Your Mission and Vision. Let’s Talk About It.

If you’re seeking a design studio for a website redesign, or a brand/rebrand, and you haven’t nailed down your company’s mission, vision, and value statements, stop immediately. How can you expect any brand or website to truly capture who you are as a company or organization, and what makes you unique if you’re unable to articulate that yourself? This is your foundation that we’re talking about here. You have to do the legwork, and it’s better to do that from the beginning.

You wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint, right? Only to realize halfway through the process that you placed the bathroom in the wrong corner of the house. Starting a creative project as important as your website or your brand, without having these key items in place, is kind of like operating in the same way. It’s reckless. We know the task might be daunting, but you’ve gotta start somewhere. We’re starting by talking about your mission.

Your Mission

Seriously what is a mission statement anyway? And why is it important? Your mission statement is a clear and concise definition of what your company or organization represents.

To put it short and sweet, it’s who you are, who benefits from the work you do, and how they benefit. And guess what, it should be a sentence, not a paragraph.

As much fun as it is to use technical jargon and big words, this statement isn’t a display of how smart you are. It’s a connection that you are making with your audience, so they can read it and say: I get it. They should be able to easily understand what you’re about and want to dive deeper.

Don’t Box Yourself In

Additionally, it also shouldn’t be so constricting that it boxes you in. Are you building computers, or are you using technology to build a more connected world? Are you making solar panels, or are you cultivating green energy to reverse climate change and create a better world? You likely won’t write down the perfect mission statement on the first try. It takes a few tries to get the right words, and if you have a leadership team, they should be involved in the process. Here are a few of our favorite mission statements:

• sweetgreen: To inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food.
• Patagonia: Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
• Warby Parker: To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.
• JetBlue: To inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground.
• Points North: We challenge the status quo by creating experiences that bring people, passions, and causes together

As you can see, and even when you do your own research, mission statements have a range. That’s why it’s important to develop a statement that is true to your company or organization. It should reflect your collective personality and persona.

Your Vision

Your vision is your perfect world view. This statement also is not technical. It needs to connect to a wide audience on a human level. What is the better world that you’re striving for? What is the more perfect tomorrow that you are creating by doing the work you’re doing today? When you write down this sentence, you should challenge yourself to think bigger. This is the space where you go big or go home.

What’s happening in the world 50-100 years from now because of the work that your organization or company is doing today? What kind of impact do you want to have in your community, your industry, the world? Here are some great examples to inspire you:

• LinkedIn: Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.
• Teach for America: One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.
• Alzheimer’s Association: A world without Alzheimer’s disease.
• Samsung: Inspire the world, create the future.
• Points North: We’re creating a world where great design powers ambitious brands.

A vision statement should be concise, no longer than a sentence or two. You should also be thinking about your company culture when working on this statement. Ultimately, your team members will need to adopt this ethos to help them thrive while working for you. You might be wondering what is the difference between a mission statement and a vision statement. A good rule of thumb to remember is that a vision is an aspiration. A mission is actionable.

In conclusion, providing any creative studio or freelance designer with this information upfront does wonders. You help them to see you the way you want the world to see you. And they can take those words and translate them into stunning brands and websites.