25. September 2010
The Crisis of Designing Identities
From representation as commodity towards
new identifications for design.
By Evert Ypma
There seems to be widespread misconceptions about what visual designers think they are doing within design commissions focused on the representation of identity of institutions, services and products. Designers of today speak of ‘doing the identity of …’, or they ‘developed the corporate identity for…’. This is a claim of a task that is even hilarious as fairly impossible.
Most current practices of visual design deal with the translation of standardized marketing briefs defined by the paying client into communication concepts. And on its turn this is translated into visual formats that often resemble the commonly used design strategies of previous assignments. The majority of design practices are characterized by the repetitive application of prescribed skills and procedures predominantly for commercial purpose. This commodified nature of current design business is paradoxical to the intrinsic nature and qualities of design or to what it could offer. ... Read further
Full text version (Italian/English) 
Published in Krisis Magazine, September 2010 by Unità di Crisi, studio Iknoki, Milan
Public lounge at the National Theatre, London
Photo: Evert Ypma, 2009
Logo wall at SilhCity shopping centre, Zurich
Photo: Evert Ypma, 2007
Zurich main station, UEFA Championship
Photo: Evert Ypma, 2008
Employee at TOTAL petrol station, Lahore
Photo, Kristina Esschler, 2006
Museumshop at Karl Marx museum Trier
Photo: Evert Ypma, 2010
Lidle outdoor advertisement in Zurich: '"At Lidl I am treated fair." Sabine B.'
Photo: Evert Ypma, 2010