Starting a design identity rebrand can be incredibly daunting yet also very exciting! There are so many possibilities. So many ways to convey your visual message. Embedded in that journey is a lot of anxiety: Is this new direction going to work out for me and my business? How do we know if a rebrand is a good choice for us? Why are rebrands such a huge undertaking?
These important questions are included in the consultation process at Spinner Design. We work with you to tease out the reasons why you want to embark on a brand identity design in the first place. For instance, sometimes starting from scratch isn’t the best approach as your previous brand identity has elements such as colour that are working for you.
Wearing my creative director hat, I want to stress that even though you are redesigning your brand identity, you aren’t redesigning the brand itself. Rather, the brand is evolving into its next phase by expressing a new identity.
But what is the difference between the two? Aren’t they the same thing? Actually, no! A brand identity and the brand itself are two related but distinct entities. Let’s introduce the metaphor of a group of close friends to help explain the difference. The brand itself is the culture, ethos and values that the close friends have in common. It’s the feeling you get when you go to the group’s annual get-together. A brand is embedded in the way the group communicates with one another. For instance, the friend group chat might be full of casual jokes about specific pop culture. Communication might get more formal when new people are around, or it might stay super casual. It’s really up to the culture (i.e. brand) the group espouses and values.
Have you noticed that most friend groups already have a common sense of style? Often the friends inspire one another and their general look and feel have a common thread. That intangible feeling one gets from looking at a group of friends and subconsciously understanding, “hm, they seem friendly” is also part of the brand.
The brand identity is then a conscious exercise and process to decide exactly how the group of friends wants to be perceived in the world. Perhaps they realize that the colour blue is calming to everyone. They value being calm. So, it just makes sense to use a calming neutral blue in their new brand identity. They realize that the colour blue really helps tell their brand story well.
When you start a brand identity process with Spinner Design, we are most interested in the values and stories held within the brand itself. Once we get clear on that, we then move forward to the process of producing a new brand identity. The brand identity is where the key elements of your brand are expressed externally including logo design, colour choices, images such as photography & illustrations and also tone. Tone falls into the type of language used in external and internal communications. The friend group might already have an understanding of the types of visuals they use to communicate. But, they’ve never overtly talked about it. The brand identity process will help your business get clear on what the best way to communicate is to meet your goals.
Do you have more questions about the brand identity process for your business? Please reach out! We would love to chat with you.
