Milk Bottle is run by me, Ben May. You do not know how difficult it is to write copy for this page. As someone born in the 80s, I was not brought up to be a showoff. As a result, I am not a flashy chap. Vanity is not in my vocabulary. So I am just going to write about my journey from a designer to a thinker.
2003 – I graduated from Brighton and chased aesthetics and trends. I didn’t think; I threw something on the screens and waited till it looked good to me. I was blagging it, hoping that nobody noticed. This was normal for a 22-year-old fresh out of uni.
Then I discovered what branding really meant, not logo design, not pretty colours, not the latest design trend, but real branding with strategy, meaning and consistancy. In the real world, put simply, branding is the art of influencing an audience or individual to trust something or someone enough to part with their money. I discovered that whilst aesthetics matter (so much), it is not the whole story.
I started thinking. Fast forward 20+ years, trends have come and gone, but the thinking behind brands has stayed the same; humans are still human. We all still love and hate, we are still loyal and disloyal, we can still trust and be sceptical.
So now I find myself doing more thinking than designing, which means I am not blagging anything anymore! I am no longer anxious about the aesthetic, my design choices are considered and thoughtful…so what do I call myself these days? I am still a designer, a creative, but I am also a strategist.
If you have any more questions around what I could do for you and your brand, then do get in touch, we can grab a coffee or jump on a call.
