Integrity

My focus as a brand man / designer has always been directed more to the brand exterior - how things look, feel and smell. It recently dawned on me that i don't pay as much attention to the brand interior - how things work, why they work and who makes them work. The latter, Brand interior, is actually more important because this is what the exterior is meant to mirror because if it doesn't you end up with a brand that lacks integrity.

I attribute this to the fact that i majored in Art Direction (design) and our focus was always on making shit look cool, fresh, out of the box (hate that term), trendy, funky, innovative and any other term used make creative’s feel better about themselves and the work that they do.

And because myself and my partner have been running our agency like Jomo Sono runs his soccer club, i was not only the business owner, i was the head designer, art director, strategist and head client liaison, as a result the agencies entire culture and work ethic was modeled around me, so for the past 4years i have been running an agency that has produced a lot of slick looking work but if I’m honest with myself, most of it lacked integrity.

2009, the most challenging year in all my 27 years on this earth taught me a lot about integrity, both personally and professionally. Where i used to spend 20% of time on research and 80% on design on a particular project, i now try spend time on projects as follows, 40% on research and 30% on design/concept and 30% on actualisation. The results have been rewarding.

When you take time discover current truths and unearth the real goals and objectives, strengths and weaknesses of yourself or a brand it is then very easy to design the exterior because you have a map. People and brands who represents themselves truthfully stand a better chance of success because people buy into the promise (brand exterior) and when the actual product delivers on its promise then the transaction is very successful and sustainable.

The image?

Mcdonalds. Is it a successful brand? Financially, yes. Is it a brand with integrity? No. So why does integrity matter? It matters because you can only lie to people for so long before they see through the lies and revolt. With Mcdonalds its even worse because their product not only give the consumer a skewed and false sense of satisfaction, it kills them. How is that sustainable?

Image by Bansky

Love & kindness nourishes the soul. Passion & patience nurtures greatness.

Ta,

JK