THE PROCESS THAT ENSURES YOUR BRAND SUCCESS
Following those steps in the right order is crucial to ensure your brand shines.
What is branding?
Let's start with the basics. Branding, brand and visual identity are often considered the same... but this is far from the truth! However, what is true is that if you want a solid business, you need to grow your branding, your brand and develop a strong and consistent visual identity. And no... just designing a logo won't be enough!
Let's dive a little into those concepts.
Brand and Branding: Your brand is the identity of your business, which is shaped by a combination of visuals, feelings, messaging, stories, purpose, values, etc. Branding is the actions you take to create a specific identity/image for your company. It could be defined as the experience the client has with the brand. It is the way you share your brand with the audience, what the client feels when using your product, what they see or have in mind when they think of your business.
Brand Identity or Visual Identity: it is your brand's face, the visual representation of your business. The visual identity is based on the branding and includes the logo (yes, the logo is only ONE element of the visual identity), colours, typography, images, graphic elements, packaging, experience in stores, and all the deliverables (business cards, posters, social media posts, etc.) that make your brand recognisable and unique to your audience.
So now, how do we make branding and visual identity work together?
When you define the missions, message, purpose, values, objectives and target audience of a brand, you are creating the foundation of branding. It is the first and most crucial step to a successful brand. Only after defining those points, you can build the visual identity. The face of the brand (visual identity) must represents the identity of your business (branding) in a distinctive and memorable way.
To know more about how to build a successful brand, I would recommend you to read the great articles by Making You Smile, a branding agency based in Paris and with whom I collaborate regularly on different projects.
My branding process
Over the past few years since I started my business, I have refined my branding process. From brand strategy to visual identity, I help you put together a plan to start or develop your business to another level.
1. INTRODUCTION CALL
Before we even start talking about the foundations of your business and how we can make it shines, we must be sure that we are a good fit. It is very important that we have a good feeling about each other since we are going to spend a lot of time working together. So, the first step is having a casual chat about your needs, the details of the project and our potential collaboration.
We will discuss the process, your goals and all the important details to ensure a smooth collaboration (timeframe, launch date, pricing, other expectations or requests, etc.).
After our call, I will put together a proposal and a quote, which are specific to your project.
When you are ready to officially book, I will send you a contract to fill in and sign as well as an invoice for your first instalment. Payment plans depend on the project and on what the client is more comfortable with. The instalments will be discussed and set up during our call. A downpayment officially secures your spot in my queue.
2. Brand strategy
Before we start the design process, we first need to go over your business foundations and goals.
For that, we will have a brand discovery meeting (Zoom/Teams/Google Meet call) of about 1-2h long. We will discuss the history of your business, your current situation and goals. We will also define the key branding elements such as your brand positioning, your purpose, your value proposition, your ideal customers profils, your values and your brand personality, tone and mood.
We will clarify and simplify all those elements into a one page document. This will ensure that we align the next step, the visual identity design, to the branding.
3. VISUAL IDENTITY
a. Design ideas
Based on the discovery session, I will work on some first ideas and concepts. I will then present you the possible design concepts. It is important for me to show you the early ideas so that I can include you in the design process. It will help us solidify one or 2 design directions before I go deeper in details.
The ideas go from the most simple versions to really bold and unique concepts.
b. VISUAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
Once you decide on the concept, we can focus on really bringing the design to life. I explore different logos, colours, typographies, graphic elements and styles based on the chosen concept. I then present you the best options gathered into a PowerPoint presentation so that you really see how all the elements come together to form the visual identity.
c. Refinements
We will go through 2 rounds of refinements, to make sure everything is polished. Refinements are based on your feedbacks and my expertise.
d. BRAND DELIVERABLES
Once the main elements of the visual identity are defined, we will work on the brand deliverables included in your package (discussed during the discovery session), so that we make sure to stay consistent throughout all materials (business cards, presentations, letterhead, posters, flyers, social media posts & banners etc.).
4. FINALISING YOUR BRAND
Your brand is almost ready to create some magic ! Here is how we finalise the project.
a. Final files and guidelines
After the refinement rounds are done and we are both happy with the final look I will prepare all the final files & brand guidelines.
The brand guidelines are a set of rules that will help you keep your brand consistent and cohesive throughout the different media. It is very important that you follow those guidelines to allow people to quickly identify your brand, products, and services.
I will give you access to all the files you will need in different formats so that you will be able to use them on all your marketing materials.
b. LAUNCH
Congratulations! Now you are ready to present your new brand to the world!
Feel like your current branding doesn't convey the right message, values or story?
You shouldn’t have to settle for an outdated or ineffective brand presence. My services are tailored made for each client and crafted with a unique strategy that fits your market and targets your ideal client.