Words have power.
Images can be like velvet.
The combination,
My life long love story.
Graphic design,
it is an amazing arena to work in.
Designers out there,
creating stunning beauty
I’m beyond in awe with.
Sadly lots of negatives around it too.
As it is a kind of side job.
Don’t get me started here.
‘I don’t do grids’
I said the other week.
It was a bit too bold maybe.
Too harsh.
Somewhere along the line,
especially with making books,
some grids are involved.
There is history behind those words.
For the longest time I struggled
with calling myself a graphic designer.
Even though I studied it.
It never felt like a fit.
Words.
Images.
Story.
Elements to build a great
visual brand identity with.
Elements graphic designers use.
Elements I use.
I read, work and breathe
visual branding,
graphic design.
Always eager to be better at it.
What is a good brand?
Why is it good?
What makes it stand out?
Why are the words grids and systems
such a trigger?
It really makes my heart rate go up.
My hair stands on end.
My toes curl.
Aaargh.
Why?!?!
A conversation last week
‘Non matching luggage’
a line by Cyrus Johnston
A lightbulb moment.
A great visual language
is ‘non matching luggage’.
Like in fashion;
don’t match the colour of your bag
with your shoes.
It’s boring,
Predictable.
A graphic designer to me
can feel like a grid,
a system,
a mechanical thing.
Non matching luggage.
Are stories.
Travels.
Living life.
Excitement.
Play.
Visual branding is
the luggage of a brand.
Non matching,
yet connected.
Making an outstanding book.
A great brand campaign.
a theater poster,
or visual brand strategy.
It’s not grids,
it’s not a system.
It’s an art.
The best brands make you feel.
Love isn’t a system.
Non matching luggage
is like the little village here.
All different
Yet, all matching
Connected through ethos*.
Words can whisper.
Images can raise your hearbeat.
I am a graphic poet.
Graphic design my background.
The word needed a re-brand for me.
Does the thing you do best need
a re-brand in words to make it you?
