Bringing corporate back.

Corporate branding cannot compete on that front. There is no packaging to photograph, no shelf space, no instant ‘this is beautiful’ reaction that underpins a portfolio. There is a Keynote presentation setting out the brand architecture of an industrial group — and that, let’s face it, lacks the sex appeal of a redesigned gin bottle or the immediate reach of a viral post.

And yet, it is perhaps the most complex exercise within design. I’m familiar with such processes firsthand: holding companies with dozens of brands and operations across various regions that need to converge on a common vision; companies preparing to enter a new era of resource management; entire groups merging into a single global brand. None of these challenges fits onto a mood board. They fit into interviews with CEOs across three continents, into years spent understanding an industry from the inside out.

It has its own railways: a past that cannot be ignored, a system of governance that must be respected, and cultures that have developed over decades. If design has always been about striking a balance between form and function, this demands the most difficult of balances — between that past and an understanding of what lies ahead. It is precisely this complexity, with no immediate return in the form of ‘likes’, that makes it more challenging.

That is why we need more talent to dedicate themselves to this discipline, as a deliberate choice. Not only because of the challenges it presents on a daily basis, but also because it is financially more rewarding for those who practise it. And because the country risks, in the future, not having a national industry capable of responding to the challenges faced by its own corporations — thereby running an even greater risk that these challenges will be resolved outside Portugal.

Duarte Vilaça, founder of Born.