Where it starts and what it is assessed against.
Every choice must be able to explain which identity it answers to.
LAB starts from the identity and from what the diagnosis has proven. It identifies what must remain, what has fallen out of alignment and what needs a different expression.
If the brand is being created, it makes explicit the identity from which decisions will be made. If it already has an approved system, it takes it as a design constraint.
It defines where the brand should head and how to recognise that direction in what it produces.
Swipe through the moodboards
Each moodboard decides territory, material, use and construction before the collection exists.
A reference is worth something when it helps to decide. A moodboard does not gather images people like.
A proposal moves forward when it sustains the system.
- Identity
- Can it be explained from the brand’s identity? Does it make the brand recognisable in concrete decisions?
- Purpose
- What need does it meet? What function does it serve in the project?
- Coherence
- Does it answer to the same criteria as product, price, positioning, channel and narrative?
- Permanence
- Does it make sense beyond the initial impact? Is its lifespan right for the function it must serve?
- System
- What effect does it have on the other decisions? Can it be executed with the project’s resources and conditions?
It is revised when the intention is sound but its resolution contradicts. It is discarded when it requires altering the identity or the architecture without an explicit decision.