Do you keep up with trends in the fashion industry?

The zeitgeist is in constant motion. Trends come and go at an ever-faster pace. Clothes and fashions change shape and colour, almost before you have time to use them. Brand identities also fade and are affected by ever-changing perceptions, fortunately at a slightly lower frequency than in the fashion industry.

No one struggles more with or against the zeitgeist than the designer. They prefer to work on solutions for eternity, but are usually stuck in their own present. A present that inspires and shapes solutions, regardless of industry. So the result may no longer be on the customer's premises, but more an expression of the designer's own preferences. Any portrait, wrote Oscar Wilde, that is painted with feeling, is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.

There are strategies to avoid the pitfalls, but it is also necessary to understand the designers' outset. Their education has trained them to see, evaluate and think visually. They can hardly relate to anything graphic without a critical look at what they see. A design proposal can not be justified on the grounds that it is pretty or beautiful. In that case, it is easy for the level of visual precision to be absent, and for coincidences to be allowed to decide. And a unique design expression is never created by coincidence!

The interesting part is not necessarily how things look, but rather what ideas guided and inspired the solution. Visual competence is necessary to brainstorm ideas, but an emphasis on social and business understanding is needed to make the ideas great. When entering into an identity process, you must move with the same care as an archaeologist. You have to brush through the layers of culture, structure and conflicts of interest to find the core that unites. A broader competence gives the designer a better idea about the brand's true identity.

Customers often contact a design agency with a desire to "appear more modern". They express a desire to be presented with new solutions when they in reality want a copy of their competitor. Unfortunately, what happens more often is that you become a worse version, and lose yourself. The designer's challenge will then be to find a balance between what is expected and what will move the company in the right direction.
No one can turn back the hands of time, but staying in motion helps. Only then can you shape the future, instead of being shaped by it.

No one can turn back the hands of time, but being in motion helps. Only then can you shape the future, instead of being shaped by it.