Developing a brand identity can be a ton of fun...if it’s done in the correct order of things.

In the last episode, I talked about the importance of developing a strong brand to put out into the world. Here’s your fair warning: if you try to eat your dessert before your peas, you’re gonna have a bad time. You need to have figured out what your brand is before you design its identity. The reason for this is the same reason you can’t idly water a houseplant once a week without knowing what type of plant it is...what if it’s sensitive to overwatering and you’ve been watering it every day? What if it’s in a shady spot when it should be getting lots of sun? What if it’s not a real plant at all, just one of those convincing plastic ones, and you’ve been watering and fertilising plastic for three weeks?? 

My point is that if you haven’t developed a solid brand for your company, designing an identity will be a confusing process, and if you’re confused, it’s guaranteed your customers will be, too. 

However, if you’ve already spent a good amount of time developing a strong brand and you’re ready to give it an identity to show off to the world, here’s a great exercise to do: 

1. Choose 5 or 6 colors that appeal to you. I suggest 2 neutral colors, 1 or 2 main colors, and one accent color (an accent color is one that’s used in a very small amount, to make other colors ‘pop’) 
2. Choose 2-3 types of fonts that look good to you - one for your company name, one for a slogan, and one that you will use for sales copy and headlines
3. Find images, symbols, or background pictures on the internet that you really like the look of, or would like to inspire your brand identity from. 
4. Collect all of these things together into a ‘cheat sheet’ from which you’ll develop your identity. If you are working with a graphic designer, sending this cheat sheet to them will be a huge help in creating your logo and design. If you’re working alone, you now have a collection to bring your logo to life from! 

I also encourage you to look at your cheat sheet and think about the ‘feelings words’ that you have while you look at your chosen colors, fonts, and images. These words will help guide you in branding. They may have to do with the values you want to encompass as a brand, or the type of feelings you want your customers to have when they interact with your products and services. If you follow these instructions and stay creative, you are well on your way to developing a strong and sustainable brand identity!

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EP 13 - Please Someone Tell Me What a Brand is!!