You see, when I was a student I was quite into my politics. Not in a geeky sort of way but I genuinely couldn’t understand why people didn’t vote. After all our grandparents died in two World Wars to preserve our freedom (not to mention the suffragettes) so we had the right to choose our own democracy. It didn’t clock with me until much later that it wasn’t the democratic process that people abhorred but the people who fought to represent us.
As a student everyone believes they are out to set the world aflame and I had the fancy that I’d enter political graphic design and reshape the landscape with a few clever, well thought out campaigns. My chance came when the Scottish Green Party asked me to act as a design consultant for them in my second year at University. I’d just come back to England from studying in Germany and decided to try and use some of the techniques I’d learnt there to refresh their look and give them real impact and power – totally off brief and not what they wanted. A thought that still causes me intense shame, and something I’ve taken into my adult life as a lesson well learnt. Ok I’m being a little harsh to my 20-year-old self as the designs did need a refresh but at that point in my life I really had no idea how to manage a client. Suffice to say my tenure, as a design consultant for the Scottish Green Party, didn’t last long.
Sometimes when you have a client whose branding is a bit out of date it is difficult, as a creative professional, not to want to update it. Not for your own pleasure but because you know it isn’t doing your client any favours. Usually a simple conversation with them is enough to overcome any issues. However, if they really love their look then that’s when issues start to creep in. How can you tell a client that their branding is from the 70’s when it is a brand they adore? The simple answer is you can’t! There are, however, a few things you can do to tackle this problem:
- Work with your client and suggest amendments to the branding until it has been brought into the 20th century, without them realising.
- Create a ‘this is what the design looks like in your branding’ and ‘this is what the design could look like if we had our way’ mock up. This way your client will see exactly what they are missing out on.
- The long haul – build a proper relationship with your client and educate them. This is by far the best route as it is built on respect for your client.
At AnsteyDesign we believe the relationship route is best for all our clients – no matter what their brief – simply because it allows us to get to know them properly. How are we supposed to design an amazing campaign for our clients if we don’t feel the passion they feel for their product? Without getting to know them we stand no chance of ever feeling their passion in the first place! But it’s not enough to simply have a good professional relationship with a client, you have to deliver the right results as well.
This is the issue that has turned voters off from politics. We have built a relationship with Labour and the Conservatives for the past six decades and, because we only remember the negatives, we feel they have both consistently let us down and we are fed up with them. This has led to the decrease in numbers at the polling booths and the general apathy and anger we feel towards our politicians.
What we really want, and need, to spark our interest is a fresh approach - a complete change. This is more than just a rebrand – it’s about the fundamental way our political system works. The reaction that the Liberal Democrats have received from just one leaders debate shows just how desperate voters are for something fresh and different.
Whatever the result of May 6th, lets hope the New Government looks at the voter’s reaction to the emergence of the Liberal Democrats and realise that they need to build a fresh relationship with Britain.
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