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Taking the Small Business Plunge | Day 3

Friday, October 3, 2014


I could talk forever about branding because I love love love the process. As a graphic designer, one of my favorite things is getting to meet people with their own passions and helping them put them on paper – create a visual brand that speaks genuinely to who they are and what they are about.

So naturally, I think branding your business is super important. It is so much more than fonts and colors and logos. Your brand is a visual representation of your business. It should be powerful, authentic, and attractive.  It also includes things like voice, imagery, genre…etc. It’s so important to think through who you want to be as a branded business. The more distinct it is, the more effective you will be.

How do you create a brand, you ask? Well, I will shamelessly suggest you hire someone who knows how to create one for you that you can partner with for the long run. (Me! Pick me!) But there are several things that you can do on your own to start with.

For one, what will you name your business? Will it include your actual name? Is it unique? Is it easy for people to remember? What does it mean and does it make sense? I will talk more about registering your name in your state and keeping it legal later in this series. For now, this is step one.

When I start a branding process with a client, I always suggest they make up an extensive Pinterest board of things that inspire and attract them. Elements, whether it be color palate, typography, images, quotes, that they would want their business to be about. So whether you are working with a designer or doing it DIY style, this is a great place to start. It will help create a visual reference to come back to and ultimately helps keep things cohesive.

To avoid writing a novel about this topic, I’ll break it down to this.

1.     Have a logo
2.     Use a consistent color scheme
3.     Pick a few fonts to use across all your marketing material to start out

Although your brand is so much more than this, these things are a good tangible place to start. (Psssst…I’d LOVE to partner with you in this process!) Investing in your brand is something that will help start your business with some power and momentum, as your audience is able to recognize it and it becomes something that you are proud to be the face of.  Make sense? Awesome.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on branding – where you are in the process, what your obstacles have been, where you found success…anything.

4 comments:

  1. I'm currently working on re-branding my fashion line. I love making dresses and feel like I want to take the plunge off of Etsy to an individual website. I will be following along for the next 31 days! Thanks for the encouragement to take the plunge!!

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    1. That's awesome! I would love to hear more. Hopefully this series covers most of the basics but if you ever need specific ideas about where to start with building a e-commerce website, branding, or things like that, I'd love to help!

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  2. I think I have a brand. Which probably means I don't... but I've got a name, and a simple straightforward font. Similar coloring and graphics on blog/twitter/instagram. Of course, I did it with a one-off consulter, who was awesome, but because I didn't do it myself, I don't have a whole lot of freedom in tweaking and changing things up when appropriate... As for what I want it to be, that I know for sure: approachable, elegant, classy and useful. Does my brand say all of that? No idea.

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    1. I'd love to see it! refining your brand is sometimes the part that's most fun and solidifying it into something that's a super powerful tool for your business that you're proud to stand behind.

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