The Gameplan
While every brand is unique to each client, the process of getting there is almost always the same.
I've honed my systems and processes so that your experience in developing your new brand is as smooth as a ride in a new Tesla.
I've outlined the steps we take below - they go in a sequence and will be specific to your project.
1. Your Homework
To kick off your project, I'm gonna need some stuff from you. We kick off with a Creative Brand and Discovery Session, which basically helps you and me identify a few things:
Your Ideal Client Avatar - aka Dreamy Client, aka who we should be laser focused on creating our brand around.
Brands you swoon over, and ones you don't.
Your competition, and what makes you stand out.
Your Brand Personality.
2. Pin it like it's hot!
Now the fun really begins and we can begin to visually bring your brand vibe to life via the magic of Pinterest.
Depending on how we go in the first phase, we may come up with more than one Pinterest Mood Board to reflect different brand options around "personality", "concepts" and "themes".
I generally do this in secret Boards within my own Pinterest account and share them with you so you can collaborate in the process. I'll share the links to these boards here.
The first step is to follow each other on Pinterest so we can both collaborate on secret boards.
DESIGNSPO
There are plenty of places to look for inspiration in design. Here are a few resources you can check out to start collecting a look and feel for your mood boards.
Pro tip: When you start pinning, think about a concept or theme for your board as it relates to your ideal client, what you like and your brand personality - e.g. "modern minimalist", "hippy luxe", "bold retro" and pick a range of images, fonts and colors that support that theme.
Places to look
- Your favorite brand crush sites
- Behance
- Creative Market
3. Getting Moody
Before I even start working on logo concepts, I present you with a "distilled" mood board.
This board is essentially a paired down version of your Pins, highlighting the key concepts and themes that ran through it.
Once I have refined the pins and you are happy with the direction, we'll move on to logo and brand concepts.
These initial mood boards will form the direction for ongoing brand development.
Brand + Style Guide
At this stage, I will present the first logo and style guide concepts, including font selections, color palettes and image direction. Usually I like to give a minimum of two options, but sometimes this can be more.
Our agreements generally include up to three rounds of revisions on the chosen logo concept.
By now we are starting to see your brand come to life!
Website Development
If you've chosen to go ahead with a web design package, at this point, we will start to work with you on your website design.
Remember, it's important to have all of your web copy ready before the beginning of the website process.
It's one of the most challenging times and I wrote a blog post about getting prepped with your web copy.