Demystifying the Branding Process in Five Steps.
You really want your business - your pride and joy - to stand out, but you neither have the time nor the tech skills to do it on your own. For many of you SMEs out there, the thoughts of where to even start when creating and maintaining your brand can be overwhelming.
Here I share my insights with you to demystify the branding / design process. Not only will this let you see what fun it is, but also what immense value your business gets when you invest in personalised design.
#1 - Consultations
#2 - Brand Discovery & Strategy Session
#3 - Creative Direction
#4 - Design and Refine
#5 - Handover and Implement
Think of this as our ice-breaker!
This call is one of a couple of really important conversations I will have with you.
Not only do we get to meet and suss each other out, but I also get to talk with you more about your business goals.
This also gives me a chance to see, if in fact, a new brand is something you need! We might discover your website is out of date and not converting, your photography isn’t selling you on social media, or you might just need a few tweaks with fresh supporting assets.
Either way, this allows me to create a proposal based on your actual needs, meaning you are getting the right services, at the right time. I won’t sell you snake oil! My goal as a designer is to always offer you the RIGHT solution that benefits your customers and grows your business.
Just as an architect draws out plans before they start building, you need to develop a brand strategy for your business.
Brand Strategy involves getting under the hood about your business - the WHY. We deep dive in your values, vision, personality, audiences, and your place in your industry.
I take you through a series of thoughtful exercises, guiding and challenging you to think deeply about your business. Without the WHY, your brand is superficial. All people will know is what you do, how you do it with a nice logo and some bright colours. To get customers to care about you and give you brand loyalty - they want to know why you do it. Your purpose. The very reason your business exists.
Now it’s time to get creative! No designer worth their salt should start creating for you until they show you a creative direction. Building a creative direction is beneficial for both you and me. Why?
When you are making an investment in design, you don’t want your time or money to be wasted fumbling around in the dark. Plus designers aren’t mind readers (as much as we would love to be!). The phrase “I’ll know it when I see it” is like kryptonite to us.
That’s why I take all the amazing insights you’ve shared in our brand strategy session and use that to build a creative direction (or two) for you. Presenting this with solid back up data means that when I put pen to paper, or mouse to screen, I am working on an approved direction you support and understand.
No Creative Direction?
Vague briefs
Nondescript feedback like ‘make it pop’
Loss of designers hair
Wasted time and money for everyone
Frustrated client
Extensional crisis
Which would you choose?!
This is the part everyone LOVES and wants to jump straight into! But I hope by now, you can see the importance of the earlier stages in getting to this point. From here, it should be plain sailing and in my recent experience, it has.
This stage is where I use all the tools, information and experience I have to design concepts for you. I like to create two! This gives you the comfort of contrast and comparison. Both are developed inline with your creative direction and brand strategy (we’re not going rouge here folks!).
Nothing is sent to you cold. I take the time to go over everything in detail, explaining the rationale behind every pixel decision made. I give you clear feedback questions, leaving no room for ambiguity or scratched heads, making sure that those precious refinements are used efficiently for you. Again, saving you time and money.
Two rounds of refinements are included in my branding packages and are usually more than enough to complete the process.
Whether your business is big or small, best practice is to always have a set of brand guidelines to reference and work off. What are brand guidelines?
A brand guide is a document that details a company's visual identity, along with rules and guidelines for any communication…rules for logo usage, fonts, colour, typography, and tone, along with the brand's mission, positioning, and values.
Along with this guide you’ll receive all your logo and font files. If your proposal included the design of social media templates, website design, or printed collateral, like signage or stationery, these will all be implemented by your designer for you.
Implantation is where you can get caught out though.
Ask yourself how confident you are in using software like Canva, but how comfortable are you at creating your own visual assets on them?
If your answer is “not at all” then don’t be afraid to ask your designer to help you! They might just be the tech support you need in the early days! Or you can grant permissions to your social / web channels and have them silently and seamlessly do it all for you while you sleep!
Whatever you decide, don’t let all the hard work fall at the last hurdle.
Launch your new brand confidently and creatively!
