Must in-house software adhere to existing company branding?

Question

I have a question about designing and developing a User Interface.

The company has a brand guide which doesn't really have the potential of satisfactorily being used for a web application in development. The CI is more focused on the Website and the company brand.

What are your thoughts and suggestions to guide a client in the direction of using a software-like feel UI instead of their CI as part of their software application?

Answer 1

It is obvious that you have to convince a client with your suggestion. Anyway, I don't think it's so difficult to adapt a web or company CI to a UI design for an application.

Here are some considerations that may be useful, the main focus is to see everything in a positive way:

• I would completely avoid doing a design that has nothing in common with the current corporate image. Good or bad is the design they have chosen for their company, and proposing a completely renewed image for their mobile application can even be offensive. In fact, you are giving to your client a perfect reason to not accept your new design.

• Making a design adapted to the current corporate image is not an impediment. Instead of seeing it as an obstacle, being a good graphic designer you should see it as a starting point:

  • Study how far the limitations of the current corporate image can get

  • What elements of the current ones you can eliminate

  • What elements of the current ones you can modify

  • What are the new graphic elements that you will incorporate

• At the end of your design you can make a visual list of what the incorporations and adaptations have been made. With this you could make a perfect emphasis on the magnificent graphic opportunities their current corporate image has offered you for the new design.

• Particularly, I would avoid stating the omissions, even if you see and know them. Unless they have a good conceptual and graphic reasoning you can demonstrate.

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If in spite of this you continue thinking that the new design must omit completely the current graphic guidelines, you can use some resources as:

• Show existing examples of corporate images with a web design CI and a different graphic style for their mobile applications. There are many, in fact most of the big multinational brands do it that way: the big sports or car brands. In many cases they only have the logo as a common reference.
• If it's a design proposal and having enough time, you could present a couple of options, one faithfully adapted to the actual CI and another relatively free.