Apple’s branding. Can you do something like that for us?”
Designer: “I love what Apple is doing too, but your company’s a Mortuary?”
Often when I’m hired to do identity design, I’m given direction like, “Make it look Web 2.0-ish” or “Can you make it look really clean?” or “We really like red. All of our competitors are using it.”
Without some kind of roadmap, the conversation inevitably revolves around personal preferences regarding color, typography and what competitors are doing.
An Identity Spectrum gives everyone involved a common vocabulary for talking about how an identity should feel. What attributes should it convey and to what degree? It attempts to take something very subjective (an identity), and in some small way, measure it. It doesn’t serve as a Bible, but rather a starting point. A point of origin better than just our personal preferences.
Together, we plot 5 or 6 different points between different pairs of attributes on a chart. This helps us to quantify abstract concepts like “Conservative”, “Global” or “High-Tech”.
Identity Spectrums should be quick. They are impressionistic. When I’m deciding what goes on either end, I’m careful to make the attributes as neutral as possible. That is, I try not to put something inherently negative on one side, and inherently positive on the other. Imagine how you would plot this sample chart differently were you doing it for Walmart, John Deer, a funeral home or your company? What different attributes might you use?
Before presenting initial concepts, I like to review the Spectrum with the client. It helps everybody remember what we are trying to accomplish, and focuses the discussion more on how the identity is functioning to support our roadmap, and less on what we like and don’t like. I’ve found it to be pretty handy.
Comments
Some of the items in the identity spectrum you have here already seem negative to me. Perhaps this is just me?If you use small company on the right, perhaps putting "large company" on the left is better than "large corporation". Then you're deviating only on size not on the connotations of two different words.
The same could be said for some of the other categories. Perhaps "best price <-> high value" would be better? I can't think of a better balancing term that could match up with charismatic....
I was working on something similar with a "1-10" ranking for various attributes, but I like your sliding scale MUCH better. One of the things I was having trouble with was folks wanting to be "10" for everything. But your idea avoids that pitfall.*steals Mark's idea and laughs maniacally*
Walker - Good point. The attributes will feel different to everyone. Investment companies might find being a "large corporation" a sign of stability, and therefore a more desirable attribute. I also prefer not always making the attributes be exact opposites, because often the client will pin the needle all the way to one side or the other. It's more like "When mixing these two ideas, what blend is your company?"It's not a science, but rather a tool to shift the conversation towards how things "feel" and away from what people "like and dislike".
Josh - Thanks. Yeah I stole this idea from something I saw along time ago, and adapted it to my own purposes. Sometimes, without any numbers it's too "touchy feely" for people to get their heads around, but in most cases it allows for some "shades of gray" - which I think helps me as a designer.
Hmm... shades of gray. I like dark grey, i think you should design in that.I really like this idea, because so early on in the design process clients like to get into personal preferences. The sooner you can get out of that the better.
Brian - It's only natural. In the absence of anything else to discuss, the process is reduced to that of picking out a china pattern, or floral print for your curtains. I think we're all programmed that way.In the end I want to client to LOVE what I've done for them. But I find getting there is better acheived when we're all equiped to talk about how an identity functions vs. which typefaces we like, etc...
Mark, I really love this idea. I do, however, have one point of contention.I know you're trying not to make the characteristics inherently negative, but, like others have expressed, some seem a bit nebulous.
One in particular stands out to me: Conservative vs. Charismatic. In my experience, clients have mainly expressed conservativism as a negative characteristic, while charisma has a much more positive connotation.
Perhaps "reserved" or "traditional" could work better than "conservative"? Have you noticed any trends with that specific spectrum? Do clients usually gravitate more towards one or the other?
This is a fine idea, Mark. I've often wondered how to handle those clients always trying to design from the back seat, thus ignoring the fact that they hired you. This is a great concept to get the ball rolling and forcing the client to think.Now we just need to turn these sliding bars into a Dashboard widget with the a "Get Results" button, and it'll print out a ticket they can bring to the designer. You can then pull a design off the shelf and hand it to them. Brilliant!
"Design: Now Available over the Counter."
Dan - Conservative Vs. Charismatic is one of my favorite (and the chart is different for every client). This one really helps people separate the kind of design they like, from what's appropriate for their identity. Everybody wants to be charismatic, but how appropriate is it for a funeral home? "We put the 'Fun' back in 'Funeral'!!!"You're right through, there are a lot of words I could substitute there, but I've found really good discussions come out of that particular combination.
Clifton - It reminds me of the Pritchard Scale of Poetry, from Dead Poet's Society. That's why I try to keep it quick and dirty, and un-scientific. I'm not claiming to be able to quantify identity, I just want the conversation that falls out of the exercise. It helps.
I think Mark is saying that part of this is to inspire discussion and allow people to think outside the box of their own preferences. So even if someone says "Yeah, i want charismatic" you can say - "well, lets think about that, is charismatic what you want for a funeral home?" If the Identity Spectrum isn't being used as a part of a bigger conversation, then maybe one would have to be much more careful about what terms they choose, or abandon it all together.
This is a brilliant idea. Whenever I do identity work, I study the company in and out. I communicate with the CEO, etc., but I find it just as important to talk with employees. Even after that, I usually go with my gut instinct. I find it important to trust that instinct as a designer, but this graph can be so useful.Good design means research, research, and research. In the end we're all going on instinct (design = art = subjective), but the more research that can be done, the better the end result.
I printed this out for my own use. Thanks Mark.
Very good insight Mark. And thanks for the kind National Roofing comments!
Mark, excellent visualization of a very complex situation. I worked for a branding agency a few years back and we had each client fill out a form with questions like you have mentioned. One question that always helped me as a logo designer was:"If your company was a vehicle, which make would it be?"
and they could choose from several answers such as Yugo, Toyota, Lexus, Rolls Royce or even fill in their own. We would then ask them the same question with regard to several of their competitors. This proved invaluable to me as a designer to know not to 'over-design'.
Props for this post!
This is a great way to gather all kinds of information, not just creative stuff. It's a great way to get people talking about things also, aside from the data it collects.Anything someone can sort of "play with" is great.
I've always called it Bi-Polar Emotional Response Testing (BERT) but I really like how you've done it and "Identity Spectrum" sounds much better.
Hi...So, I've dropped off the face of the earth for a few months, and am just catching up on my favorite blogs--You've once again topped the list This is a fantastic post, thanks!
These are all good points and I'll use the Identity Spectrum (also like the name, branding tools with names, also a good idea). What I try to focus on when creating an Identity is emphasizing what is different about the organization. Don't you notice that the first research the client does on their own is review their competitors identity then tell us they want something like that? That is the opposite from what they should have in my opinion.
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