By Rex Hammock

Several years ago on my personal blog, I poked fun at an essay written by a celebrity CEO. On her Tumblr page, she had shared a weekend experience during which she redesigned the company’s logo with a team of employees. (My favorite line of her post was, “Our last move was to tilt the exclamation point by 9 degrees, just to add a bit of whimsy.”)

Graphic and corporate design are critical to content marketing. But such an exercise, as described in the essay, is an example of taking a good thing too far.

In my post, I jokingly wrote about the attributes of the Hammock logo designed by a team of one: Creative Director Kerri Foster. I pointed out how it was round and red and in the shape of a hammock—if you really studied it. (However, I didn’t mention in my post that it took Kerri a long time to create a symbol that looks so simple but says so much.)

Often, companies spend so much money and effort on the process of designing a logo that senior management start viewing style guides as holy grails. (This also can apply to the development of editorial guidelines.)

At Hammock, we work closely with our clients as part of their marketing and communications teams. We’ve all agreed to keep an open channel of communication to discuss new content tools and opportunities that may require the tweaking of existing guidelines. We work together to balance the old with the new, and the traditional vs. the contemporary.

Takeaway | In an evolving era of new media and content creation, the opportunities for new forms of corporate communication, creativity and content require a constant review of rigid rules vs. new ideas. Graphic and editorial style guides are critical in marketing with content. But so is looking for fresh ways to communicate with the audiences we’re trying to reach.

Image: Getty Images

About Hammock Healthcare Idea Email | This post is part of Hammock’s award-winning Idea Email series. Idea Emails are sent every other week and share one insightful marketing idea. Idea Email comes in two flavors: Original and Healthcare. To subscribe to the original Idea Email (general marketing ideas), click here . To subscribe to the Healthcare Idea Email (healthcare marketing ideas), click here.