Consistency In Design

Photo by: Louis Hansel @louishansel

How consistency is crucial to the design of products and services

Do you have a particular way you like your coffee or do you appreciate the accuracy in which your accountant files your taxes? I’m guess that’s going to be a yes to both of those questions. Consistency matters to you as a consumer and you a service provider. Whether you work for yourself or for a corporation, consistency is the foundation for streamlining your process and creating a satisfied customers. For this week, try to be aware of consistency in your life. Reflect on how consistency effects you as a consumer and how your consistency effects the personal and professional areas of your life. Make a list of inconsistencies and brainstorm solutions to create consistency.

Brainstorming

Photo by: Kaleidico @kaleidico

“It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one.” - Alex Osborn

“Thinking up” was a concept by Alex Osborn of BBDO ad agency in 1942. That same year, Osborn released the book, “How to Think Up,” which covers the importance of generating as many ideas as possible. The practice of “thinking up” saved the agency by increasing their revenue to over $100 million by 1953. Osborn coined the term brainstorming in his next book “Applied Imagination.”

Here are Osborn’s Brainstorming Methods that can be applied to most decisions or quandaries that arise.

1. Focus on Quantity

2. Avoid Criticism

3. Encourage Wild Ideas

4. Combine and Improve Ideas

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A pathetic side note confession: I saved my rejection letter from BBDO NY from twenty years ago. It was a long shot that I would have been hired so I was excited to simply have their letterhead.

"What's Your Name, What's Your Sign, What's Your Birthday...?"

…“What’s your wrist tattoo Bible verse say?” - Chris Lane

Photo by: Partik Michalicka @patrikmichalicka

Just kidding, this song popped into my head while writing about branding and logos. It’s great how certain things just connect like that. This type of connection is what a brand strives for, not song lyrics attached to an unrelated topic, but a thought or feeling related to an experience created by a company.

Have you ever wondered what the difference between a brand and a logo are and how they sometimes feel interchangeable? If you’re not a graphic designer or own a marketing business, I’m pretty sure you have. Especially if you have ever fantasized about having your own business. A brand IS the impression and benefits of their product or service. The brand is the stuff ya can’t see whereas the logo consist of an image, graphic, or a logotype (text without a symbol).

Brand = feeling/benefit + Logo = visual/supports the feeling/benefit

This week will be about personal branding and how even if you decided to work for a company until retirement, you can still create a professional brand image for yourself.

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