Every creative studio has a different way they handle its brand process. For Sweet Daddy Designs, we focus on the 80/20 method where 80% of our energy is focused on developing your brand’s strategy, and the other 20% is focused on the actual visuals of the brand. We do this for a lot of different reasons, but one of the most important is so that each brand has some sort of strategic foundation before we work together on visuals.
Here’s the rundown:
Why is the strategy the largest part?
Have you ever seen a house being built without someone reading the blueprints or laying out the foundation? No? That’s probably because the house would crumble without the right structure and the same goes for your brand. We prioritize having a strategy first brand process because we want your brand to not only look good but reach your desired target audience.
If we worked on your brand and only touched the visuals without looking at the backend – we would be doing you a disservice because. 9 times out of 10 you’ll eventually have to redo your branding to match your brand’s purpose and accurately reach your target audience. Why do it twice when we can do it correctly the first time?
Strategy: The 80 Percent
For us, strategy can be broken down into 3 parts:
- Brand Foundation
- Brand Position
- Brand Expression
The brand’s foundation generally covers your brand’s purpose, mission, vision, and values. We call this the foundation because it is what the rest of your brand will be built from. It’s the structure that makes your branding whole while also driving it forward. Here’s a short run-through of what each means:
- Purpose: The why behind your brand besides making money.
- Mision: What your business is committed to.
- Vision: How you see the world and your brand in the future.
- Values: How you want to do business.
The band position covers the what and how of your brand. We dig into your brand’s audience, competitors, and differences. This is a large part of the brand process because we look into what your customers need, what they value, and how you can deliver in a unique way. Going through these steps will allow you to analyze the unmet needs in your market and develop a positioning strategy that can set you apart.
Your brand’s expression is how you bring the brand to life. Good brands sell good products but great brands make emotional connections – and that’s exactly the goal when building this phase-out. Your expression covers your personality, voice, and story but most importantly it turns a business into a human brand. This allows you to build connections with your audience and create loyalty to your brand.
Visuals: The 20 Percent
Your brand’s visuals are the images your target audience will see. This can be a combination of:
- Logos
- Fonts
- Color Palettes
- Website Design
- Business Cards
- Sales Pages
- Signs
- Social Media Designs
- Merchandise
The list goes on and on. The reason your brand’s imagery is only 20% of your overall banding process is that strategy is the roadmap we need before we develop the rest. You wouldn’t tell your mechanic to fix your car without looking under the hood right? The same goes with your brand – in order to create a successful brand, you need to examine the backend first.
At Sweet Daddy Designs, we will always do some form of strategy before we dig into visuals. It gives both us and our clients the insight we need to grow the brand.
If you’re looking to develop your brand, shoot us a message.
