Why is branding rebelling against the old fundamentals? Along with Frontify, we find the answers

Welcome to The Shift, a series presented in collaboration with one of the world’s leading brand-building platforms, Frontify. Here, we’ll dive deep into the realm of flexible, dynamic branding. We’ll be tapping into the sharpest minds in design – from visionary studios to leading independent designers – to understand what it takes to build a dynamic identity. Why must one create a dynamic brand in the first place? For our first chapter, we’re looking at how, in making brands imbued with a sense of elasticity, designers are bending or breaking the old rules of branding. What about these rules have changed, and are they even relevant now? When we set out to find some answers, we collected nuggets of insights from our conversations with the creative minds at DIA, Madalena Studio and Block. Ask almost any designer for an iconic example of a dynamic identity, and they’ll point you towards the MTV idents from the ’80s. Refreshing, surreal, and quite honestly, way ahead of its time, the idents of the television network were so out there that they’re indelibly etched in many of our memories. And therein lies the power of dynamic identities – the space that they have to excite, surprise and even provoke their audience. Inviting thought and conversation, dynamic identities allow brands to evolve over time, while reflecting their innate vibrancy and complexity. In 1993, when Bruce Mau projected an image of the wordmark of ‘NAi’ – standing for the Netherland Architecture Institute – onto different surfaces and materials, he came up with a suite of graphics that reflect the diverse nature of the institution’s programme. Similarly, in India, when Sylvester da Cunha created the ‘Butter Girl’ mascot in 1966 for butter-maker Amul, he set off one of India’s glowing periods of witty advertising, when the mascot became more synonymous with the brand than its actual logo. The blue-haired girl in a polka-dot dress has since appeared in scores of ads across decades, speaking to topical moments and events, ultimately pinning Amul as a brand that not only makes the best butter, but always has something quippy to say about national and global events. By their very nature, flexible identities are experimental and a sum of parts. Every dynamic brand is a mix of some consistent elements – that gives the brand a solid foundation – and some changing ones, that leave some room for play. This idea of dynamism and tucking in moments of surprise within a brand’s look and experience is something designers have been toying with for a while, and ever more so today.