Art in Branding.

As a brand designer, I have always worked within a balance of three needs: art, function, and commerce. I used to think of the "art" part exactly as the title suggests, as an afterthought, or a nice extra...

In most projects, the focus leans toward function and commerce. Art often becomes the nice extra, something to add if there is time. For decades, design has been guided by efficiency. We optimized, streamlined, and automated.

Now, AI will handle most of that. It will optimize, align, and scale faster than we ever could.

That is exactly why art matters again.

AI can generate function and serve commerce, but it cannot create meaning. It can copy style, but it cannot feel soul.

When everything starts to look perfect(and too perfect), imperfection becomes luxury. The smallest sign of human touch, a rough idea, an odd balance, or an unexpected emotion, becomes what makes a brand real.

AI will take care of designing things. We, as designers, must focus on defining things: the reason, the feeling, and the story behind it. In many ways, we become the therapists, directors, and mentors behind the brand.

Most of my career, I was told that I am not an artist, design is not art, and that creativity must serve business first. For a long time, I agreed. I learned to speak the language of function and commerce and left the artistic side in the background. But over time, I realized that art is not separate from strategy. It gives brands their humanity, their emotion, their pulse. It’s just the missing part of what makes a brand whole, more human, and more approachable.

Art brings humanity back into branding. It reminds us that brands are not just systems. They are emotions, experiences, and beliefs made visible.

In the new era, what truly makes a brand stand out is not how it looks or works, but how it feels and tastes. And that is still something only humans can design.