The branding world is constantly evolving, so standing out from the crowd in 2025 is no easy task. With sonic branding, guerrilla marketing and AR ads filling our feeds, it can be hard to know how to balance brand heritage with new creative trends, so to find out more, I consulted the experts.
Ahead of the upcoming Brand Impact Awards, I sat down with Jones Knowles Ritchie's executive creative directors, Stuart Radford and Ricardo Bezerra, to find out how to build a successful brand in 2025. Together, we discussed their creative process, how to ensure your work is future-proof, and how they'd like to see the industry develop in the future.
What’s your first step when beginning a new branding project?
Ricardo: My first step is getting to the core of who the brand really is. That means looking both outward and inward.
Outwardly, we dive into the world the brand lives in. We study cultural movements, analyse competitors, track trends, and centre everything around what people need. Looking inward, we uncover the brand’s identity: its challenges, tensions, aspirations, and most importantly, its history.
I truly believe that great branding reconnects a brand with what it’s built over time. It doesn’t erase the past, it reframes it to shape a future that feels both desirable and authentic. When you bring those internal and external perspectives together, you can see the path forward clearly. We want to find the “brief inside the brief."
How can brands balance heritage with modern design?
Ricardo: I love this question because I believe a brand’s authenticity lives in the tension between its past and future.
The past is a place of reference, reverence, self-recognition, and deep learning. Every brand has something special, whether it’s the name, the logo, the colours, the stories of its founders, or even the myths that have grown around it. These assets, both tangible and intangible, are rich with potential during design exploration.
But it’s not just about pulling things from the archive and polishing them up, it's not a copy-paste exercise. We have to imagine what’s next and find inspiration from that. That means evolving those assets, keeping their original spirit while creating new meaning and emotional connections.
When we explore the friction between origin and originality, we create sparks, and if we're lucky, sometimes even fire. That’s where true creativity is born.
How do you ensure a brand is future-proof?
Nothing alive is static, everything is in constant motion.
For a brand to stay relevant, it must continuously "read the room," looking at the world with a holistic, curious, and courageous lens. It’s about understanding that today’s challenges can be prototypes of tomorrow’s vision.
The brand needs to define and pursue that vision, and pursue it with clarity.
For me, the best way to build a future-proof brand is to double down on what makes it distinctive – recognize it, embrace it, and reimagine it.
Today, as ECD at JKR, I feel more inspired than ever to bring my Brazilian roots into the work and to encourage both brands and people to embrace their true selves, everywhere and at every moment. After all, the journey of evolution never really ends.
How would you like to see the branding industry develop?
Stuart: I’d like to see the branding industry continue to evolve into a more integrated, holistic discipline, where the traditional boundaries between design, branding, and advertising are no longer treated as separate worlds, but as interconnected parts of a broader brand experience.
As brands increasingly need partners who can think across the whole journey, from identity and voice to campaigns, activations, and digital touchpoints, there’s a real opportunity for agencies and creatives to step up and meet that need.
We need more designers evolving into what you might call 'super creatives'
For those willing to embrace this shift, especially designers, it opens the door to a broader, more rewarding creative role. We need more designers evolving into what you might call super creatives. Not in a grand or inflated sense, but in their ability to work across disciplines, shaping not just how a brand looks, but how it behaves, speaks, and connects with people in the real world.
That kind of contribution requires a wider creative toolkit: blending strategy with execution, visual craft with storytelling, and design with experience. But for those ready to stretch and grow in that way, the payoff is significant – stronger, more coherent brands, and work that’s genuinely fulfilling, creatively ambitious, and culturally resonant.
For me, the future of the industry lies in this blend of collaboration, versatility, and integrated thinking. It’s where the most valuable brand work will happen and where the most exciting creative careers will be built.
Have you created a standout logo or branding? Enter the Brand Impact Awards.
