The branding process starts with a phone call. After you contact me about a project, we will set up a time to discuss your brand, your current situation, your goals, your challenges, and your vision for your brand. This is a discovery call. During this call, we will also discuss your unique selling proposition, target audience, marketing strategy, and we will define your business goals. The purpose of the call is for me to really get to know your brand and to determine how I can help you and the kind of value I can provide to your company and your brand.
At this point, I will send you a proposal, contract, and invoice for initial deposit.
Upon completion of the Discovery phase, I will move on to the next step: Research. I’ll ask you to fill out a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and tell me what you know about your competition. I will start researching the market and known competitors. The Research phase will culminate in a mood board, where I reflect my research and your input as a set of visual inspiration pieces, which we will discuss in order to determine the direction of your brand’s visual identity.
This is where the magic happens. I fill up page after page of potential logos and branding elements in my sketchbook. I do this for days at a time, until I get the right solution for your brand. When I find the “seeds” of the brand, I grow and refine them. At the end of this phase, I will present you with the best drafts. We will discuss the pros and cons of each design and work together to determine the best route to pursue.
Up until this point, I haven’t even opened Illustrator or Photoshop. I believe in starting the process in my sketchbook and taking it as far as possible before switching to digital production. There is a certain kind of expressiveness and impermanence in sketching which fuels creativity as well as rapid revision and bold experimentation. Once the sketch is nailed down, I bring it into Illustrator and render it out in vector format. Vectors are important because they allow for scaling to any size without losing resolution. I will also render any associated brand elements at this point, including sub-logos, icons, color variations, patterns, and whatever other elements specific to your brand. I will also be producing the brand guidelines and designing the business cards, letterheads, envelopes, and other business collateral as necessary. At the end of the Rendering phase, I will present to you a complete, cohesive brand identity and a run-down of the final promotional strategy.
The next phase, Building, is the process of building your website, social media presence, advertisements, and other brand elements such as packaging, promotional materials, and vehicle wraps. Everything is custom-designed to complement your new visual identity and represent your brand in the best light possible. Plans here vary based on your needs as a client.
We will go over your brand launch strategy, and final invoice will be delivered. Upon fulfillment of the contract, I will then send you the visual identity I created. That includes all vector files as well as .jpg and .png files that you can use on your own. This also includes handing over the keys to your website and basic training on the WordPress platform as well as implementation of your social media branding.
I like to check up on the businesses I’ve branded, so I’ll give you a call about six months, one year, and two years after the launch to see if there’s anything I can help you with and see how the brand is performing. If there’s work to be done, we’ll determine the best course of action to make your brand the best that it can be.