For brand identity designers, one of the best ways to take your work to the next level is by focusing, not just on the concepts you’re creating; but the strategy behind them, WHY you’re creating them.
All too often as freelancers, in efforts to ensure the project fits a clients budget – we’ll be tempted to charge straight in with little or no brief, and absolutely no strategy; other than a few ideas floating around in the clients mind. If you’re not careful, that can set you up for failure; as above all else, good design needs to be fit for purpose.
It will make a HUGE difference to the work you deliver. And it doesn’t have to take long.
I’m recording a class to walk you through a streamlined brand strategy process; you can adapt it as needed, but I’ll be showing you the kind of scope and scale best suited to freelance designers or small studios.
You can find this, and other classes I teach, under my skillshare profile here: https://www.skillshare.com/profile/Jason-Miller/4259704
(It’s schedule to be released in late November/early December).
So what will we cover in the class?
We’ll look at the discovery and audits necessary to ‘get us up to speed’ as designers, and provide some context to the strategy.
Who is the brand for? Ironically, it’s rarely ever your client. So we need to clearly identify the target audience.
Even at this stage the intended look and feel of the brand, it’s style and tone can be planned out in principle.
You’ll be shown how to create a clear hierarchy of brand messages, each supporting the other.
And importantly, we’ll consider the intended positioning of the brand, and help the client identify the implications and expectations this positioning will create.
By the time we’ve finished, you, and the CLIENT, will know exactly what you now need to create, what purpose it needs to fill. That’s a valuable, and refreshing difference from attempting to ‘come up with something the client will LIKE’ based solely on their personal taste.
I hope you enjoy the class, here are the lessons covered:
- Discovery (Project Form)
- Competitive Audit
- Inspirations
- Target Audience
- Visual Style, Tone
- Brand Messages
- Positioning & Client Expectations
- Brainstorming
- Conclusion