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If I may be honest, episode 4 conversation with Corretta Singer took a couple off roads that led to lots of laughs. 3D modeller & Generalist, Corretta Singer gave her take on what makes a creative a creative. But first, we got sidetracked by food then Anthony Hopkins *hubba hubba*
Art is driven by zeal for me – Richard Nattoo
I didn’t think I’d start a podcast much less to be having a 1-on-1 chat with one of my artist crush, Richard Nattoo, The 2020 awardee of the Jamaican Prime Minister’s Youth awards in the category of Arts and Culture, about “Finding your Path as a Creative – The pro’s and con’s of being a creative freelancer with a 9-5 job“. He’s a jovial guy with lots of stories to tell and I had the pleasure of recording them (some) for you to hear. He’s revealed some key takeaways that are simple strategies that could help you balance your creative career, with a 9-5.
“Always lean into the future; when the world changes around you — what used to be a tail wind is now a head wind — you have to lean into that and figure out what to do because complaining isn’t a strategy.” Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO
When we speak about trends, I believe fashion is always on the forefront of minds, and when we do speak of technology trends we veer towards the latest phones and gadgets to make our lives function with more automation. While that is not incorrect, the pandemic highlighted global courses of events, that Jamaica has not caught onto, as the nation struggled with transitioning to remote work (WFH) and implementing online strategies for work and schools due to the 2020 pandemic.
There’s a lot of pressure to come up with the 1st episode, especially the 1st guest.
But, while speaking to a fellow designer and friend, we were speaking on logo and branding, and how challenging it can be to ask clients the right questions and, during the conversation I said…we should be recording this and then we did!
In Designcast first episode Negash lends his perspectives on Branding and its role and responsibilities for brands. We explored aspects of branding such as logo design, brand identity and guidelines and how these all work together to give brands personalities. One of the key takeaways from this conversation was Negash’s first point, “A brand is not a logo. A logo is a trademark and a trademark can be a graphic device used to identify a business, product or service. It’s not the “brand” but merely a symbol to identify the brand.”
“A brand is not a logo.”
Negash and I recommend a couple books we believe every graphic designer, art director should have in their arsenal whethere you’re a beginner or well into your craft. Negash offers, The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier. The Brand Gap can help designers conceptualize and through following some key steps create brands, brand identities and form brand guidelines that resonates across every aspect of a business–including its website and overall strategy.
‘The Brand Gap’ defines what a brand is, which Negash agrees with, “A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or company. It’s more about garnering a particular emotion from customers that will bypass rational thinking. In the end a brand is not defined by a company, markets or general public but by individuals, each person creating their own perception of it. When enough individuals arrive at the same gut feeling, a company can then say they have a brand.”
I personally recommend Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team, 4th Edition by Alina Wheeler. I got my hands on this early in my creative journey and it’s a book I often reference to engage clients to understand their why’s for creating a brand for their company.
Listen to the full episode on:
Apple: https://bit.ly/DesigncastApple
Spotify: https://bit.ly/DesigncastSpotify
Anchor: https://bit.ly/DesigncastAnchor
Pocketcast: https://bit.ly/DesigncastPocket
To learn more about Negash: http://www.representdesigns.com/
Thanks so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate and review.
Starting any new venture or project can be quite nerve racking. I’ve been wanting to start a podcast for the past year, then came the pandemic and everyone started a podcast ‘an from one imposter syndrome reason to another, me ketch me fraid. But we reach!