3 key steps to creating a strong brand vision.
Here at Mumfolk, we’ve created and honed our own brand design process through the years of designing brand identities. Recently, I’ve been working on our own studio’s rebrand, and as I take the Mumfolk brand through the very same process that I take our brand design clients on, it’s made me reflect on the journey and process of building a brand.
Not to get too Carrie Bradshaw on you, but this got me thinking, why don’t I share more about my process with you all? Afterall, here at Mumfolk we’re passionate about helping women succeed in business and leave a legacy beyond motherhood. So, today I’ll be talking you through how you can establish your own brand vision and compass for brand success.
Where to begin?
Branding is a big investment, so it’s important to know how you can get the most out of your brand design experience. When you start on your brand design journey there are so many things to consider, which at times can feel overwhelming and really daunting. I’m here to show you why starting with a clear creative process and strategy in place is essential to help you to build an identity that really captures your true brand essence.
Basically, the more foundational work you can do beforehand the better and a great starting point is to establish your brand vision.
So, what is a brand vision?
A brand vision is your guiding light; it’s about the future, where your business is heading and what you aspire to become. This vision needs to be easy to understand and easy to communicate to others, because if you can’t explain what you see the future looking like, how can you expect others to follow and join you for the ride?
For example, Mumfolk’s brand vision is:
To empower and inspire mothers to live out their own path by equipping women with design tools and the brand identities they need to pursue their dreams beyond motherhood.
For you to have an impactful and brilliant brand, your vision needs to be something that you love and are passionate about, but also something that your audience will feel passionate about too.
We know our audience is passionate about this too, increasingly more women are wanting to utilise their talents after having children and to do this are choosing to carve out their own path, starting a business to achieve personal fulfilment and a balanced family life.
Your brand vision
A clear brand vision will help you lay strong brand foundations which will guide your brand visuals and style.
Uncovering your brand vision can feel tricky to begin with and will involve some deep thinking and abstract thought, but once you establish a clear vision, all the other aspects of your brand will fall into place much more easily.
So let’s dive in....
Step 1
When thinking about your purpose, ask yourself why you started your business in the first place. What need did you see in your own life and for others? What do you envision your business looking like in five years? How do you want your experience to be different from everything else that’s on the market?
Step 2
When thinking about your why, ask yourself what you value most. Make a list of 5-7 core values that resonate with you and spend some time writing about how each one of those values translates to your own life and decision making process. See if you can narrow it down to one simple theme that continues to come up in your writing and brainstorming. This is most likely your influential why!
Step 3
When thinking about your intentions for branding or rebranding, ask yourself why you’re going through the branding process. Is there anything about your current brand that is not clear or out of alignment with your vision? Is there a new story or clearer story that needs to be told through your messaging? What would take your business and brand to the next step?
Remember, you can use the answers to these questions to identify any recurring themes or keywords which can then lead to creative ideas for your visual identity.
Why a brand vision is the key to unlocking your visual style
In terms of your brand’s visual style, exploring the impact you want to make on the world really helps us to drill down to the core concepts of your brand which are often emotionally fuelled.
We can then explore these concepts and overarching themes to spark visual ideas about how to bring your brand DNA to life visually which will also help connect with your audience.
So a brand vision creates a compelling ‘true north’ for the design process and helps narrow the focus of your brand’s visual identity - essential if we are to create a brand with impact
Brand visuals need to have a clear focus. If you try to include too many ideas or concepts then the end result will just look confusing.
So remember these when thinking about your brand vision:
Your brand vision can be a powerful way to highlight a direction for your business and the way you want to grow.
It can take a little time and some trial and error to uncover, but once you land on a clear vision for your business, all the other aspects will naturally fall into place and make designing for your business much more focused with clear boundaries.
Even if you have a visual identity in place, it’s always good to gain clarity and assess whether your brand has changed or simply see ways that you can strengthen your visual communication and connection with your audience by refining your brand vision.
