There’s been a debate going on in the design circles. Is personal branding an altogether different beast than corporate branding? Even when it comes to something as seminal as logo design?
I think we should be approaching all logo design the same. A logo is meant to represent your brand identity. Your brand should stand the test of time. – Bradley Cisar, CEO at Riggs Communication
Logos and brand designs are supposed to do one thing well. Ok maybe not one thing only but everyone agrees that a logo is supposed to stand tall for all times, reflect on your company’s values, and be effective in the minds of your prospective customers.
”Good logo design is all about insight based design – no matter if its is person or company related. First of all you have to understand what the new brand is for, then you should find hidden needs of those customers/clients/etc. who expect a special offer or idea of that person or company using the brand. In best case you discover a need that no one asked before that makes it unique.” – Jan Jentsch, BRANSHAPE Corporate
However, not everyone agrees on the need to take a ‘uniform’ approach to logo design, arguing that makes for some very derivative design indeed.
“In design you should evaluate all possibilities for the project at hand. But restricting yourself to only a neutral and ‘objective’ way will result in a boring design. Especially when you want to present personality, you are allowed to be expressive and use emotion (not smileys). We humans are made into numbers for long enough. We are not a number, we are unique.” – Henk C. Meerhof, Independent Designer
If design was firmly rooted in facts, research and logic, that would rob most of the branding out there of the ‘personal’ essence. It is safe to say that great designers put some of their passion in their designs and this in turn becomes evident in the branding. True design is not hamstrung by any boundaries. And that is why personal branding needs to be approached in a different angle as corporate branding.
