A brand is more than a logo. And a logo requires more thought, collaboration and iteration than the casual observer might assume.
That’s where a process comes in handy. Here’s how we approach brand development from naming to logo creation to extending the identity, developing standards and voice. In the end, our goal is deliver something ownable and exciting to external and internal audiences.
NAMING
Names are inspired by input, both direct and indirect. We work to understand the category, any holes left by the competition, unique or interesting offerings, the personality and perspective of the founders and anything else from which we can draw. It’s not a science. But, like a future parent envisioning unflattering nicknames for their baby to be, we consider strengths and weaknesses of our potential names.
While it’s early in the process, we like to project the future by providing writeups, potential taglines and type treatments that help convey the direction of each name. We want to hear reactions and use them to make selections and/or refinements.
Once we narrow down our list of names, we begin investigating availability (with the guidance of fancy-pants copyright lawyers, of course) and securing domains.
LOGO CREATION
Although we may apply a type treatment during the naming phase, we continue to explore multiple visual directions for the logo. We value collaboration, going wide before we go deep.
First, we’ll share visual reference in the form of mood boards. This preliminary step is about feel, and it’s intended to start a conversation. Clients know what they want their brand to stand for, but it hasn’t been visually articulated yet. By first reviewing mood boards, we can cover a range of aesthetics quickly and have a productive conversation that sets us up for success as we begin to explore actual designs.
Clients will see several logo directions and descriptions to go along with each. It could be a simple wordmark or an ornate illustration or a meaningful holding shape that contains multiple elements. Or all of the above.
LOGO CONCEPTS: Three distinct concepts flowed from the preceding moodboards.
We start with black and white (or one consistent brand color). This allows us to judge all of the marks on an even playing field. Someone may hate pink and prematurely rule out a logo that could just as easily have been rendered in chartreuse.
After landing on a logo to go with the name, we start applying color options for consideration and look at things like secondary logo marks that could be used for social media icons or complementary assets for apparel.
APPLICATION
If this all feels like a mix of methodology and experimentation, great. That’s what we’re going for. Our process is intentionally structured to allow for decisions that unlock new doorways to creativity.
Now that we have a name, a logo, colors we’re liking and some thoughts on secondary marks, let’s see how they come to life practically. We want to understand how the identity extends to the sign at the top of an office building, the side of a vehicle, an invoice, employee uniforms, a slide deck and everything in between. Often, this stage includes a tagline that helps differentiate or further clarify positioning.
As the story of the brand extends outward, we want to stay consistent while also building meaning behind it.
BRAND STANDARDS
When we work with marketing departments, there’s a good chance other people will be putting the new brand to work. Whether that’s a sales associate producing flyers or a social media manager cranking out daily content, we want to make sure everyone has what they need to keep the identity cohesive.
Brand standards themselves are an expression of the brand. They have the opportunity to bring a key internal audience even closer into the fold. Standards provide direction, usage examples, links to assets and rationale.
VOICE
The brand voice can be part of the standards. It can also stand alone. In the case of an existing brand with an established visual identity, we might be asked to redefine its voice based on repositioning or a new audience.
This is our opportunity to take stock of the competitive set. We hold them up against the attributes we would like to own. We use tools like differentiation charts, brand personas and bullseye targeting to carve out conceptual directions that a voice could take.
The voice should amplify the story of the brand. It also needs to, you know, ring true. Adding a little “sass” to a financial advisory might ring hollow or, worse, repel the ideal audience. And humor, no matter how hilarious, could fall flat for a funeral home. Or maybe not. Which is why we take the opportunity to explore high-level directions.
Then, we work to define the selected voice and make it as tangible as possible for those who might employ it. We construct a descriptive profile and pay it off with a detailed writeup, manifesto and/or sample social media posts.
While the voice isn’t “the campaign,” it leads directly to those efforts. But that’s another blog post for another day. It’s also illustrated in our Chief Pizza Officer case study for Toppers Pizza, which came directly from redefining their brand voice for a younger generation.
As a startup, we’ve launched our brand and attracted many others as they look to ramp up their businesses. We take it seriously. Brand identity is an investment and a foundation. The steps in our process allow us to develop options, collaborate with clients and build something distinctive.
If you are thinking of developing a new brand or refining an existing one, we’d be happy to share how we would customize our process for you. Let's talk.
