Is IP a Constraint on Creativity?

10/01/21 • 38 min

Stephen Willard is a graphic designer and former art director who moved into employee benefits communications and now runs his own company EMBLAZE a workplace engagement company that specialises in delivering high energy experiences to employees.
In this episode, we discuss how IP tends to be regarded as a luxury, rather than as something essential, and how Stephen has picked up his knowledge of the subject during his career. We cover:

Brand identifiers and the creative process
The rationale of changing brand identifiers
What the brand is — how a brand can be recognized
Stephen's experience in designing a logo — the elements to take into account
Why use of symbols is rare when it's an effective way of being remembered
The extent to which law is a constraint on creativity
Designing for a regulated industry

LinkedIn: Stephen-willardTwitter: sjwbrandingInstagram: @stephen.j.willardwww.emblaze.today [email protected]

Valuable Resources:

Brand Tuned Scorecard
Brand Tuned Accelerator

Brand identifiers and the creative process
The rationale of changing brand identifiers
What the brand is — how a brand can be recognized
Stephen's experience in designing a logo — the elements to take into account
Why use of symbols is rare when it's an effective way of being remembered
The extent to which law is a constraint on creativity
Designing for a regulated industry

LinkedIn: Stephen-willardTwitter: sjwbrandingInstagram: @stephen.j.willardwww.emblaze.today [email protected]

Valuable Resources:

Brand Tuned Scorecard
Brand Tuned Accelerator

Previous Episode

Stef Hamerlinck on Branding and Distinctiveness

Stef Hamerlinck is a brand strategist and designer living in Belgium, and host of the podcast, Let's Talk Branding. He runs his own branding studio.
In this episode, we discuss what a brand is and how distinctiveness is fundamentally about making a brand stand out. Stef also shares his views on how many brand codes a business should have and gives examples for smaller and big brands to look at. We discuss:

Brand strategy
What brand and branding mean to Stef
Differentiation and distinctiveness
How the context in which a brand is used impacts the brand codes to create
The 'vibe' of brands that their visual language evokes
The reason for rebranding or choosing a new name
Protecting your distinctive brand assets through intellectual property
How Stef decides whether to create a symbol in his branding work
Brands Stef admires: Kellogs and Ritchie Lemonade

LinkedIn: Stef HamerlinckTwitter: @stefhamerlinck Instagram: @letstalkbranding Website: www.stefhamerlinck.comOther links:
Course on brand strategy research: brandstrategyresearch.comBlog: letstalkbranding.comValuable Resources:

Next Episode

Interview about Brand Tuned by Alison Jones

In this episode, Alison Jones, director of Practical Inspiration Publishing, the publisher of Brand Tuned, interviews Shireen Smith. As host of the successful podcast, The Extraordinary Business Book Club Alison is an experienced interviewer and draws out some interesting information.
Alison asks questions about the process of writing Brand Tuned, what I found out along the way and the reason I chose to write the book. I also share my hopes and what I want to achieve as I release the book. This episode covers:

My insights on providing holistic advice around branding — understanding the market needs
What I want to achieve for Brand Tuned as I release it to the world
The number of brand identifiers you should have to stand out
IP is about managing competition
The important issue with the brand name and considering the brand protection aspects
How proper branding can impact everything that you do in your business
The extent to which it's appropriate to change a brand's identifiers
The journey of writing Brand Tuned: Why I chose to write the book

View the podcast transcript here

LinkedIn: Alison Jones Twitter: @bookstothesky Instagram: @pip_talking alisonjones.com
Valuable Resources:

Brand Tuned Scorecard
Brand Tuned Acceleratorwww.brandtuned.com