Branding or Not-To-Branding, That is The Question!

the excitement

Exciting journey, they said!!! Indeed, it feel like that when we starting or building a business, an organization, and even for a personal activity. Whether you’re try to evolved a hobby to a business, like baking, cooking, craft, sketch and illustration, photography, party decoration, dress making or even managing a community-based organization. Your efforts are rooted in a personal touch—a vision you hold close to your heart.

the crossroads

As the activities getting bigger and complex, but you really enjoyed the growth, the questions about identity start to emerge. How do you visually represent your values and purpose? Do you need “branding” now, or is it too early?

This is a common crossroads in the heart of small to medium businesses or personal ventures, nobody have the universal answer. Instead of wandering then get lost in unknowingness, a glimpse peeks on how design activity can support your journey may help you decide, when, and how to invest in branding. Keep on reading.

the senses

For your kind of activity, the heart of the business, organization or personal ventures lies in its authenticity. It’s about your stories and your personal touch, that telling the audience and customers, the way you interact with them and even the visuals you create—sets you apart from others. This sense of personal touch that your community like, becomes the foundation for growth to nurture community. Keeping the warm interactions among the community in longer time.

Keep in mind that this kind personal connection also means it’s easy for you to fall into transformation or innovation traps. Following short-terms trends may lead you to over-stretching resources. Me-too mentality will suck your essence into abyss. Sudden change that push away the community or audience as the center. Sometimes, the purpose, the value and the vision blur by veil of the ambition and the ego, you may miss interpreted and fall into the pitfalls. So, developing a methodical approach to your decisions while preserving your individuality is a necessary. Bellow, we will start giving you the essential steps to follow, prepare your cup of joe!!!

either that you are in initial stage of personal ventures, on the phase of building the foundation of an organization, at the beginning to expand the small and medium business, you are designing.

the presence

For early personal ventures, small and medium organizations, branding process are organically started when people recognize the activity. Some may ignored you, but some may support you. Branding doesn’t have to mean a fully-fledged identity system right away, or aesthetically satisficing. Branding start with focused and consistent visual presence since the beginning. This is the smallest steps you can take to make your presence felt while organizing and managing whole round of other chores.

Three things that need to be considered:

1. • Representations
     Business Cards, Letter Head, Flyers, Landing Page, Social Media Presences (post, reels, story, ads), Working Place and Signage, how well-dressed are you, all of these are visual representation of the business or organization you lead.Consider the details, the focus and the consistency as your daily mantra. It’s not always about what you said, butthe impression from this visual representation show will stay longer as the personal touch in the heart of your audience. When these visual representation objects are reflect your values, you are good to go.

1. • Delivery
     Think about your packaging, and materials, even about the bubble wraps and card-boxes. Do they reflect your values? Do they consistent to your visual representation? Do you communicate the details for the delivery? Something as simple as a handwritten thank-you note or a customized label may leave memorable experiences. Sometimes small freebies too, no one reject the act of generosity. Follow-up emails, feedback forms, or even the way you package the repeat orders can make a difference.Small businesses thrive on relationships, warm interactions especially on how you deliver your products or service.Thoughtful details in visual representation may reinforce them.

1. • Supporting roles
     Instead of worrying on color schemes, collections of fonts, signature logo, or what kind of effect is the trendiest one, have you ever considered to deliver the visual representation to them who support your ventures, business or organization? or may be involve them in the visual representation, share some spotlight. How about your vendors and suppliers? Are they got similar impression as your community too?This may give impression on how your organization really give sensible on the personal touch around.

Visual presence in these areas acts as a thread that tying your workflow together, creating continuity for your audience and community, from gradually to sustainability.

focused & consistency build clarity

Before jumping into any design decision, it’s helpful to pause and reflect. Try to exercise self-identification and mind-mapping. Both may help you clarify your organization personality and priorities, so that you can avoid being overly influenced by competitors strategy since what works for them may not work for yours. Trends distractions would no longer bothering you, since you are really know what values you represent. By self-identification and mind-mapping you are more to understand your audience and community, whom are drawn to your authenticity, rather than them who are abusing your generosity. Here’s three simple exercise to get started:

1. • Write down three to five keywords that describe your business or organization.

1. • Identify three to five ways how your customers currently experience your products or services.

1. • Visually imagine (sketch if you can, or make a visual mood-boards) situations that ties those words and experiences together.

This process may help you to see your organization’s strengths and opportunities in clarity. Then, recheck whether it really inline with your values. Put on the visual visions into the visual representations on daily practice, bit by a bit, until your organization really mastered it consistently.

delegate & focus

It’s recommended to experiment and try things on your own or with affordable tools, while you build the foundation, but as your ventures and organization grows, there may come a time when your visual representation needs to reflect bigger goals through visual identity design. Through Visual Identity Design, it may help you to refine the existing visual representation into a structured and cohesive visual system. From here, you may have a standardization in visual presence to be applicable into various mediums and medias. On the process of systematization, there would be come ideas on building a sustainable design strategy which aligned with your values.

The complexity in ensuring your identity remains authentic and impactful in making standardization, the presence of graphic designer who can give alternative perspectives and insight may really save your day. Standardization is the act of consistency. Delegate then evaluate regularly, so you can focus on your journey to serve the communities.

it’s wrapped

Branding is a journey of discovering and presenting who you are to the world, not an all-or-nothing decision. By starting a small progress, staying authentic, and taking thoughtful decisions, you can nurture your ventures, business or organization roots, while building visual representation presence that evolves naturally with your growth. Never be hesitate to delegate and do the process collaboratively.

So, the question of branding or not-to-branding can be answered. Branding is focused and consistent process and progress that can be do by yourself or to delegate collaboratively with a graphic designer. 

What is really matter in branding is how your purpose, value & vision is always aligned with the visual representation and the products or service, to the audience and communities also to them who support your ventures, business or organization. 

The personal touch as the strength really give a strong impression that last, let them build the story of your ventures, business or organization in their mind and heart.

Bon courage et bonne chance!!!