With enough fairy dust and a little bit of luck, I bet we can pull something together that's really great.

the brand design process

Chapter One

The Introduction

Let's get to know each other, shall we?

After you’ve browsed my website, social media (if she hasn’t been updated in a while rest assured I'm still designing, I just have a love/hate relationship with social media), or if you’re coming here as a referral, the first step in getting things rolling is to inquire through the contact form on my website or send me an email. Please include a few details about your business and your brand goals, and feel free to drop the link to your Pinterest board if you’ve already started brainstorming (I LIVE for a good Pinterest board).

Once I’ve received your inquiry and reviewed the information to see if we might be a good fit, I’ll send you a link to schedule our video discovery call. During this call, we’ll get to know each other a bit, and start to dive into your target audience, your business goals and strategies, and the vision you have for your brand. I’ll also answer any initial questions you may have about working together.

INQUIRY FORM

Now that we've connected, it's time to make things official!

I’ll send a proposal with your invoice and contract for you to review and sign. I’ll ask you to decide if you’d like to include any add-on deliverables at this time so that I can add them onto your initial proposal. I require a 50% deposit and signed contract to officially add your project to my schedule.

As a solo graphic designer, I can’t guarantee your timeline, but I always do my best to stay on schedule and update you when life happens and things are running behind. I’m as excited as you are to make your brand come to life, but good things take time - and I’ve been known to be a bit of a perfectionist. Once your project is officially booked, feel free to start that Pinterest board or begin saving logos that you love for inspiration!

I’ll also get your client portal started during this stage- this is where I’ll share your proposal and any other documents, and communicate with you to keep you updated on your project, ensuring we both stay on track and never miss a thing.

In our discovery call, we started to reveal the why behind your brand. Now we'll dig a little deeper.

In this design questionnaire, I’ll ask you to dig a little deeper on target audience, brand placement, strategy and your goals as a business owner. I’ll also ask you to continue visualizing your brand: what colors are you drawn to, what fonts resonate with you and your audience, what icons or imagery represent your business? This design questionnaire should be completed while you’re waiting for your project start date so that I have everything I need to hit the ground running when it’s your time to shine.

I’ll also conduct brand and market research to uncover what other businesses in your niche look and sound like while creating my own Pinterest board based on all the details you’ve provided. This is where the magic starts to come together to bring your dream brand to life.

The mood board is one of the most important steps in my design process.

It's how I ask “Is this what you're envisioning?” before I ever begin the tedious and time intensive process of designing your brand. I’ll include inspiration for color scheme, imagery and icons, photography and style, and fonts and layouts that I have in mind for your brand based on all the research and discovery we’ve completed thus far.

If you're on the fence about two different brand directions, I’ll design two mood boards so you can decide which style fits your vibe better. This ensures we’re on the same page visually before I ever put pen to paper or mouse to screen to begin designing.

Now comes the fun part.

This is the fun part for me and where you get to kick back and relax while you anxiously await your new brand identity. The design stage is the most time intensive part of the process as you would imagine, so if you don’t hear from me for a week– don’t sweat it, I’m just designing my little heart out bringing your brand to life.

I’ll create two concepts with a primary logo, alternate logos and a brand mark for you to choose from and curate those into a brand presentation for your review. Keep in mind that your brand package will consist of tons of logo variations for you to choose from, so the brand presentation is just a glimpse of what’s to come.

it's finally here!

After I've finalized your two brand concepts, I’ll send a brand presentation your way for review and feedback. The brand presentation will walk through the strategy and intention behind your brand and then showcase your two brand concepts with the primary logo, a few alternate logos, and the logo mark. It will also include your color palette, fonts, and some mockups so you can really start to visualize how your brand will look IRL. Based on this presentation, I’ll ask you to choose your favorite concept and then submit any revisions you have. I offer three revisions on your chosen logo concept; this is usually more than enough for clients to reach a brand identity they LOVE.

time to make sure everything is absolutely perfect.

Take your time reviewing the brand presentation, show it to your friends and family, and really reflect on each logo before sending which concept you want to move forward with and any revisions you’d like to see. You don’t have to send three revisions at once, sending one at a time and then seeing what you think is often the best approach unless you’re confident in your exact changes.

Chapter Three

The Conclusion

Now we package it all up with a cherry on top.

Once your revisions are submitted and I have finalized your logos, it’s time to package it all up with a cherry on top and send you on your way to landing those dream clients. Your brand package includes every file you need for print, digital, web and merch to ensure you look professional, consistent and beautiful on every platform. I include your primary logo, alternate logo and logo marks with numerous color and layout variations of each. You’ll also have your brand style guide, font files and a how to use your new brand document that details each file type and their best uses.

It's time to say see ya later, but not goodbye forever!

If you ever decide you want additional deliverables, you have questions about implementing your brand, or you just want to drop in to say hello - I’m always just an email away. I LOVE when clients send me photos of their brands in action, so please feel free to send photos my way as you start to implement your new and beautiful brand throughout your business.

Finally, I always ask my clients if they would be so kind as to leave me a Google review after our time together has drawn to a close. These reviews are incredibly valuable in helping me build trust and be discovered by potential clients, and are vital to the success and growth of my little business. If we have already worked together, you can use the link below to add your review to my Google business profile.

LEAVE ME A GOOGLE REVIEW

brands & websites for your unique story

Beautiful collaborations, visions brought to life and pages well written.

EXPLORE MY WORK

Or maybe we should focus on strategy instead?

Fairy dust is great in a pinch, but there's a whole lot more that goes into creating an impactful brand and an intentional website that speaks to your ideal client and highlights your passion for what you do. Over the past several years, I've refined my design process to ensure I'm delivering a brand that's exactly like you envision and a website that serves you better than you could ever imagine. I love a good process that delivers consistent results every time, so here's a little sneak peek into what you can expect when working with me.