It’s no wonder people are asking: Are brands still relevant?
Brian Collins said it best:
“Design is not what we make. It’s what we make possible.”
That’s the heart of it.
Design has always been more than decoration—it’s the creative instrument of branding. It’s architecture for culture. It’s the symphony behind movements. It’s been with us since cave paintings, evolving to create differentiation, trust, and value.
And right now? That’s what’s on the line.
Where I Come From: Branding Before Logos
I grew up in the Midwest, in farm and cattle country. Branding, to me, wasn’t a logo on a screen—it was a hot iron pressed against hide.
I was ten when I caught a hoof to the face and broke my nose during a cattle drive. That’s how I learned what branding really meant.
Out there, the smell of cow $#!t wasn’t an insult. It was the smell of money. Branding wasn’t a design exercise; it was reputation—earned in dust, sweat, and endurance.
To a cowboy, a brand wasn’t art.
It was ownership.
It was trust.
It was the proof you put your name on your work.
What a Brand Really Is
Here’s the truth most marketers forget:
A brand is more than a mark.
- It’s integrity.
- It’s work ethic.
- It’s character.
- It’s uniqueness, thought, and personality.
A logo without these things is just pixels. A true brand is how you show up in the world and what you give back to it.
So, Are Brands Dying?
Maybe.
When designer marketplaces pump out tens of thousands of cookie-cutter logos.
When AI churns out polished but soulless marks and generic messaging.
When speed and efficiency get mistaken for originality and craft.
That’s not branding. That’s sameness.
AI absolutely has its place. I use it every day—for research, automation, predictive insights, grammar checks, and as a creative sparring partner.
But should AI create the symbol of your business, the mark that represents generational grit, blood, sweat, and stories?
No.
Because a brand has a soul.
And soul doesn’t come from a dataset.
The Future of Branding
The biggest mistake you can make is letting AI—or any shortcut—convince you that sameness equals genius.
A world of sameness is dull. Inauthentic. Forgettable. It doesn’t connect, it doesn’t move people, and it doesn’t sell.
People don’t want perfection.
They want truth.
They want humanity.
They want to feel your story in every detail.
Final Thought
I didn’t get into design and branding because it was efficient. I got into it because someone showed me how everyday things could be both beautiful and functional.
That’s the work worth doing.
So no—brands aren’t dying.
But lazy branding is.
The brands that will thrive are the ones built with soul, strategy, and sweat—not shortcuts.