As the current head of the Branding practice at Proteus and as a former Chief Creative Officer, I'm in a very good position to understand the intersection and interaction between branding and design and to share that understanding with our clients. The purpose of this piece is to provide a general overview of the creative process to people who are not designers neither by training nor job title.

I'd like to begin by trying to bring a little clarity and context to the terms "brand", "design" and "creative".

There was a time when the term "brand" was basically synonymous with a company's products or services. That is no longer true. Today brand is a much more holistic concept. The product design, the web site, the business card, the company's building, the consumer ad, the point-of-sale merchandiser and the package, the customer service - they're all part and parcel of what we mean when we say "brand". They are all expected to support and stand for the promise of the brand.

For the sake of this paper, "design" refers to the professionals involved with the applied visual arts, including graphic design, industrial design, interior design and architectural design. A further delineation defines graphic designers as those involved with two-dimensional visual applications, industrial designers as those involved with three-dimensional product development and interior and architectural designers as those focused on environmental design.

The common trait shared by all of them is their visual education - they have trained eyes. They have all been taught in such a way that they are capable of initiating, developing, evaluating, refining, and producing two- and three-dimensional visual solutions. This visual education and the capabilities that result differentiate them from non-designers. Since designers and non-designers may share mutual goals, it is helpful if there is a common language and understanding between them - especially when it comes to reviewing brand design creative results.

All designers are focused on creative results or the process that produces ideas and visual solutions that are found under the title of "creative". (This is not to suggest that designers have a monopoly on either the creative process or on creative capabilities.) These creative results are highly subjective and difficult to measure, but can be evaluated against specific criteria. These criteria are based on factors like the applicability of a particular solution, the amount of differentiation it conveys and its produceability - i.e., can it easily and efficiently be taken from concept to actual product.

When reviewing brand design creative, the first question I believe we have to ask is, "Is it appropriate?" What I mean is this:

Does the visual solution support the positioning platform and the brand promise? Does it fit the brand? The category? The industry? Does it reflect the values, characteristics and personality of the brand? Does it live up to the expectations of the target audience? Of management? Of the trade? Of consumers in general? Does it support the marketing plan and the brand strategy?

The second question we have to ask is this: "Is it unique?"

Is the solution a memorable one? Does it stand out from the competition? Does it work to successfully differentiate the brand? Is it available? Is it protectable - i.e., can it be registered, trademarked, patented and copyrighted?

The final question is, "Is it flexible?"

Does it translate? Does it work across borders? In various channels and settings? Does the solution scale across media and materials? Is it understandable at various sizes and formats? Is it easy to implement and fabricate?

Designers and non-designers can both agree on these criteria and the questions they raise relative to brand design creative. The intention here is obvious. Can we take a review process that is highly subjective and make it objective and efficient simply by asking, does it do all this?

The caveat to all of this is the fact that there is no one, single solution. In fact there are an infinite number, and the challenge is to identify that solution that best fulfills these criteria - is the most appropriate, the most unique and the most flexible.

If designers and non-designers can mutually agree on this language, the problems associated with the creative review become a lot simpler and the results of the process are more rewarding for everyone with a stake in its outcome. This is particularly true when everyone includes several different interests and the circumstances have created a design by committee scenario that depends upon the wisdom of the masses.

If you have comments you'd like to share with Charlie, e-mail him at charlie@proteusdesign.com.