Achieve Your Brand Goal Without Cashing in Your Soul Through the Punk Design Ethos

What is the Punk Design Ethos?

Good question. What I’ve coined as the “Punk Design Ethos” is a set of value guides that help tether all my projects properly so that I can get your message to stand out. It was created in the spirit of the DIY values of punk rock and the PMA of the hardcore scene.

These values aim to check that you’re on the right path and making the most effective message possible: Is your message’s tone right? Do your visuals resonate with your audience? Does your website respect your users' time?

The Punk Design Ethos isn’t a guidebook or checklist you follow, ticking all the boxes and calling it a day. It is a continuous set of values that you should apply to a project throughout its lifespan.

The end goal is to create something that sticks with your audience while respecting their intelligence and time.

Remember: Anyone can apply these principles to a project. You don’t need some sick patches, a collection of records, or a mohawk to pull them off.

6 Guiding Principles of the Punk Design Ethos

Collaboration & Knowledge

Like any good band, good projects mean collaboration. While I may have the knowledge and skills to create a brand, the client has all the knowledge. As one, stand together, and we’ll do the best work.

Make Limits an Advantage

Just because you have limits on a project, it doesn’t mean you can’t excel at it. Create what you need, reuse what you have, avoid overcomplication. Don’t put asphalt where the grass used to grow.

Be Skeptical, Do Research

The first idea shouldn’t be the only one. Once you’re in the pit doing the work, you can’t go back in time and restart. Be skeptical of your ideas and dig deeper. Can you peel off another layer?

High-Quality Content Is King

You can have the best brand in the world, but if your content is boring and your imagery is fake, your audience will see right through it. Good frames don’t save bad paintings.

Don’t Compromise Values

It might be tempting to follow the crowd, but ultimately, your audience desires a message that is built on your unique values. If you don’t believe it, why should they?

Respect Your Audience

Never use dark design patterns to trick your audience; they will hate you. Respect their time and their intelligence, and never back down from championing your supporters.

What’s the Value of the Punk Design Ethos?

As it stands, there is one currency that your brand has that you need to build: trust and authenticity. It’s something hard to gain and easy to go bankrupt on. Risking losing that battle can put your brand into the worst possible position: irrelevance.

It’s extremely easy to fall into traps during a project, whether that is taking the first, easy idea and running with it instead of investigating more effective solutions, tricking users into something they don’t want, or making your messaging so heavy on jargon that no one but you understands it.

In the current digital landscape, tools like AI and time constraints on getting things moving force us to take shortcuts. A small timeframe means you sacrifice considering the best response for the fastest. Without proper oversight, large language models and image generators will churn out mediocre results that users ignore. In the rush to make an extra buck, dark patterns are deployed on websites that trick users, ultimately creating resentment.

By anchoring your work in this ethos set, you’re allowing the good to rise to the top.