BELIEVE IN THE PROCESS
You would never run without learning how to walk first, and that’s the same ethos I take when it comes to the brand design process. The following steps are generally how I work together with all of my clients whether it’s a new brand or a re-brand.
1. Learn, listen, Explore
First things first, we’ll get to know each other either over coffee in person or virtually via FaceTime. I’ll do a deep dive into your business and ask allll the questions. And also ask about YOU because small businesses are really a reflection of their owners. Next will be your turn to do a little (fun) homework for me and fill out my branding questionnaire. I’ll then go back on my own and do a lot of research and start sketching and pulling imagery to move to our next step.
2. visual brand Concept
After I’ve gone through your questionnaire and my notes and my sketches, I’ll work up two/three visual concepts that your brand could envision in the form of mood concept boards. These will give you an idea of how your brand could feel, with everything from typography, photography, colour palette, iconography, and overall mood. I am a firm believer that we need a blueprint to start from in order to move forward. This helps us both gut-check as we move through the design process. Do future designs feel like the board? Are we getting off track? This mood concept board keeps us on the straight and narrow.
3. Design, design, design
Armed with the chosen concept, I’ll create the perfect design(s) for your brand and present these to you. Usually this means starting with a logo first, then moving along to collateral then digital, where you’ll see fonts, colour palettes, patterns/textures and photography all come together. Don’t worry, I’ll present all of it in a way that helps bring your brand to life so we’re not looking at concepts in a vacuum. Logos don’t live in white boxes – they live in a full-colour, real-world life! I promise, you’ll get excited to get my emails as you watch your business take shape visually!
4. feedback, edit, Refine
This is the big collaboration part of the process, where you tell me what you like, love and would like to see changed (if anything). We’ll work together to get it exactly how you want coupled with valid design direction from me. We will use the brand concept as a loose guideline to make sure we stay on track with all design pieces. My past clients tell me that they like my feedback style – I’ll always give you my opinion and have definite reasoning behind it but I’m not pushy. At the end of the day, this is your brand and I want you to live, love and be comfortable with it.
5. launch, print, Handover
Depending on what the deliverable is will depend on how the file is handed over but be sure I’ll get you exactly what you need whether it’s logos in various formats or setting up final artwork to print a brochure. I am a paper fanatic, so I’m more than happy to help coordinate printing and spec out paper stocks and inks. Even when the project is over, consider me part of your brand’s life. There is nothing I love more than watching a business grow. I’ll follow along with you on social media to see what you’re up to, I’ll tell you if you’re using your brand assets incorrectly (sorry! It’s the designer OCD in me to let you know that your font isn’t tracked out properly) and I’ll follow up to see how you’re doing with whatever we’ve launched together.