Branding, it's not just for cows.

There are days at work when I feel sort of bad telling people that they can't create their own organizational flyers, invitations, postcards, or whatever other creative masterpiece they've dreamed up. I don't like having to be so controlling - it feels like I'm a dictator. But then I realize how much they need to be told no, because otherwise I'd have lime green and magenta logos and 85 different abbreviations of the agency name, (and let's face it, the 26 acronyms we currently have are about 25 too many).

Branding stanards exist for a reason, especially in the corporate world. I will never understand a promotional piece with lime green clip art, the font comic sans (which may be the worst font ever created, but don't get me started on that), and an agency slapped across the piece as an afterthought. Worse still, some people neglect to add the logo altogether and actually distribute it publicly. Not only does it reek of disorder and bad taste, but unless your corporate brand involves lime green and Comic sans, it has NOTHING to do with the organization you are trying to represent. I just don't understand why this is such a tough concept.

The idea of branding itself can be a little bit complicated to grasp, especially if you don't take up residency in the world of marketing and communications. But rather than get into a philosophical discussion about what a brand is, or is not, let's focus on the visual aspect. If your corporate colors are navy and grey, and your corporate font is Bodoni; Lime green script used with clip art probably isn't going to conjour the image of your company. And if it does, it certainly won't give people the right impression of who that company is.

Yes there's the exception to the rule, but when every case is the exception to the rule, it's hard to be consistent. And sometimes consistency doesn't make people happy - a big curse for branding. Mark Sczepanik writes a great blog entry on it here. The point is, originality isn't always a good thing, especially when someone has no idea who you represent. I'm not asking you to color within the lines - maybe just stay on the page. And if you can't reign in your creativity with crayons that much, maybe leave it to the people who know how.