Why Critical Thinking is the Brand Designer’s Highest Value Skill
Discover why critical thinking and not just technical skills define successful brand design in an age of AI and democratised design tools.
By Adam Charlton · 15/02/2025
Posted in Insight
I’ve never considered myself a ‘graphic designer’. I didn’t study graphic design—I learned the hard way, working in one of the fastest-moving and highly thought-of Hong Kong branding agencies. It was brutal, exhausting, and stressful, but it was an education!
My father was an automotive engineer and incredibly practical. From furniture to bikes and motorcycles, give him a day in his garage, and he can build anything. My mother, an accounts manager, is brilliantly personable and critically business-minded. She can help think through any problem from any perspective.
The branding process is so interesting because it perfectly merges design and business.
Branding is the aesthetics of commerce.
Brands cannot be separated from the companies they represent. When we create a brand, we begin with strategy, which is essentially an exercise in critical thinking. We filter down to the most necessary components, questioning and refining until we reach the core of what matters—the business’s core purpose. We can then develop key messaging and a mission. Good designers aren’t just creators; they’re curators who can filter what’s necessary from what’s just noise.
With an engineer father, it’s no surprise I was obsessed with Lego. The 3D puzzle, structure, and methodical nature resonated with me. Just like building Lego, to create a brand strategy, you have the pieces in front of you, and you have the instructions. With a clear structure and approach, getting to the root of the business is not difficult.
The real challenge of branding is bridging the gap between verbal concepts and visual expression.
Creating visuals that capture and express the brand’s core values, personality, and purpose. To do this well, you have to be a great critical thinker. This is what all great brand designers have in common.
Critical thinking in design means questioning assumptions, understanding context, and making deliberate choices. Which values matter most? What makes this business different? How do these insights translate into visual decisions?
The ability to think critically about business challenges makes designers valuable strategic partners, not just visual executors.
Because our work is so closely tied to our clients' contexts, designed solutions result from understanding the business model, customer acquisition, cultural nuances, market dynamics, and individual challenges. These insights don’t come from software skills—they come from critical thinking.
With tools like Adobe, Canva, and Figma integrating AI capabilities, technical execution becomes increasingly accessible and automated. However, these tools can’t replace the critical thinking that guides their use. They can’t determine which solution best serves the business goal, or how to maintain brand consistency across different contexts.
As AI tools enter our workflow, they become part of the process that critical thinking must manage. Great designers can filter what’s necessary, using critical thinking to guide traditional and AI tools toward meaningful solutions.
Critical thinking helps us:
Filter endless possibilities down to meaningful solutions
Connect business strategy with visual expression
Adapt design for different cultural contexts
Is branding future-proof? As creative industries evolve, critical thinking will become even more central to the design value.
As execution becomes more automated, the need to analyse, evaluate, and make strategic design decisions will only grow in importance.
Technical skills can be learned, and tools will continue to evolve. Still, critical thinking, the ability to see beyond the surface and understand what truly matters, remains the foundation of design.
Are you a Brighton-based business looking to rebrand or create a new brand? We might have something in common…
We’ve been busy building our sister agency in Hong Kong and recently relocated to Brighton! As we establish our branding agency, we’re looking to partner with local companies that want to refresh their brand. We’re running significant discounts to help build our local success stories.
If you would like more information, please get in touch with us at studio@attendtheway.com
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About the author —
Adam is the co-founder of Attend The Way, a Brighton-based branding agency. Adam helps build brands for companies at every growth stage, from startups to industry leaders. Adam has consulted and built brands for some of the world’s most recognised companies.
