The First Steps To Creating Your Brand Identity

This past weekend I co-hosted a webinar/workshop and talked about inspiration boards and my process with clients. If you haven’t heard of an inspiration board, it’s generally the first step to creating the visuals of your branding. It is a collage of images that work together and give ideas about a feeling, vibe, colors, textures, typography, and so on, in regards to what we are going to create for your visual identity. I wanted to share some of that information with you today on the blog, so here are the three steps to my inspiration board process.

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DEFINE KEY WORDS + FEELINGS

If you’ve read my blog before, you know I put a lot of emphasis on the foundational pieces of branding long before we move into visuals. This is true in my client process, too. We’ve already gone through questionnaires and spent some time talking about target clients, overall goals, and paths to getting there. I’ve already asked my client to consider and come up for 3-5 words that they hope describe their business/branding and 3-5 words that they hope potential customers would use in describing their business/branding.

Those words are very valuable pieces of information – they are the biggest and best tool I have to work off of, honestly. If we want “soft and romantic” versus “pops of color and vibrant” I need to know. Those evoke very different visuals and directions. Now, those words are supported by the images that come later on, but I’ll get to that in a second.

Words that are as precise and descriptive as possible are best. Here are some examples, just to get you thinking: strong, streamlined, soft, airy, detailed, clean, bright, or somber. Think about those words and how they immediately put images into your head. Those are the kind of words to keep in mind while moving forward into creating visuals.

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GET PINNIN’

This part of the process is pretty standard across the designers I know of. Pinterest is an amazing tool for seeing a lot of images at once, and that is exactly what we need to do next. So, I create a secret Pinterest board and invite a client to pin on it. The hope is that they pin at least 15-20 images that are visually appealing to them so that I can take those and create the actual collage.

There are a couple of things to consider with this step. First, avoid pinning any other logos or brand boards. These are far too distracting and will plant seeds in your mind that only copying will ‘fix.’ We obviously aren’t going to copy someone else’s logo or brand boards, so better to just avoid that entirely.

Also, I tell clients to pin anything and everything. It doesn’t matter if it “has nothing to do with your business” or feels completely unconnected. I just want to see styles, lines, colors, feelings, etc. Remember when I said those words were support by the images earlier? Here’s what I meant by that: you might say something like “rustic” or “chic” but the pictures support what that really means to you. Because your version of “chic” might be different than mine, right? So you said these words earlier, which are very important and helpful to me, but now I also get to see what you really meant by those words through the images you choose.

The other thing I like to ask my clients to do is consider every image they pin through the eyes of their newly defined target audience or client. Think about each picture deliberately and think, “Okay, I liked this picture of xyz (jewelry, living rooms, food, etc.) Would it appeal to my target audience in some way? Would they like the colors, the style, the composition, etc.?” Having that mental checklist is valuable because again we are getting in the head of your target audience, which is always beneficial, and trying to create visuals that appeal to them.

If you are struggling to find pins, my recommendation is to first start with your regular Pinterest boards. Since you’ve already pinned these images, chances are they are visually appealing to you. If you still need more after combing through your boards, you can search related areas to your industry. So if you are a photographer, you could look up wedding photography. If you are a nutritionist, maybe look up food images. If you work with children, you could look up playroom interior designs, or toys. I also recommend letting your search evolve naturally. So in the same way that you can make a mind map and start to expand off of one original word or idea, do that with your images. Maybe you start by pinning images of flowers, but if that evolves into window boxes, windows, then stain glass windows… let it! Even if your business has nothing to do with stain glass windows, it’s still a huge visual clue to what you like as far as color, style, and feel.

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USE PHOTOSHOP TEMPLATE

Once a client feels they have successfully pinned enough images to work with, I move into creating the actual collage or board.  I go through the kind of tedious task of pulling all the images from Pinterest into a folder within my client folder and then again into Photoshop.

I then spend time collaging the images using clipping masks in Photoshop. The goal is to whittle down the 15-20 images to 6-7 images that best work together and start to create a cohesive feeling and look. From those images I can begin to pull a color story too, which will greatly inspire the color palette moving forward.

Some of the best images to use, and most helpful, are ones that contain typography. Something like an inspirational quote in a very curly, cursive font will influence logo directions. Something more clean and modern will push us in a different direction. I also love pictures with patterns or illustrations, because this clues me into branding choices down the road.

I send the client a copy to review and make sure they are happy with the overall feeling before moving forward. This collage then becomes what I use as reference throughout the rest of the project, from logos, to color palettes, to stylistic choices on collateral, and so on. It plays a much larger role than “just looking pretty.”

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8 Terms About Branding & What They Really Mean

If you are out there, trying to grow your business, and have no background in graphic design, advertising, or marketing, you might get a little confused with all the words thrown around. Heck, even if you have a background in graphic design, advertising, or marketing you still might get confused. It seems like everyone’s talking about your brand, identity, logo, collateral, content, and so on... but what do all the words even mean?! I’ll tell you, my friend… 

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BRAND

This is the most confusing one, so we are starting here. The easiest way I’ve figured out how to explain a brand to someone is: your brand is how people see you (or your company). For example, you might aim to create a business that promotes “a fit, healthy approach to life.” That would be what you hoped your brand was – but if people see you as “an unhealthy, extremist way of living that results in destructive habits” the people win, and you won’t be successful, because your brand isn’t what you intended.

There are countless elements that go into your brand and cause people to think and feel certain ways about you. By saying “brand” you encompass all of those things. I say that I work as a brand designer, because I want to help my clients think of, design, create, plan, strategize all of these different elements. 

If this is all confusing and overwhelming, just take this one thing away: your brand is NOT your logo. 

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BRANDING

Branding is the action of developing, creating, or designing elements and strategies, in an effort to affect your brand (affect how people perceive you) in a positive way (or in whatever way you want).

Again - your company has a brand – people have a general opinion and feeling about it. But the act of you trying to manipulate and influence that opinion is your branding.

So your branding can include a lot of other confusing words – like your strategy, your content, your approach to social media, your visuals (like a logo), etc. Think of the biggest companies you know – how did you form your opinion of them? Was it just one time you saw one thing about them? No. It was an overall branding experience.

An example I think of is McDonalds and their desperate attempts to act like they’re a healthy choice, as opposed to the fast food chain with greasy fries we all know it as. They didn’t just say “Hey! Folks! We offer salads now, so we are like… kind of healthy. You can totally eat here. It’s definitely real meat, promise!” We all know and have been raised thinking the brand of McDonalds as not even remotely healthy. It's so ingrained into our minds, so hard to change, that they are pumping all their energy and money into their branding, trying to change the public opinion. They have fit, healthy, happy looking people in their ads, they offer fruit and salads in their restaurants, they revamped their physical buildings to feel more light and airy, the signage is always about the newest salad, or a kid's menu with apple slices… these are all elements of their new branding. Whether or not their branding is actually successful is another story – because I, for one, can’t shake the idea that it’s mystery meat and a bad decision.

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VOICE

How you sound to others – in person, in emails, in blog posts, in tweets, on periscope, etc. You want this to be cohesive with the rest of your branding (yes, this is also a PART of your branding).  I, for example, try to always come across very nice and approachable, but I also try to make you laugh (or at least smile!) with a little bit of sarcasm or self-deprecating humor. This is because in real life, I’m generally a nice person, who tries to make people laugh. It was an easy voice to develop, because I’ve had 20-something years of practice.

For you personal brands, it might be just as easy to identify your voice – but make sure you are using a voice that will attract the right kind of people for your business. I know that with my clients, we end up being friends by the end of working together. That's what I strive for. So, I set the tone from day 1 that I am normal, nice, and friendly – but that I’ll also be transparently real and tell you funny stories. I want to make it clear that, if we were in the same city, I’d totes go out for cocktails with you. This helps my business overall. There are enough designers out there that I need to stand out as someone you (potential client that I specifically trying to appeal to) like, think is awesome, want to work with.

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IDENTITY

This is sometimes referred to as brand identity or visual identity. THIS is where the visuals are. This is your logo, your colors, your typography choices, etc. This is what people can actually see (not just feel, or think). Your identity is a part of your branding, but JUST a part. 

This is where a lot of people get stuck – because they think they just need an identity (worse yet, they just need a logo…) For me, a really weird gray area is explaining to clients that I am not going to just create a logo. There are so many different types of designers, and I’m not saying one is better than the other, just that they are all so different. It must be confusing to clients. Like do they want a graphic designer? A brand designer? An identity designer? I always start my conversations with potential clients by clearing up any confusion between what they actually want to accomplish and what I offer. If someone is insistent that they only need a logo, and seem closed off to the idea of developing branding for their business, I will turn away the client.

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COLLATERAL

Collateral pieces are additional, tangible, things you use in your business. Things like business cards, letterheads, thank you cards, price sheets, welcome pamphlets, etc. These are created from the parameters you’ve set while creating your identity, so they visually are cohesive. They are a part of your branding, too, but again, JUST a part.

I might be considered calculating, but for me, every single thing I put out has an ulterior motive for my business (with the exception of some random tweets, like about my cat, Priscilla. That’s just because I’m a cat lady). I say this to mention that even your collateral pieces, something as simple as a thank you card, should work somehow in your strategy to help you achieve your overall business goals.

So, it might just be a nice gesture to send a thank you card to a client. But really, it’s a nice way to remind them you are alive a month or so after a project is done. Y’know, in case they need additional work. If it’s a nicely designed thank you card, they might snap a pic for Instagram, or set it on their counter, and then someone else might see it and say, “Wow, this is beautiful. What is it for?” and then my old client might say “My amazing designer,” and then their friend might say, “Oh, I needed something designed for my business…” and voila. Catching my drift here? I thought so.

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STRATEGY

That last point is a nice lead in to strategy. Strategy is a really general sounding term, and in all honesty, it’s a huge umbrella term. There are a lot of strategies at play in running a business and creating good branding. This is also a part of your branding – JUST a part. Strategy is the plan, or method, to get you from point A to point B in your business. Super vague, I know.

You can’t develop a strong strategy until you develop some concrete goals. Once you know what the end game is, create a path to get there. Is your end game to launch a successful course? Cool. What steps do you need to take across your entire branding spectrum to get you there? What steps do you take to find potential buyers, what steps do you take to promote the course, what steps do you take to get other people to promote the course, what steps do you take to create the content? Map it all out. It sounds overwhelming – but going at it blind is way more overwhelming.

Areas where you should be strategic: blog posts, guest blog posts, opt-ins, the layout of your website, where you promote your opt-ins, what Facebook groups you join, who you do joint-ventures with, what you retweet… just to name a few. If you’re thinking right now, wait, wait, the internet isn’t my ‘deal’ I’m a brick-and-mortar business, so strategy isn’t a thing right? Wrong. What expos are you a part of, what other businesses promote you or have your business cards on display, what newspapers do you run print ads in, what local celebs/influencers/socialites talk about you…? All of this matters, if you want to be successful.

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CONTENT MARKETING

Content Marketing is creating valuable and strategic content that will attract your audience, and potentially lead to sales, customers, clients, subscribers, etc. This blog would be considered content marketing, because I am hopefully showcasing to readers that I am a valuable resource, prompting them to sign up for my email list or invest in my services or products.

This sounds like a super new idea, but it’s actually been around for a long time in traditional advertising. The most popular, and probably noted as one of the oldest, examples of content marketing is John Deere (yeah, the tractor). He put out a magazine about farming related things and how to be a successful farmer, back in the 1890's(!) that is still in publication today. Kind of like the original blog, right? 

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CAMPAIGN

A campaign is specifically promoting one thing within your business. You might have an overall branding strategy in play, to accomplish your overall BIG business goals. But a campaign would be a separate (though, cohesive) plan for a specific thing.

For example, I have overall goals for The Crown Fox and branding and strategy in place to accomplish those. But when I launch a course next year, I will create a separate campaign to promote that. You probably hear people call this “launch” or “launching” something – a book, a course, whatever. What they are really saying is that they are running a really intense campaign to promote the heck out of a new product or service. For Internet businesses a campaign might include doing webinars or periscopes leading up to a launch, or having friends or affiliates talk about your product on social media. It’s different from your overall branding, because it’s happening for a select time to push a select thing. 

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Hopefully this cleared up some confusion! What other terms have you going “huh”? I’d love to help you figure it out. If you're interested, I made a quick workbook that has a glossary, and some questions to help you with your brand. You can check it out by signing up below!

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