Between lifting the barrier to entry for D2C brands or unfettered access to know-how, the internet has mainstreamed branding. Its importance isn’t even debatable now. But the internet has also quietly been training us to make worse brands. The guiding hand of the algorithm is surfacing the same self-reinforcing popular looks and that’s narrowed our vision of what brand could be. Our clients are now showing up with the same handful of reference images for brands that should have nothing in common. This is a self-imposed illusion of choice and the data we have on design shows that it isn’t going to work for them. Only unique works. The most fundamental part of our practice is to achieve the same strategic goals with unexpected references and unheard voices. Open the aperature. If you make obvious choices, don’t expect extraordinary outcomes.