The Genius of Ignorance

In the documentary Upside Down: The Creation Records Story, producer Andrew Weatherall, talks about his process for mixing and producing Screamdelica by declaring that he didn't know what he was doing, and the process was inspired the 'Genius of Ignorance'. The album is undeniably a work of genius and Weatherall's production is astonishing, but the quote resonated with me and I think about it a lot.

It's always been my opinion that the people that know too much are the people that do boring work, of course I respect multi-musician polymaths that can play to the highest standard, but they'll never be more interesting  that Sid Vicious who really couldn't play a note, and that's how I feel about designers. Some of the least inspired and most insipid designers in the industry are over-educated and mundanely text-book in their approach, and obsessed with every detail to painstaking degrees, and their work suffers for it.

I did not study Graphic Design at university, and I've always felt this to my advantage. Early in my career when in briefing sessions I was never trying to mimic the 'Lemon', or make subtle references to industry standards, I was always able to approach a brief from a consumer point of view, always able to see an idea, not for how it looked in a portfolio, or to other designers, because I really didn't understand that, no I always felt I could make a better, more informed approach, that had a more honest and relevant appeal to it.

For me Genius of Ignorance is about doing incredible original work that's not rooted in anything, is inspired, but doesn't copy directly and happens in the moments when the work takes over and you create in a bubble inspired by itself. It's the only way to create outstanding work, and happens rarely, but when it does, what it produces is never over-thought, laboured or boring, but a true step into what you're trying to achieve.

Obviously I'm not a genus, and I'm clearly ignorant, but this quote reminded me that sometimes you need to throw away everything you know, and think much simpler, and that's how great work is created.

Get in touch ben@citizenstudios.co.uk

Visit www.citizenstudios.co.uk

Or call 07738 175 614

A New Urban and Rural

Around 6 months ago I met with Urban and Rural to discuss the generation of some new templates for their advertising. This was quite a straight forward brief,  but I instantly saw a bigger opportunity for both of us, for Citizen this could be a local brand for me to work closely with, and create a great case study (you can't deny you're reading it), and for U&R, a chance to rebrand, and refresh a company image that was slightly out of date.

My starting point was to define the local market, segment the competition, and establish a space we could aim for. I did this by creating this matrix;

By dividing the brand focus into Brand Perception and Property Portfolio, we started to see where the crowding was, where U&R currently sat, and an area that we should attack.

The old brand was...

- In the most crowded part of the matrix, making it harder to stand out.

- Too low down the Brand Perception axis cheapens your low-end property perception and potentially damages your high-end property perception perception.

The required shift therefore was up the Brand Perception matrix, and to achieve this we need to...

+ Brand repositioning: Creation of new more current, and equally timeless logo and brand

+ Better, more consistent, advertising both for product and brand.

+ A brand strategy based on 4 solid pillars, of ‘Personality’, ‘Quality service’, ‘Technology leader’ and ‘Urban and Rural’ properties.

+ A Brand that is carried through every consumer touch point and consistently enhances the Urban and Rural experience

And so the new brand was began to grow from these touch points. Citizen started to design a logo that ditched the parts that weren't working, and kept the parts that had helped establish their market presence. The logo began to take shape and spawned a suite of usable options;

Because U&R is a franchise operation my next job was to make sure we had the support of the managers throughout the chain. Do do this I put together a comprehensive Brand Guidelines document, that outlined exactly how the brand should work, why it's important and how to use it. This included a more in-depth explanation of the brand proposition;

Once we had the support of the entire group, it was then the hard work began, with the creation of a range of newspaper templates, stationery, brochure covers and advertising templates, all created from this studio and all built from a starting point of some solid brand guidelines, along with the support of a forward thinking and organised company. The end result looks amazing, and here's a quote from the Owner, just in case you think I'm making this all up;

"Citizen offered an in-depth and interesting brand clinic, following which they created some great work which was presented beautifully. 

Citizen took the time to understand and then reposition our brand to a place we wanted to be. Because of this care and attention they have delivered a fantastic result, and Urban and Rural are moving boldy forward." 

CRAIG REYNOLDS. URBAN AND RURAL OWNER 

This is what Citizen does best, and working with clients that are prepared to listen to our guidance, we can make brands come to life. Give me a call on 07764 898 010 or drop an email to ben@citizenstudios.co.uk and let's create something.

Get in touch ben@citizenstudios.co.uk

Visit www.citizenstudios.co.uk

Or call 07764 898 010