A critical step in a branding or rebranding process is the application of your brand across all of your communications channels and materials so that your audiences and stakeholders have a consistent (and positive!) experience of your organization at every touchpoint. These materials might include slide decks, your web presence, social media, one-pagers, and business templates. I can help you develop designs for these communications so that you can put your brand identity into motion.

Your brand narrative is the story you tell about who you are as an organization or team and your reasons for being. Using your brand framework and identity as a guide, I can create a brand narrative that articulates core messages about your organization — why you exist, what your impact and approach are, what problems you’re solving and the solutions you’re bringing to the table.

Your brand strategy is the roadmap that not only brings together all of the elements of your brand but helps you understand how to evolve your brand from where it is today to where you want to be. I can develop a brand strategy (or depending on the depth of rebranding that you’ve undertaken, a brand guidebook) for your organization so you have the plan that guides your actions and communications for the foreseeable future.

Your brand guidebook is an important resource that provides an overview of your brand identity. It includes your brand framework and provides direction on the use of color, typography, layout, and content treatment across your communications channels

With your brand framework and visual style clarified, it’s time to think about how all of these elements of your grand expression get shared with the world. I offer a number of resources for thoughtfully and strategically applying your brand.

Often a brand refresh requires an organization to bring other communications elements up to date as well. I can work with your team to help you develop a comprehensive plan for updating and implementing all of the elements of your brand and thoughtfully applying them to your communications.

IMPLEMENTATION

BRAND
STRATEGY

Using the approved, final designs for the brand, I deliver all logo files in multiple formats that you can use for all your communications needs.

Input from the previous design stages informs refinement of the logo and visual identity elements. At this stage, we can also explore typefaces that you can incorporate into your brand as well as additional variations in logo layout you’d like to incorporate.

Working with the ideas that surfaced from the previous stage, I take one logo concept that you choose and develop a series of variations in color, layout, and typography that align with your visual tastes.

With the visual direction set, I provide several rounds of logo designs that incorporate your design preferences. These early designs are often presented in grayscale vector format in order to concentrate on just the concept you want to move forward with.

I work with your team to explore design ideas and elements that hold potential for your brand’s visual expression. We will define the kinds of attributes you want your brand visual identity to articulate and some sample logos or styles you want to emulate. Depending on your budget and timeline, I can create a mood board that further helps to solidify visual design direction.

IDENTITY

VISUAL

Your brand visual identity includes elements of your organization’s visual expression across your communications — your logo, typographic system, color palette, graphic textures, choice of photography, etc. With your brand framework solidified, I can help you develop a visual expression that works in tandem with your other brand attributes.

Brand visual identity development often involves the following stages:

BRAND

FRAMEWORK

BRAND

Your brand framework is a tool to articulate and shape your organizational reputation and how people experience you. It is aspirational, defining who you are becoming and who you are at your best. But it is also authentic, reflecting what you know in your gut is true about you right now.

The brand framework is the culmination of all of the research and discovery work. It is a summary of the key attributes of your brand — your purpose/mission/vision, values, personality, brand promise and positioning, etc. — with recommendations for articulating that brand in your forthcoming communications.

The first step in developing a strong brand is getting clarity on what your brand is currently and exploring how you can thoughtfully shape it and articulate it more clearly to your audiences. Research is a vital stage of the process that helps to surface valuable insights into where your brand is currently and what it might evolve to.

As part of my research and discovery process, I will immerse myself in your organization or endeavor using one or more of these approaches: