An amazing thing happens when you set aside the time to really dive into building your brand. You develop clarity. Like a domino affect, with clarity comes confidence that builds trust amongst your clients and leads to sales.
This is why we love spending a few days working face-to-face with our clients to build or rebuild their brand. As we covered in our previous blog, Brand Building by the Beach: Day 1, when we work with a new brand, we always start by asking them WHY they started their business.
Knowing WHY, HOW, and WHAT your brand does allows you to show up for your audience in a way that best serves them. Getting to the soul of who you are establishes the foundation for the various elements of your brand.
A brand is not just a business name or a logo. It is a collection of graphics, design elements, fonts, vocabulary, and imagery that make up a Visual Voice.
Where Day 1 of our Brand Building by the Beach retreat with Warrior Unlimited Apparel was all about building the brand's foundation. Day 2 was all about building their Visual Voice.
Prior to traveling from Ohio to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, we instructed our client to complete our New Client Questionnaire and start an inspiration board on Pinterest. The Questionnaire gives us a springboard from which to clarify the WHY, HOW, and WHAT of the brand. And the inspiration board helps us get an idea of our client's aesthetic and vision for the Visual Voice.
Oftentimes, you become so closely linked to your brand and so aware of the visuals that similar brands are using that you wind up losing sight of what makes you unique. Working in-person with creatives and designers helps you look at your brand in new ways that more authentically invokes the values of your own brand.
To get the creative juices flowing, we first took our client to the local farmers market where there also happens to be a trading post with unique military supplies. Perfect for a brand based on professional, tactical outdoor apparel. We then hit up the Chillbar located at the market for a big organic, locally-sourced brunch.
Once back in our creative studio, we went over the Pinterest board together. Doing so allowed us to expand upon our client's original ideas and create an inspiration board that still maintained true to the values of Warrior Unlimited Apparel:
- Pride
- Patriotism
- Resiliency
- Innovation
- Empowerment
A unique design element that emerged during this process was the topographic lines of a land-based map. Not only are these sorts of maps used in the military, they are also representative of our client's extensive background creating and teaching the software used in making such maps.
With the inspiration board in hand, our client was able to see exactly where his brand was headed. No longer a predictable military-influenced apparel line, Warrior Unlimited Apparel had become an innovative statement of pride and patriotism.
When you look at the Visual Voice of your brand, does it speak to the values of your brand in a way that is authentic and unique to your WHY? Is every element cohesive between your website, business cards, logo, mission statement, proposal, or presentation?
Working out the kinks of your Visual Voice, whether for the first time or as part of a rebrand, helps your clients understand who you are, your experience, and what to expect from you.
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Let's explore how your brand's
Visual Voice can move out of one that is generic and predictable and into one that is inspired and stands out!
