What to Include in a Brand Creative Direction
Have you been here before?
You sit down with a million BRILLIANT design ideas for a brand, but there’s been little to no discussion about the client’s needs. So once the designing starts, it feels a little like connecting moving dots- no clear visual.
If this sounds all too familiar, it’s probably because of a lack of a brand creative direction.
Creating an effective brand for your client requires adding a little strategy to your designs. We know that the brand goes beyond just the design assets and visual appeal (and if you didn’t know that, check this post out), but how do we get there?
ENTER: Brand creative direction.
A brand creative direction is a set of parameters that define the personality and look of a brand. It's the foundation on which all other elements will be developed, including colors, fonts and logo design.
Developing a creative direction for the brand will help you define the core values, attributes, and personality traits of the brand that you can then translate visually into design elements. The creative direction allows for a more seamless design process, giving you a guide for creating a visual language that is unique to your brand, building a style guide to help build consistency across all campaigns, and developing a voice that's consistent with every touchpoint in your customer journey.
There are two main components that need to be included when developing a brand creative direction: the brand foundation and the style guide. Both of these work together harmoniously to create the brand’s visual identity.
Here are some key questions to consider when developing a brand creative direction:
Let’s start with the Brand Foundation:
First, you want to learn about your client’s business as a whole. Identifying their “secret sauce” and the overarching goals for their business will give you a starting point for creating their brand.
What are your brand's Core Values?
Who is your Ideal Client?
What does your ideal client need that you can help them with?
Why do they want to work with/buy from you?
What is your brand's Positioning Statement?
List three of your competitors and what sets you apart from them.
Now we can move on to the brand style:
Then it’s time to get into the style details! These are specific questions that identify your client’s visual preferences for their brand.
What "vibe" do you want your brand to have? Think rustic, modern, boho, kitchy, clean, feminine, masculine etc.
Are there any particular colors that you want to highlight in your brand?
Are there any symbols or icons you want to incorporate?
Do you have a preference of font style? Serif, sans serif, script, bold, handwritten, etc.
Are there any brands that you admire for their style? It doesn't have to be related to your business. What elements of their style grab your attention?
By using these questions as a launching point for your designs, you’ll be able to develop a brand creative direction that meets all of your clients needs and effectively helps you strategize and begin designing a brand!
If you're looking for a little extra help to dig deeper into your branding process, check out our resources page which is packed with free tools and paid courses to give your brand design business a boost!
Brand Process Savvy
Now that you have your creative process figured out, let’s get you set up with all of the other elements of designing for clients.
My new course, Brand Process Savvy, will teach you just that!
The course is packed with resources to set you up for success in your branding process so you can spend less time going back and forth with clients on design revisions and spend more time designing brands you and your clients LOVE.
Check out the details here!
