Creating Iconic Brand Identities: Staying Motivated

Excerpted from Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities (New Riders)
By David Airey

Design inspiration is a bit of a cliché. I’m asked time and again where I find the inspiration to do my job, or how I stay inspired, but it’s important to remember that what we do, as designers, doesn’t need inspiration in the true sense of the word. The ability to successfully complete the identity design process comes from the result of years of study, practice, and experience, as well as following a clearly defined set of steps.

However, motivation, not inspiration, can sometimes be an issue. You’d be naive to think that at some point during a long career in design, your motivation won’t wane. A seemingly never-ending project; overly harsh criticism from your peers; the discovery that, after weeks of work, your favorite design concept has already been created by someone else for a different company; or simply being stuck at your computer for hours on end every day — all or any one of these factors can suck the motivation right out of you.

The following provides a range of motivational tips — some from me, and some from other designers — on how to keep your spirits up and the creative juices flowing during tough projects.

Never Stop Learning

You will never know all there is to know about design.

Our profession is constantly evolving, so to stay in the game you need to evolve with it. To get a sense of where our industry is headed, you need to look at where it’s been. There’s an incredible amount we can learn from the great iconic designers that came before us: people like Paul Rand (IBM logo), Paula Scher (Citi logo), and Tom Geismar (Mobil Oil logo). Those who have worked through a lifetime of design have amassed an incredible amount of experience, and I never tire of listening to their stories and anecdotes.

New-York-based Ivan Chermayeff has this to say about design: “To be effective over a reasonably long lifetime, all identities must be simple and appropriate. However, if they are not original or in any way provocative, thought-provoking, and noticeable, they will not accomplish their task.”

Read the full article on Graphics.com

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