Nothing for me without me

Brands are no longer static, owned by businesses or individuals. The world is changing, people want to feel part of what they are buying into. Brand is community. When you buy into something you want to feel part of the bigger picture – personal touches can go a long way.

Advertisers and Designers: please stop using archaic stereotypes

Like other women, myself and my friends have faced sexism and misogyny since our teens. Close people in my life have faced casual sexism, groping, harassment, rape and (a close family friend) – murder from an ex partner. This list is emotional to write and stirs up many emotions. And we still have to repeat this conversation.

It got me thinking again how the design sector often contributes to this bigger problem. Advertising and marketing has a lot to answer for.

By Mandy Barker

Brand architecture – what’s it all about?

Brand architecture is jargon in design which simply means a brand framework (or system). It is created to show how hierarchy of services and products fit within a business. This is important to bring consistency, visual and verbal order, thought and intention to disparate elements to help organisations grow, make decisions and market effectively. Any company which is growing, merging or going in a new direction needs to evaluate its brand architecture strategy which will support future growth. Most large companies that sell products have a mixture of strategies.

Ego, ethics and purpose

In November, we were honoured to join a panel alongside Crystallised, Curious, Out the Box and Slung Low Theatre. The topic was ego and purpose. We wanted to share some of our thoughts on the subject here.

How to NOT sell

Do not just randomly connect with someone on LinkedIn then send a stereotypical sales message, followed by 3 more sales messages when there is no response. It DOES not work. Your brand should be authentic, human, imperfect. Do not ‘systemise’ approaches, it will detriment your brand rather than do good. Put your heart into it 🌎💙

Graduated. Now what?

Graduating and finding work is difficult at the best of times. I wanted to share some of my story in solidarity with the many graduates that are feeling uncertain about the world of work and design. It will be challenging to find a role, but if your heart is in it, you are good at what you do and are prepared to work hard and learn – you can make it work. How do you navigate the road ahead?