Now before I begin this; I want to relay that I am not giving a basic tutorial on branding and identity, these have been compiled and are readily available all over the web. Branding also doesn’t have to follow any particular story as there are many brands that don’t have much to do with what they represent, they just have built an association and identity through time.

My goal is to relay through my unique perspective a way of thinking about branding which may have some effect on you, whether you know nothing about the subject, know a little, or are involved in such projects yourself.

One of my passions is the pursuit of creating a visual representation in synthesis with the infinite uniqueness of the stories we find ourselves wrapped up in. These can be within ourselves, those around us, our endeavours and the businesses we create and are a part of.

I not only use this approach in branding but also in creating movement—I am also a professional dancer.

When a brand is created you can try to capture the essence of the phenomenon it is seeking to represent. Yes, you are a phenomenon of nature, so is your brand. Nature has an infinite, fractal like quality of detail, layers and interactions. Any entity you are trying to visually describe will contain such depth; if you look for it. This is not to say that a logo must LITERALLY describe that which it seeks to represent.

A creative brief is a good way to start developing branding, there are many resources on the subject of creating one but the idea is to really analyze and find a story and get to know what you are branding as well as the environment it exists in. Even a seemingly boring business can become extremely special when you search.

Who are you?
What are you trying to do?
Why are you doing it?
Who is your audience?
Who are the others that are doing similar things to you and what are they doing?
Which colours, imagery and symbols resonate with your story?

Questions like these really can help not only in getting answers but they can start the introspective focus and awareness that helps you identify a story for your brand; that is how to get a start on your identity (which will also ebb, flow and develop through it’s life-time). This story, when used as a structure not only in things like the geometry of your logo but as a foundational element of your mindset while developing it will lend to an outcome that will be unique, the goal of a logo is to be unique not only for psychological reasons but for copyright reasons.

Look at different fonts and letterforms, notice how they make you and others feel, see how your company name looks “wearing” different type and don’t be shy—bring a ton of outfits to the changing room, put your brand in all the outfits and place it beside itself to compare. (Don’t you wish you could do that when shopping?)

Sketch quickly! Impose a time limit on yourself and just go, give in to that chaotic and spontaneous part of yourself that when combined with your intuition can give birth to something visually captivating and unique. Don’t be afraid of failure or looking awkward, you can always filter through them.

With graphic design expertise, education and experience you can develop something leveraging the latest technology for all platforms. If you need help you can always ASK US.

When finished, a good logo should be unique, easy to digest on a variety of platforms, be clear and visually appealing not just on its own but in the situations and environments it will find itself in. Branding much like any craft takes an investment in time to master the tools and tactics. As long as humans are visually dominant creatures we will continue to judge books by their cover and while it’s what’s inside that counts; it helps especially in business to capitalize on human nature as well as the nature of the story.

All this aside, you are the most important part of your logo and your brand, the quality of what you bring to the world is what in the long run will give it REAL meaning to your audience and shape it’s story to come.

To view some of our branding processes on some select projects see the BRANDING part of our webpage.