Every year, when our committee sits down to curate submissions for the Kuala Lumpur Illustration Fair, I am hit by a tidal wave of raw, unfiltered visual stimulates.
Hundreds of independent artists from across the region submit work that is impactful, fresh visual and filled with raw personality.
It’s a vivid reminder of where the creative world is actually heading.
But the next morning, when I step back into my role as a commercial Creative Director and review the competitive landscape of corporate branding, that energy completely vanishes.
Instead, I see a sea of sameness: safe color palettes, predictable layouts, and sanitised stock-like illustrations that blend seamlessly into the background noise.
It begs the question:
Why does corporate branding feel so incredibly bland when the world is overflowing with creative talent?
When corporations look for visual assets, their default instinct is to look at what their competitors are doing.
They look at industry benchmarks.
But copying a benchmark only guarantees one thing:
you will look exactly like everyone else.
In a boardroom, safety feels comfortable.
A “safe” visual doesn’t get anyone fired, but it also doesn’t get anyone noticed.
When a brief gets passed through multiple layers of corporate approvals, the edges get rounded off.
By the time it reaches execution, the original spark of an idea has been diluted into a checklist of corporate compliance. Businesses end up paying for world-class agencies, but forcing them to act as basic pixel-pushers.
Look Where Your Competitors Aren’t Looking
If you want your business to stand out, you shouldn’t look to other corporate brands for inspiration.
You need to look at the underground art scene.
As a curator, I see artists who don’t create to fit inside a rigid box.
They create to provoke a reaction, to tell an authentic story, and to push visual boundaries.
That is the exact energy your brand needs to capture the attention of a modern audience.
This doesn’t mean your corporate campaign needs to look like a chaotic street art mural or a gallery piece. It means injecting that independent artist energy into your professional guardrails.
At Behind 90, we’ve spent a decade proving that corporate logic and creative charisma can coexist.
You don’t have to sacrifice your business objectives to have incredible, trend-setting visuals.
Stop Buying Decorations. Invest in the Aesthetic.
We are currently living in an aesthetic revolution. Audiences are visual-first, and they can spot a boring, soul-less corporate campaign from a mile away.
Your visual assets shouldn’t just fill space on a pitch deck or a billboard; they should shape a generational sense of style. If you want your brand to be a landmark instead of background noise, you have to stop playing it safe.
Lean into the friction.
Trust the sketch.
Let’s build something that doesn’t just meet the brief, but actually makes headlines.