It would be interesting to survey people who create communication for a living - writers, designers, etc - to learn what their least favorite phrase in the world is.

It might be ‘minor revisions’. Or ‘I love it but…’. Or maybe ‘procurement department’. But if it came to betting my house, I’d go for ‘mandatories’.

This is the dumpster-load of catch phrases, tags, co-branding logos and sundry clutter that must be added onto any piece of visual communication, transforming the concept from elegant simplicity to a visual flea market.

Presentation graphics generally suffer less from mandatories than, say, press ads or packaging, but you still see lots of screen material where being ‘on-brand’ seems to be more important than clear, involving communication.

If you’re swamped in compulsory clutter, sometimes you have to turn the ‘contrast’ dial up to 11.

Which is why I love this construction site sign. It wouldn’t have the same charm if the core message wasn’t totally buried in a blizzard of mandatories.

It makes me proud to be Australian.