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Where did all the creativity go?

Why design trends will hold back your business

I’m not here to follow a trend.

I’m here to get under your skin to work out why you started your business. What messages you want to communicate and then I translate this into a visual identity and brand strategy.

What fad or trend do you hope comes back?

@miaandmex

I asked my audience on instagram what burning questions they wanted me to answer. This one from @miaandmex popped up and I knew it was one I was going to enjoy answering because I think my answer might be unpopular..!

I don’t care for design trends.
Following a trend is boring, it lacks creativity and it is a quick fix. I don’t follow design trends in my work because they are just that. A trend. A fad. Something that will fade away and be discarded when the season is up or something new comes along. If your logo is visually based upon a trend because it’s what everyone else is doing, it will date so quickly and will unfortunately disappear into the abyss of a saturated market amongst your competitors.
 
Question: Why are you trying to fit in?

I see so many visual identities from countless designers that look the same. Brands are becoming more and more lookalike and it makes my heart heavy and sad. Every business is unique and every business deserves a unique identity.

The primary reason people want to follow and use design trends is to fit in, they feel safe and familiar.

I’m a firm believer in not playing too safe when it comes to visuals for a business. Your business is unique. You have USP’s that no other business has. Your reason, and the strategy of your business is be unique and your brand visuals should represent this. All of this information is taken into account throughout the Oohlala Studio branding process and all play a big part in the visuals I create.

Every (good) designer has a unique style and flair that should shine through all of their portfolio but when I see so many variations of a similar fad over and over again I begin to wonder; where did all the creativity go?

Your business is not a fashion trend.
Design trends might be cool now; but I can guarantee in a couple of years time we’ll be looking back at them cringing, just like we do when we look at that 2007 hairstyle we had that we thought was bang on trend and hip.
 
Don’t depend on trends for your visual identity.
Depending on trends means you lose your unique voice, identity and your brand style. By all means be influenced and inspired but don’t care or focus too much about trends.
 
Once the trend has faded – what happens to your business’s identity? Do you become uncool untrendy and in need of a rebrand? Acknowledging trends and taking what we need from them and applying it in a unique way is a much more effective way of getting an identity that will become fresh, bold and timeless rather than replicating a visual style that already exisits.
 
The brand process at Oohlala Studio is collaborative from the very start to the very end. We will work together to create you an identity that stands out and lasts. We will work together to make something unique and bold but also familiar and safe that is new and timeless.
 
So in answer to the original question; none. Trends will come and go and to me will have no thought or substance behind them, they’re just something that’s become popular because it’s new and current. 

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