Presented by Brandpad: how to make a brand not boring, with thoughts from Heydays and Wedge

Hello, and welcome back to The Finishing Line, presented in collaboration with the digital brand guidelines platform Brandpad. Over the course of six articles, we are talking to the creative industry’s finest about what is often seen as one of the most challenging, fiddly, frustrating and complicated elements of brand design: getting it over the line. For part five, we’ve spoken to Montreal-based creative studio Wedge and Oslo-based design agency Heydays to tackle something so simple in theory: how do you make a brand NOT boring? Characterful vs concise, systemised vs spontaneous, there is much to consider, and it’s certainly easier said than done. So let’s get into it, shall we? “Some people think a Broadway show is the ultimate thing,” Wedge’s Founder, Justin Lortie, tells us, “I’m personally not into musicals, but that’s me!” Lortie adds, “it’s subjective,” setting the scene for what he believes makes a brand boring or not. “Ultimately, it’s about connection,” Lortie continues, noting the significance and interest of a person connecting with something – no matter what it may be. “It has an intangible quality that’s hard to describe with words alone,” he remarks, “so in the context of a brand, making people feel something doesn’t mean you have to be loud,” in an effort to counteract being ‘boring.’ To be unboring is to show up as the truest expression of who you are,” Lortie poetically puts, “in other words ‘be yourself’ with a strong and distinct point of view.” Likewise, Heydays’ Design Director Lars Kjelsnes tells us, “a boring brand has no attitude and doesn’t manage to surprise or captivate its audience or users in any way,” raising the notion of uncertain opportunity in making something stand out. “You have to risk something if you want to be an interesting brand,” Kjelsnes explains, “you have to be willing to do something that will put someone off, that others might love,” ultimately challenging the status quo in all aspects of its creation. “All the way from the brand strategy and onto each surface its present,” he suggests, “with passion and confidence, be it on a pen or in an app.” Through this, as Lortie proposes, not only do you get something that’s not boring, but you create something actually interesting. “When it falls flat, it’s a matter of craft,” he suggests, resulting in a generic, missable product we’ve seen before. “To hit something special requires digging beyond the surface to untap ownable truths,” Lortie details, “and using them as a guide to thoughtfully craft the truest most authentic version of oneself,” challenging not only its visual identity but its concept, aesthetic, narrative and strategy. “Without that point of view,” he notes, “enter boring.”