Yesterday, I stumbled for the umpteenth time upon the word "bespoke" being misused. It appears that in the last 10 or so years, it went from a word exclusive to the fashion industry, used to describe a custom-made suit, to a buzzword that has been overused and eviscerated of all meaning. This prompted me to do a little digging and reminded me of this article from eons ago, describing (ironically I may add) how to design a perfect hipster logo in 6 easy steps. While hilariously satirical, it is concerning that something like that is out there as it perpetuates the idea that there are shortcuts to great and meaningful work.
Calling a shitty, mass-manufactured product made in China "Bespoke", doesn't make it better. Unless we're talking about a Savile Row suit, the attempt at co-opting the meaning of word strictly to sell more crap is transparent. A logo made in under an hour from a kit of parts may look good on the surface, but it will not stand out in a sea of sameness and the brand using it will eventually suffer from it.
Conversely, well-thought-out, meaningful and timeless work, like that of Saul Bass may age, but will never be irrelevant, because it contains layers upon layers of meaning and is much more than the sum of its parts, which the hipster logo can't claim. Moreover, it doesn't need buzzwords like bespoke to be described as the work speaks for itself.
The moral of the story is that there are no shortcuts, good stuff take time and resources to create and evolve. Good marketing is the same, it has to be thoughtful and will develop over time into something of lasting value. There is no way to game the system that isn't a sham. Don't fall for it.
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