imperfection is back, baby.

Finally, imperfection is coming back around. Messy action, unfiltered thoughts, showing up wholly instead of perfectly.

Something I’ve been hearing a lot from business owners is “AI can do that” and it genuinely, whole heartedly kills my soul.

Yes, AI can generate a brand in like 2 minutes.

But it’s going to be shit.

There’s no substitute for originality

There is absolutely no substitute for human, lived experiences. That knowledge and inherent wisdom when it comes to designing or being creative or writing, or filming, or taking a bloody photo. Trusting our own mind and voice is becoming increasingly rare.

Scrolling LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok the drag of second guessing images, listening to AI generated voices read AI generated scripts. Reading an article where every paragraph reads the same, feels the same, follows the same flow and sentence structure. What ever happened to learning about short and long sentences!!??

In Arnott’s words, “there’s no substitute for quality” also applies to “there’s no substitute for originality”.

That’s why I’m leaning into imperfect. Undone. Flaws.

Imperfection is the new luxury and it feels so good to be reading, listening and watching human content. To listen and critically think about tone of voice and nuances in how people speak. The joy in watching a designer or creative, actually create. With their hands, their minds, turning an idea into something physical, without AI looming.

All the brands I’ve created are done so with strategy (that I write, based on a very detailed, in depth brain dump of a questionnaire for my clients) at the forefront. Within our framework, we call that THE BRAINS and it’s the non-negotiable first step.

The brand strategy shift

There’s been a huge shift in brand strategy in recent years. Early in TGS, strategy was focused on vision and mission statements and audience personas. We leant heavily into who the brand was targeting and how that would affect the brand identity. We didn’t need to worry about feeling ‘human’ because there was no alternative. Now, brand strategies are honing in on what makes a business real. Not just their point of difference anymore.

The strategy identifies what makes them, them. It’s tapping into the fundamental human-ness of the business and brand, and that is what gets drawn out through the visual identity, the messaging, the embodiment of the brand. There is no link, aside from knowledge, experience, research and inherent wisdom between the strategy and the visual identity. It’s about understanding how humans work, their psychology, their buying habits, the psychographics to really draw out the key elements needed in a visual identity to convert them.

At the end of the day, half-assed, AI generated, sub-standard brands are not coming from my computer. I don’t have a premium offer just to shortchange my clients.

My ideas come from me. Sure, they might be slightly less nuanced, maybe I don’t have sources, and maybe it’s not the most absolutely realised idea, but I can sure as hell tell you that it’s not some half-baked idea coming from millions of other people’s opinions from the internet — a notoriously silly place. (And yes, I’ve always used and will continue to use the em dash which is a legitimate use of punctuation in the English language — read a book).

AI has it’s place, but it shouldn’t be manufacturing every single asset, word, collateral or opinion you put out there. And stop hating on the em dash. AI has ruined a good thing.

Create cut through content

It feels like the way only way to create cut through content anymore is to have an opinion. But not just ‘have an opinion’, but to not be afraid to back that opinion when push comes to shove. To be mindful of others perspectives and be open to having constructive conversations.

Some of my best performing posts and emails have been opinion-based pieces that have had no second thought. It’s been a ‘quick, get something up there’ and it’s been raw, real and completely unfiltered. They’re the types of content and opinions that my audience gravitate towards. Lucky for them, because there’s plenty more where that came from.

Keep the botched sentence

Because imperfection is the new luxury, and it pays off to lean into all the unique little nuances and weirdo tendencies that we have deep within us. To be okay with things not being perfect, but being real. Those flaws, the spelling mistakes, the slightly botched sentence is proof of originality.

Lean into the human and stop relying on someone else’s opinions to form your own.

Our signature framework, The Triple Threat Brand, helps established creatives build something even bigger. This isn’t for the faint-hearted, it’s for brands that back your ambition and future proof your growth. Learn more about our offers or get in touch.