My Branding Design Process
There are many steps to building a successful brand but in this post I am breaking down only the actual designing parts of the process!
Below are the main 5 steps I go through every time I create a new brand for one of my clients which I also discuss in more detail.
Finding inspiration
Initial ideas
Refine
Feedback
Complete
Firstly though, I carry out research by sending a questionnaire to my client and have a call to discuss this in more detail. Which leads nicely on to step one in the design process which is finding inspiration!
STEP 1: FINDING INSPIRATION
After I have spoken to my client to uncover the personality behind the brand, the tone of voice and the ideal customer we’re targeting I create a Pinterest board where I will start saving ideas that I think could work.
This could be anything from colour schemes, font pairings or photography that suits the brand we’re trying to create to full logo designs and style guides.
I will also share this board with my client who can add their own ideas to the board, “favourite” items and add comments to ensure we’re on the same page.
STEP 2: INITIAL IDEAS
Now we have something to spring motivation from for the next stage which is creating some initial ideas for the brand.
I’ll start by designing some rough ideas in Adobe Illustrator for the main logo. This can include looking at font pairings, playing with illustrated motifs and trialling out colour schemes.
STEP 3: REFINE
By this point I should have a few ideas to go from which I can refine into a couple of designs to share with my client.
I will also try to add the logos into “real” situations such as on business cards so that my client can get a feel for how their brand will look in real life.
I’ll collate these ideas into a presentation showcasing how we can use their colours, motifs, fonts and more!
STEP 4: FEEDBACK
This step is crucial as you might believe you’ve created the best logo design to grace the earth but when your client see’s this you might leave them scratching their head as they had something else in mind!
While the presentation *should* eliminate this from happening there’s always a chance that you’ll work with a client who actually has a very definitive idea for their brand which you’d only know if you were inside their head. This is why I always ensure to add in a few revisions to my pricing packages to cover this in case it crops up and state that any further revisions will incur further charges.
STEP 5: THE COMPLETE DESIGN
After speaking with my client and making any amendments if necessary I will go ahead and create the brand guidelines document and depending on the package my client has chosen create any further branded assets such as submark designs and social media imagery.
The brand guidelines document will discuss how and where my client’s logo should be used, the colour codes, fonts and typography usage and suggested photography! I’ll export all of the assets and package the whole thing up and send it to my client ready to unleash on the world!
