How I Created a New Brand Identity
Uncovering the Client’s Needs and Pain Points
Well before you start thinking about how to redesign a client’s logo and brand identity, you need to learn the client’s story.
“This client, Gabbie June Music, was working with another agency,” said Kelsey. “And the problem was that this agency promised three updated logo concepts, and after rejecting that agency’s eleventh concept and then was ghosted with no final product, Gabbie June Music started looking for another agency. So I said, ‘Okay, I think it’d be good for us to have a sit-down.'”
Kelsey sat down with Gabbie June Music, over a Google Hangout meeting, and she quickly learned why the client’s previous agency had so much trouble designing Gabbie June’s new brand identity.
“Usually when an a small business or organization decides to rebrand, there’s underlying reasoning behind that decision,” said Kelsey. “So at that first meeting, I just asked a ton of questions about her music organization. And I learned that her current needs and pain points went beyond some aesthetic updates.”
Kelsey heard that Gabbie June had grown a lot in the last few years, without properly communicating that growth to her audience and she was moving from Minnesota where she already had a fan base and she was moving to Nashville to pursue the big stage. And while her old logo was a bit dated, what she really needed was a brand identity system that spoke to the new vision she had as a musician: Lestel John. Her completely new identity and direction as a musician.
Listen First, Design Later
Kelsey listened to everything that the musician had to say, and only then did she start explaining about how Kreativity Focus Branding could solve her problems.
“In that first meeting, I shared my approach with the client,” said Kelsey. “Our process always starts with Discovery, which is a half-day facilitated session where I walk through a variety of exercises with the client’s key stakeholders. And the goal is always to just learn about the organization, and then use the insights we gather from Discovery to create a strategy.”
Extracting a Client’s Brand Strategy
After explaining my process and securing the musicians team’s buy-in, Kelsey scheduled the Lestel John Music half-day Discovery session.
“Before the session, I sent the Lestel John team an email explaining how Discovery works and what our next steps were. And I knew they were going to have to send this out to other stakeholders in her team,” said Kelsey. “Eventually, I realized they were going to have about two people in the room for her Discovery session.”
Each of the two stakeholders who attended the Lestel John Discovery session had key information to impart about her organization – information that the Kreativity Focus’s Branding team would need to keep in mind when designing Lestel John’s new brand identity.
The Importance of Structuring Discovery
After prepping my slide deck and Discovery exercises, Kelsey led the Lestel John’s team through her Discovery session.
“If you don’t have a structured framework for Discovery, especially if you have more than one person gathered together in one room, you’re just going to have everybody saying whatever comes to mind,” said Kelsey. “And it’s going to be really hard to get anything useful out of that, even if you get a ton of valuable information. Which is why I make sure we go through a structured framework, and I always give some introduction to the process before we begin Discovery.”
After an hour of insight-revealing exercises, Kelsey extracted all the information that the Kreativity Focus would need to design Lestel John’s new brand identity.
Starting the Design Project
After compiling and condensing the Lestel John team’s insights, Kelsey began the process of Lestel John’s brand discovery and mood boarding.
“When it comes to designing a brand identity system and a brand strategy, I have a list of tasks that I know I’m going to have to do,” said Kelsey.
In my internal review, Kelsey creates a story and needs – as well as the deliverables the client would receive.
At Kreativity Focus Branding, Brand Identity Systems Include:
- Logo designs and stylescapes.
- Brand messaging.
- Social media graphic guide.
- Website design.
“Whenever we create a brand identity system, I develop a strategy that speaks to the messaging, the social media, the user experience, and the design,” said Kelsey. “And some people might say, ‘Wait, I thought you were designing a brand identity system.’ Well, when we do a brand identity system, that includes brand strategy – which always includes messaging, social media suggestions, and some user experience-related designs.”
After a round of internal revisions, Kelsey was ready to present Lestel John with her new logo and brand identity system.
Presenting the Client’s New Logo and Brand Identity System
After refining Kreativity Focus’s deliverables and packaging them together, Kelsey presented her work to the Lestel John team at a Google Hangout meeting.
“I presented to the exact same two people that were in that initial Discovery session,” said Kelsey. “During the first half of that meeting, I reviewed their Discovery notes with them. Then I walked them through all four areas of their new brand identity.”
While the Lestel John's team had some initial thoughts, Kelsey asked that they also take the time to review Kreativity Focus’s work over the next three days. Then, she led a follow-up call to receive the Lestel John team’s detailed feedback.
“They chose a logo, and then we went through one round of revisions to make some final tweaks before we moved into the next phase,” said Kelsey. “So that was the final test. The final phase of the brand identity process was to create a portfolio website for her.”
The Final Test for Lestel John’s New Logo
Kelsey presented all final changes to Lestel John’s team – and was met with silence. But after worrying for just a bit, Kelsey received an email from Lestel John, saying that the board loved Lestel John’s new logo and brand identity.
“And I was like, ‘Yes!'” said Kelsey. “I breathed a sigh of relief.”
Sending Off Lestel John’s Brand Identity System
At that point, all that was left to do was to give Lestel John all the files and assets they needed to share their new brand identity with the world.
“Our brand style guides include everything – including the new logo and variations in every format the client might need, information on the colors and typography we used, additional design elements, stationary materials, and everything else,” said Lestel John. “That, plus the strategy documents for social, is it – the entire brand identity system.”
The Final Step: Applying the Brand Identity System to Lestel John’s Website
This process took 3 weeks of building. Kelsey then scheduled a Google hangout meeting with Lestel’s team to present the fully built and functioning website. Again, after the meeting, their team took 3 days to compile notes of copy and image changes they wanted to make to the website. Once Kelsey received the final list of changes, she made them over the course of a few days. The whole website project was completed within a month! Lestel’s team was psyched to have her new brand ready to go before her big move to Nashville in November of 2021.
I hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at how (in just two months) Kreativity Focus Branding creates a client’s brand identity system – and if you want to learn more, be sure to leave a comment here, on my Facebook, or over at my Instagram. I’d love talking about my process and my designs!