The purpose of today’s post is to provide a look into my branding process. Investing in branding can be a scary leap for a lot of businesses but it’s one that I truly believe will pay off. A good solid brand is so important to the success of a business and the look and feel, i.e. the branding, plays a HUGE part of that. To hopefully make things seem a little less scary, here’s what you receive when you invest in branding with Fleurir Creative.

My branding package includes all the essentials that I believe you need to start or grow a business.

BRAND STRATEGY

As part of my branding package, I ALWAYS start with brand strategy. Nothing gets done on the design side of things until the brand strategy portion is complete. My clients are first sent some workbooks that really dig into the heart of their business and also themselves. I ask questions such as:

• What’s the meaning behind the name?
• What are the goals you have for your business and how soon would you like to achieve these?
• Tell me about your products and/or services. What are the most popular?
• Describe the value your main product or service adds to your clients:

These are only a few of the many questions I ask my clients to complete before our brand strategy session. These questions not only allow me to really understand my client and their business but most of the time, my clients may not have considered some of these questions and this really enables them to dig deep into the heart of their business. We also cover ideal clients and I have another piece of homework that can help clients with this if they haven’t done this exercise previously.

After their homework is complete and at the beginning of the first week of working together, we jump on Skype for a brand strategy session. This session is usually an hour long and we go through their brand strategy workbook answers and delve into them in more detail. Before this session, I will have made notes and this time allows me to ask any questions and also allows my clients to ask questions that may have come up whilst completing their workbook.

By the end of the brand strategy session, both myself and my clients have a very clear picture of what they want in their business, the goals they wish to achieve and who they are looking to target.

CLIENT PERSONA

The next part of our work together is client personas. I take the answers from their ideal client worksheets and the notes from our strategy session to put together client personas. These personas describe the person my client is looking to target from what they do, to where they live, to their hobbies and interests etc… This part of our work together is another important step that needs to be undertaken before we even begin the design stage.

INSPIRATION BOARD

Now this is where the design stage starts. Before we start working together and along with the brand strategy workbook, I also ask my clients to put together a Pinterest board filled with all the things they are drawn to. I suggest that they include colours, fonts, logo designs, website designs, images they are drawn to that are outside of their industry etc..

Click on the link to read a post I have written all about Creating a Pinterest Board for your Branding Designer.

From this Pinterest board, I put together an inspiration board that I feel fits the brand they are looking to achieve. I’ve included an inspiration board below that I put together for one of my clients brands recently.

LOGO DESIGN

Upon approval of the inspiration board, it’s time to start on the logo design. I start by sketching ideas on paper before moving to the computer. This part of the process can take a few days as I like to come back to my ideas and refine them if necessary. I then present my clients with 3-4 logo options from which I ask them to choose one to take forward and refine if needed.

BRANDING BOARD

Once the logo is complete and approved, I create a branding board which includes an alternative logo, sub logos, colours, fonts, textures/patterns and illustrations if needed. Take a look at one of my branding boards below.

About Fleurir Creative

Fleurir Creative is a brand design and marketing strategy studio for online service-based businesses. I work with creatives, coaches and consultants to define their brand, increase their visibility and grow their business online. My signature offering, The Flourish Experience, is a three-month branding and marketing experience for women in business who are ready to grow a successful brand.

Join my free Facebook group, the Brand, Market, Flourish community for support with growing a brand online.