One of the most common misconceptions in branding is that design is all about surface. That brand strategy comes first, including positioning and values. And then, at the very end, someone makes it look good. I understand where that idea comes from. After all, a brand is far more than a logotype, a color palette or a package on a shelf.

Most brand strategists would say that the majority of a brand is what you cannot see. I agree. A brand is much like a person. Our personality lives in our beliefs, values and behaviours. The way we look is only a small part of who we are. What we say matters, but how we say it is deeply connected to how we see ourselves. The same is true for brands.

Lately, design seems to be increasingly misunderstood. Perhaps because we have become used to seeing it as an outcome rather than a business tool. As something decorative rather than something … revealing.

But design is never just what something looks like. It tells a story about what a company believes about itself. In fact, it reveals whether a business takes itself seriously or if it believes in its product. It reveals if a company actually cares about the experience when the customers hold the product in their hands. Also, it reveals whether it is willing to invest in quality.

Long before a customer reads your mission statement (which they don’t), they have already shaped an impression. Not because they are analysing your brand strategy but because they are experiencing your design.