Business / Marketing2 min read
Safe design is easy to forget, and being forgotten is the real risk. Give people something worth talking about.
Picture driving through the countryside and passing a field of cows.
The first few are interesting. After a while, they all blend together. Brown cows, black cows, white cows. You stop noticing them. But if a purple cow appeared in that field, you would not only notice it. You would tell someone about it.
That is the idea behind Purple Cow by Seth Godin. He argues that being very good is no longer enough. Products and services must be remarkable, which literally means worth making a remark about.
Godin puts it plainly. “In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.”
That idea applies directly to design and marketing.
Many brands play it safe. They follow the same templates, use the same stock imagery and write the same headlines as their competitors. It feels low risk. But safe design is easy to forget, and being forgotten is the real risk.
Here is how I think about designing something remarkable.
First, know your audience deeply. Remarkable is not random. It means surprising the right people in a way that matters to them.
Second, find the one thing worth talking about. A distinctive interaction, a memorable voice or a refreshingly simple process. One clear difference beats ten small improvements.
Third, design for the people who will spread it. Godin points out that early adopters and enthusiasts are the ones who share new ideas. Give them a reason to talk.
Fourth, resist the urge to sand down every edge. Feedback that makes the work more like everything else is not always good feedback.
Fifth, stay useful. Being different without being valuable is just noise. Remarkable work still has to solve a real problem.
Remarkable is not about being loud. It is about being worth remembering.
Average is invisible. Remarkable is memorable.
Milton Glaser captured this perfectly when he said, “There are three responses to a piece of design – yes, no, and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for.”
Do not settle for yes. Aim for the response people cannot help but share.
