Re-branding your business is a big decision for any established business. Your logo is in a lot of places like business cards, your website, your invoices, etc., etc. Not to mention your customers know it and recognize it.
It can be overwhelming to think about changing the appearance of your whole brand! But sometimes, it really is time. The tricky part can be knowing when it's time to rebrand. For Ashley Wilson, an established newborn photographer in the Jacksonville area, the need for this shift became super clear after a few tell-tale signs.
When Is It Time To Rebrand?
Ashley had been meeting with Grace for business coaching and strategy sessions for months, discussing her journey so far, her current workflows, pain points, and goals for scaling her business. The more they met and worked together, the more things began to surface that became indicators that a rebrand might be in order.
After implementing some new tools in her business and continuing to grow, Ashley knew that some of the growing pains she was feeling could be relieved by updating her brand. It was becoming obvious that her current visual branding was holding her back from marketing herself, creating new content, and showing up confidently as a professional in her field.
When your brand's identity starts to become disjointed from the goals, clientele, and strategy you currently have, lots of problems start to arise. While we don't urge or rush established businesses to change their visual identity, sometimes it really is the wisest move to allow for further growth!
The Creative Process Begins
Because Ashley and Grace had been working together for a few months, when it was time to start brainstorming, that part came so easily! Equipped with a Pinterest board and Ashley's goals and brand strategy, our Wild team went hard to work on creating a brand that would serve her well.
The primary guidelines we had to keep in mind for this brand design were:
To portray Ashley's true artistic style as a creative professional
To clearly communicate her brand style & service offering
To be modern, elegant, and something that would not become dated too quickly
We also wanted the brand suite to be easy to use and versatile for her many needs. Between websites, watermarks, physical products, and social media, Ashley needed multiple versions of her logo that she could easily use in all of the needed mediums.
When she shared her inspiration, we were able to grab different distinct elements and infuse them into a unique brand concept that wasn't cookie-cutter. For colors, we asked her to share with us her favorite photos; and she also included a corner of her office that felt exactly like "her aesthetic". That became our jumping-off point for the color palette and mood board!
Once we had chosen & customized the main typeface for the logo, it was easier to put together a font suite that would work well across all marketing mediums and be complimentary to the primary typeface in the logo.
Refine, Refine, Refine
Refining and editing a logo is a delicate process. If you look at a concept too many times, with too many options, what we like to call "wedding dress syndrome" kicks in. It becomes easy to think "well, I love it, but I might like it better if we change ___". This is a very slippery slope!
When we tell our clients that they get a set limit of edits, this is why. We want to help you get the results you want! After a few rounds of edits, and deciding to add another submark into the suite, we finalized the logo suite for Ashley Wilson Photography!
The Final Product
When a project like this wraps up, it's always so exciting to see not only how our clients implement their new branding, but also what their clients have to say about it!
Ultimately, it's important for your brand identity to line up with what your clients want, your goals, and your strategies. If you are feeling like there is a disconnect between your branding and your business, or like your visual identity is holding you back from marketing your services and products, then it might be time for a rebrand.
Ashley knew when it was time to take the leap, and she has seen such growth and momentum because of that. The team here at Wild Ellis is ready to help guide you to this decision and build a brand that will serve you well.
To learn more about our branding and consulting services, click here.