Today we can’t it safe. Today we can’t do things the same as everyone else. Today we must be creative by design. We must take chances and risks. We must be approachable, personalized, and stand out. We must think through the experience. We must absolutely be BOLD by Design.

To many times business take things safe, or don’t even think of their experience at all or just as a second thought. This is a problem because companies who do not innovate will fade away. Innovation is being bold, but often causes people to be confused of what innovation means. Bold Innovation is simple, and easy to achieve. It simply is the process of innovating your message and image in a way that can reach people in an emotional or personal way. I’m not talking about chick flick type of emotion. People are looking for brands that they can personally relate to, brands that are on a mission, and brands that are bold.

You don’t have to be Apple, Facebook, Verizon, AT&T, Microsoft, or any other established brand to take your brand serious and boldly. Simply just start getting a plan, a roadmap of where you would like your bran to go. Yes, it really is that simple. If you’re not sure then hire an agency to help, but you need to have some idea of what you want to achieve to make sure the plan they give you is on track and in line with your goals. An agency that understands and implements creative strategy and/or design thinking is the best ROI (return on investment) you will have for your business.

Remember it’s ok to evolve your brand, but you don’t want to change it completely often. If you’re not sure of the current path you’re on, stay the course while you brainstorm and figure it out before you introduce it to the public. When talk about staying the course leave your identity (Logo) alone, and get bold in your design in other ways whether it’s your web presence, advertising, video, etc. Make this stand out on its own while keeping with a consistency of your identity. You can always introduce a new logo in time if this is the plan.

One of your most valuable assets for your business will be your website today. It really is your modern business card, and this needs to be on point. However, it’s not a “field of dreams” build it and they will come moment. Also, a bad website can really do more damage than no website at all. It used to be that you could redo a website once every 2-3 years, and you were good to go, but today your content needs to be fresh and ever changing… at least on your homepage.

A very close second to your website, and even sometimes even more important is your social media presence. This is the easiest way to stay fresh and relevant with changing content for your brand. This is also how you develop reputation and management.

Make sure that both are BOLD, eye-catching, risk taking, and elicit a personal reaction from the public. Keep the bold design grouped in campaigns which is basically just a collection of the same style pieces to portray your branding voice. Being bold today is part innovation, part mad scientist, and part evangelist for your business.

Your branding is one of the most important requirements for your business. Please take it as serious as accounting, or running your business. Just like you will make investments in infrastructure for your business your branding and marketing should be equally part of this same infrastructure if not slightly more important. In tough economic times these same companies mentioned before, have an understanding that branding and marketing must be at the top of the list. Companies who have gutted or stopped investing in their “bold by design” philosophy have felt the crunch if they even survived through it.

Be bold by design... embrace it, own it, and by all means have fun with it. You won't hit it out of the park on the first attempt, but it will make a big impact even if it's just in a smaller circle to start.