Process
Test the identity on the least glamorous application
· 5 min read
A logo looks good on a billboard. Show us the invoice, the parcel label and the error message.
Identity presentations are optimised for the room. Large format, generous white space, perfect photography. Then the system meets a 32-pixel favicon, a thermal-printed receipt and an email footer, and half of it stops working.
We now present the ugly applications first. The invoice header, the parcel label, the automated password reset email. If the system holds there, the billboard takes care of itself.
This changes what gets designed. Single-stroke marks survive small sizes. Two-ink systems survive cheap printing. A type scale with a real minimum size survives dense tables. These are not compromises made at the end — they are the constraints that produce the good version.
It also changes the conversation with clients. Nobody argues about taste when you are looking at a receipt. You are both looking at whether it is legible.