Introduction

When the Beatles started their career in the early 1960s, they were alright. I can’t say they were a banging band back then. They were simply relevant to the style of music that was played back then. Then, at the end of that decade, something happened. It was almost like a revolutionary decision taken by the band to raise the bar of innovation. “Innovative” is the word that describes the action the band embodied at the end of that era. It was one of the band's core values. “They never did the same thing once”, as one critic noticed. As a designer with a personal brand, you can do the same. I’m not telling you to go and sing and disrupt your generation with your own revolution. Actually, I want to do so. Isn’t it a part of being distinct? This article will walk you through the Beatles’ recipe leading their cultural revolution. Let’s talk about values as the second pillar of the 3V Distinction Model.

In our personal lives, we all live by a set of principles that guide our choices and explain our actions. Without this compass, our behaviour will fluctuate based on the day and the weather. And it happens sometimes. But when it comes to personal branding, your values decide the progression of your career. And it leads to distinction or mediocrity. Thus, it is crucial for designers like you to have a set of principles to be your north star for uniqueness. As we talked before, your north star is born with the why. But in order for the star to shine, you’ll need the how. How do you reach distinction? How do you know you are heading there in the first place? That’s where your principles come in handy.

But before we get there. Let's start by identifying the set of principles that comes naturally to you. And you can do them by prioritising what matters the most to you. I have a mental mainframe that can help here. The SLIP framework (sort, label, integrate, prioritise) -suggested by the author John Maeda. It always helped sort out my choices. It starts with sorting your values out on a post-it and grouping similar ones together. Then label each group under a name. Integration helps you bring similar groups together. After that, it's up to you to prioritise which principles fit your north star. And that’s one way to do it. We can speed things up with some techniques when we find ourselves stuck and overwhelmed. And once you have the set of principles, you can start applying them to your personal brand. It’s there that conceptual thinking, such as values, can become actions. Actions alone matter to your audience for trusting your vision. You become an ambassador of your values, embodied by your personal brand. All that it takes is deliberate practice and consistency. Practice what you preach, in other words.

Now you have a brand whose values are consistent with its message and actions. Great! However, the day isn’t always sunny, nor is it easy to live by your principles. People and different work scenarios will always test the consistency of your values. Imagine yourself in a situation where you are negotiating your price. You are a designer, and you’re paid for the value, effort and creativity you put in every artwork you generate. However, the customer doesn’t really understand it. But if compromising isn’t a value you appreciate, you would never accept working with such a person. And it's not about pricing; it’s about perception. They would say it’s a logo, not an artwork. This is just another dress, not a big deal. What’s so special about this website? You’ll hear the smugness in their voice. These aren’t the clients you are after. The market is full, but your niche isn’t. And once you’ve defined it, you become selective. Although not everyone sees it this way. Some designers perceive value as a steep price you pay. It pushes you to start filtering out people who don't align with your work ethic. That’s why principles can cause frustrations for those who don’t aim for distinction. But those who have a sense of synchrony are the most admired. They are the genuine icons of today’s industry. Otl Aicher, a graphic designer, set out to create a better world after WWII. Aicher integrated his personal ethics with his work by refusing to join the Hitler Youth. During the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Aicher introduced his pictogram system. The system came in the colours of the rainbow to represent democracy and openness. To this day, Aicher’s work remains a source of inspiration when forming opinions about the world.

Conclusion

We all need a signifier to distinguish ourselves from the market noise. As I mentioned before, your vision is the "why" and the ultimate goal you want to achieve. While your values are the how you’re going to achieve them. Both must align and intertwine within your personal brand. Make sure that the synchrony is visible to the world. The next article will discuss your visibility as a platform for your personal brand.