II. Why not just a refresh?

Companies often mandate a “design refresh” to modernize a brand that feels outdated. And yes, IBM definitely needed an image boost. But a new system wouldn’t be enough to solve the new design problems that keep popping up as our environment continues to transform. Yes, the company needed to align on one grid, but they also needed that grid to work across channels (how would the grid work in a product design?), formats (how would it work in motion?)—even across dimensions (what about 3D?). And what about non-designers? Consultants’ Powerpoint presentations are the #1 touchpoint for the IBM brand; how could we make it easy for them to improve the design of their slides? Morover, how could we take the concept of Design Thinking to the next level so as to infuse the IBM brand into it? 

IBM needed more than a new system for designers. It needed to define a way of thinking so that everyone in the company could start applying design to their work .

III. “The purpose of everything we do is to guide the people we serve.”

Rethinking the IBM design philosophy was an opportunity to examine the brand’s place in the modern environment—and in modern culture. Today’s business environment is being defined by technology. And while most brands lean into the newness, possibility, and excitement of tech, there’s another side to it: uncertainty, risk, and volatility. So could there be a tech brand that spoke to  these stresses? Unlike its competitors, IBM has lived through all the eras of computing, and has helped many of the world’s largest and most successful companies through them too. IBM is not the fastest-moving or the wildest moon-shooting because it’s mature. It’s experienced. It has the unique ability in its category to be a guide.

The role of “guide” drove the new design philosophy and principles. We asked,
- “How can design facilitate progress?”
- “How can IBM help humanity and technology move forward together?”
- “What does a good guide do? How does it behave? What does it look like, sound like, feel like, smell like...?”

From there, we developed design principles. These principles needed to be broad enough so anyone, from any discipline within IBM, could apply them to their work. But, they also needed to be practical enough to give clear direction.