TopicsPerhaps I’m alone on this one, but I don’t think there is a project out there that is more difficult than designing and defining your own brand. Playing the role of client and designer, simultaneously, is a real trick. There’s no budget or deadline, nothing is ever good enough, and it is impossible to come up with a solution that feels finished…there is always something else to play with or explore.
As a result, we’ve been in brand limbo for quite some time. But, after what feels like 50-years in the making, we’ve finally finished up the core pieces of Parliament’s branding overhaul. If years of experience has shown us anything one thing it’s that nothing says, “We’re professional,” like atoms and robots, so we’ve got them and we’ve got them hard. And, I think we’ve found the perfect balance between we are finished and we will never be finished, which couldn’t make me happier. Let me explain.
* * * * * * * * *
STEP ONE: Start with the badge. Every Parliament badge has a few core elements that never change. They consist of a scalloped base, a few rings, and a proudly centered PARLIAMENT set in Knockout.
* * * * * * * * *
STEP TWO: Add a mark and a bit of copy. Our primary mark reads, A Creative Services Company. It is honest and straightforward and I’m looking forward to not hearing folks ask, “Now, what do you do?,” quite as often, which will save me — literally — hours each and every day. Or, perhaps, more literally, minutes of every week. Regardless, I’m looking forward to transferring that burden to this unassuming mark, which calmly announces, “Sir, we are a creative services company.”
* * * * * * * * *
STEP THREE: Repeat step two. At this time, we’ve developed a bit more than a dozen really solid badges, some of which contain our primary message, but most of them refer to one of our internal departments. Most of them map directly to the different phases of a project, for example, the badge used for our Working Prototypes Division is typically displayed in conjunction with Production, and our Hazardous Idea Division is linked to Strategy.
* * * * * * * * *
All in all I’m really happy with how everything came together visually. The real success of this approach, however, lies in its flexibility. It allows us to continuously change and play with our ID, without ever altering its foundation, and it also lets each everyone contribute to the collection and take some ownership. Our membership cards are a great example our visual brand latitude — each member was able to choose whichever badge that they wanted for their membership cards, making each card reflect the owner’s taste.
Ultimately, I’m happy to get this wrapped up, but also looking forward to seeing where Parliament continues to push it. I think we’ve found a good balance of finished and unfinishable.
