2ND EDITION | ISSUE #184

One of the things that really sucks about the branding world is how confusing it can all be.

Who does what job?

What falls under what category? Industry?

Where do these things overlap and how do you know what will make the biggest bang for your buck in your own brand?

Branding is such a vast topic that a simple Google search is not actually all that helpful.

Because what your brand needs - is very different from what a brand with physical products needs.

Helping you navigate the information overload is part of my mission here at Cedar June.

Because the more you understand, the better you can diagnose the issue & prescribe the best solution for this season behind the brand.

Instead of throwing money at things that aren’t actually going to help your problem (which I see people do far too often) because:

• Other people in their industry are doing it
• Their coach told them to do it

And not because they have the data to back up why that makes sense for their brand.

That data is a lot easier to access and make sense of when it comes to your website and the strategic side of branding.

But what about identity?

When it comes to updating what your brand looks like - well, what does Brand Identity even mean? Who does what? And what do you really need?

This week’s newsletter is dedicated to helping you understand what your Brand Identity is made up of - and where you can get the biggest bang for your buck, what will make the most impact - when it comes to updating it.

WTF is a Brand Identity (and why you don’t actually need a logo)

Your Brand Identity sets the tone for your audience.

How they feel, what they think - they aren’t going to necessarily be cognizant of how it relates to your Brand Identity. But the colors, images, fonts - all play a role in how your audience perceives (brand positioning) and remembers/recognizes you (brand recognition).

Your Brand Identity is made up of 7 things.

And where it gets tricky is - these could be accomplished, checked off by 5 different kinds of service providers in some capacity.

The 7 elements of a Brand Identity are:

#1 colors - last week’s issue talked all about why these make the most impact

#2 fonts

#3 Textures and patterns

#4 your logo/s and any illustrations or icons

#5 your personal brand, including your face as the founder - and things you are known for

#6 Your brand voice - how you sound

#7 Your brand photos

And this is where branding can get so confusing because whose job is your Brand Identity?

I mean - a Brand Designer like me could do your colors, fonts, logos, illustrations.

A Logo Designer - might do just the logo and need you to give them everything else.

A Copywriter - well, they would help you with your brand voice.

A Brand Photographer - they are in charge of taking the shots.

A Business Coach or Brand Mentor - they may help you with marketing your personal brand.

Your Brand Identity - is a yummy little soup of all of the above. Made up of a combination of ingredients.

You may only have a few things in the cupboard. You don’t need them all!

When it comes to getting help with your brand - you get to decide what ingrediants you have, what you need to get, and who you need to hire.

How that “soup” looks - that is the visual identity.

So we are left to decide - visually what is going to set the tone?

Is a new logo what you need?

A whole new Brand Identity?

What if you like your logo - but you want to update everything else?

Can you do that? Is it allowed?

Some designers would say no - and I honestly didn’t even realize that until I worked with Jayne Tancred last year ,and she explained to me that when she interviewed other designers - they weren’t open to her keeping her existing logo - some of her other colors, and just evolving the brand she already had.

Just a logo, and having multiple logo variations is important and needed for brands that have a physical presence in their customers’ lives.

But if your brand is mainly interacting with your customers online, your logo is not that important. Your Brand Identity as a whole is what is going to make more of an impact.

That is why people can build entire brands online just around their personality and personal brand/voice. Adding on the other “ingredients” later on.

So when it comes to your business - if you want to update your Brand Identity, where do you start?

We went over that last week with our whole convo about colors - you can also read the whole blog here.

Let’s say you are in the midst of a 6-month brand pivot. And you are chipping away at updating all the things.

If you want to keep your logo

1. First update your brand colors
2. Then update your brand fonts
3. And don’t forget a texture or pattern.
4. Then you could go on to updating your brand photos now that you know what vibe you want to emulate in your Brand Identity as a whole.

If you want to update your logo suite too

1. Again I would start with colors
2. Then fonts
3. Then your logos and icons.

This is the exact order in which I design brands in my Brand Brushstrokes offer. I am designing a visual system - including illustrated icons that can be folded into your logo designs + give you “stuff” to work with in your social designs and future logos.

Past Brand Brushstrokes client Ash has made great use of her illustrations from brand brushstrokes in just this way - creating new variations for her offers and newsletter with the branding we designed together.

From here - same thing - brand photos can come next.

Whereas your personal brand and brand voice are something that should already exist. Something that is communicated in your visual Brand Identity.

Then all that’s left is having the know-how to know what to do with it all.

Last week, when we talked about having guidelines on how to use your colors helps you to eliminate a zillion little extra decisions in Canva.

Having guidelines for every piece of your Brand Identity - from how your fonts are used, to logo use, illustrations, a handful of background textures and patterns to choose from - means having more tools in your toolkit and also knowing how to use them.

Plus - when you are hiring on help - whether that is a Website Designer, Brand Photographer, VA, Systems Person - you already have exactly what you need to hand over to them - so they know exactly what to do with your visual Brand Identity.