I find it quite unbelievable that no one else has the same DNA as me, or you (unless you happen to have an identical twin).

Watson and Crick discovered DNA in 1953 and 30 years later biologists still thought that most of our DNA was useless.

More recently, research has revealed that while we only have around 23,500 genes, barely more than a nematode worm, our genetics are turning out to be incredibly complex.

So while our DNA carries our genetic map from our ancestors, each of us somehow is birthed with our own unique combination. And yet, as you read this, you are by default, human, you are the same species, as another (nearly) 8 billion or so. At one end of the scale we are all one and the same, and at the other we are each completely different.

Between the two polarities there are infinite differentiations from other humans. These differences can be inherited at birth; as we grow we may learn to adopt them to fit in with family or society; or we may consciously make selections to carve our way to the future we want. We may be born with a different skin colour – very difficult to change – as is our sex and our age as we journey through life. Our nationality, weight, hair, accent, education, marital status, work and religion have the potential to be manipulated. We probably have the most control about our choice of car, shoes, jeans, phones and cosmetics and this is where we enter a powerful business playground that brands have commandeered for their success.

We are judged by these choices as we judge others’ choices when we seek to align ourselves with a version of the life we want. We feel we can guide our destinations by choosing certain brands that identify and attract those we aspire to and want in our tribe. But if we really want to be to be in control of our own future and aim for our own true purpose (and why would we not?), then we must extricate ourselves from the dreams of others, which are designed to engage us in creating their own riches and begin to imagine and attract our own dreams.

I have always been pro the individual. I am a designer that sees the uniqueness in each of my clients and I love helping them express that in a design so that they can share it with the world to attract the future they want. It is what big brands do. They build the intention in their logos, deliver them to the world and attract a tribe of followers. I would rather be a leader and attract my own tribe. So would my clients, the ones that I attract.  We each are, after all, like no other in the world.

I love this quote by Jean Houston: ‘I know there can be, must be, has to be a return to our own divine nature. A recovery of the magnificence of our own divine nature.’

And

“There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It’s why you were born. And how you become most truly alive.” Oprah Winfrey

I bought a prestigious-branded jumper a few years ago. It was in a sale; I saved myself a few hundred pounds. In retrospect, the reduced price was still extremely high compared to what I usually spend on a jumper. They usually go bobbly after a few wears, whatever the price, and it was not quite the right shade of pink that I love. But it was a famous brand so I felt good because the purchase met my aspirations to reputedly, at least, excellent design and, with a Scottish mother, I had made a good deal, it was a bargain….or was it?

The feeling was short lived. I hardly wore it, it was the wrong colour and that compromise was enough to niggle each time I wore it. The good feelings were soon replaced by irritation and self-admonishment. At the time it felt right. I felt good. I was in the mood to buy and I responded to the emotional nudges. Who was nudging?

The emotional pull is powerfuI and comes from myriad sources. Like many, I try to do my best for the Earth and have like-minded friends who aspire to, or own, an electric or hybrid car. They are expensive and at least one expert has pointed out that the carbon footprint of hybrid cars is so great it cannot be offset during its normal lifetime. My friends all had decent, functional cars to start with but ditched these, potentially adding their unrecyclable and toxic components to the growing landfill problem. I don’t know the statistics but the latter never comes into the equation once the desire to own the new version kicks in.

What actually prompts our decision to buy? We certainly do not need most of the stuff we do purchase but we are easily convinced we want it. We are prompted by brands to believe our life will improve if we buy (or get worse if we don’t), we will be seen in a better light by those around us, we get a ‘hit’ from the feel good purchase or are creating a better life/society/planet. 

Are we being tempted to express our real selves or be something we are not? Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Louis Bernays (1891–1995), believed most of us were incapable of making rational decisions and so he created PR to drive our desires. One of his first campaigns was aimed at getting women to smoke when it was socially unacceptable, and women felt suppressed. He consulted a psychoanalyst and rebranded cigarettes to be appealing by organising a group of women to smoke ‘torches of freedom’ publicly, and it worked [1]. He took his skills further to help win elections.

Eventually, we become so entrained that a glimpse of a logo can remind us of the promise behind the brand it identifies. Our brain cells have been shown to fire in a unique and identifiable sequence as they respond to different logo designs. Our emotions are a powerful interface between the world that is within ourselves and the one that exists outside us. How we express ourselves affects our future as does the reverse – how we react to outside expressions of intent.

The good news in this, hopefully, is when we realise how fickle our emotional response is. We can learn to be observant and more detached from the pull of someone else’s vision and begin to express and create our own using the same branding tools.

[1]  Edward Louis Bernays quoted in Larry Tye, The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & The Birth of Public Relations (Henry Holt and Company, LLC: New York, 1998), pp. 39–42.

[i] Edward Louis Bernays quoted in Larry Tye, The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & The Birth of Public Relations (Henry Holt and Company, LLC: New York, 1998), pp. 39–42.