Identity affirmation through `signature style': A study of toy car designers

I describe findings from a qualitative study of toy car designers that shows how creative workers may develop and express `signature styles' through their work. The display of these signature styles — that were not advertised, stamped on products, or even recognized in official corporate marketing communications — allowed designers to affirm their creative, professional identities while designing commodity products within the practical constraints of a corporate context. Findings further revealed that creative workers used signature styles, primarily, to affirm the identity categorizations of `idealistic' and `independent'. I discuss how these findings extend our understanding of `identity work' among creative workers, and may improve our ability to effectively manage these workers in corporate settings.