Kate Hollis was a DREAM client. She came to me for a Branding Consistency Package, with a list of projects at the ready, so that she could have confidence in her visual identity and so we could create consistency across all her marketing visuals.
Here’s what we created together – read on for how the process happened!
When Kate reached out, she felt like her visual identity wasn’t cohesive, didn’t quite capture her, and she didn’t know how to use her branding. Every new graphic was like reinventing the wheel. She’d been branded and stranded.
I think of every project like a recipe. You have something delicious to make, and maybe a few ingredients in the cabinet, but you’re missing some tasty spices and you don’t know the measurements.
That’s where I step in to create a recipe for consistency and cohesion.
When we work together on a Branding Expansion Pack, it starts like this:
- First we talk through what your branding hopes and dreams are.
- Then I assess what you already have in place (what’s in the cabinet and fridge right now?) You may have already engaged a designer at some point so you likely have some fonts, colors, and a few graphics and/or photos to choose from.
- From there, I create a Current Mood Board, to show you clearly what you have in place right now.
- Then I go shopping for some ingredients to spice things up (am I taking this visual too far? lol) like graphics, stickers, and different ways to use colors or typography.
- And I’ll create the Expanded Brand Mood Board to show how it will all come together once those fresh ingredients are added.
Here was Kate’s Current Mood Board. Nothing wrong with it, but not very inspiring. This is based on her branding guide and website.
I updated this mood board to add a few things – cat stickers, some hand-drawn doodle details, and bulletin board / scrap book vibes.
She responded that she LOVED the cat stickers… but she’s more of a cats-in-bowties-and-glasses type of gal. And she wasn’t feeling the hand-drawn elements. So her Expanded Mood Board looked like this:
I don’t always do mood boards in this fashion, but this Expanded Mood Board gave us a really good visual starting point for her static Instagram grid. Plus we established a visual aesthetic for all our projects moving forward.
Clients love seeing the mood boards because they instantly see from their ‘current’ board, what was missing or wasn’t quite coming together, and then the ‘new’ board shows it all tied together with intentional design decisions.
They see how cohesive and connected everything can be.
It isn’t just a few graphics though. I also create structure and “rules” around their brand that they can follow. These aren’t rigid rules meant to make you feel trapped, they’re guide rails that help you understand what to do when you sit down to stare at a blank Canva screen.
It’s incredibly freeing to know “This is my background color” or “Photos have a 1 pixel outline” and “I can sprinkle these stickers in the corners”. So you don’t have to decide everything all at once, all the time.
You have brand rules and those make the process of creating your graphics easier, faster, and more fun (with wayyyyy less pressure)
And since we don’t believe in perfectionism around here, always remember that even these rules can be broken! I have a fun Instagram post all about that here.
Some clients take things and run with them at this point in the process and others hire me to do this for them. And you know what? Those guidelines I created make MY life and job easier and more fun too. A win for all!
After delivering the work to her, she said…
“Thank YOU for your talents and intuitive ability to just get me. The confidence and ease this project brought to my life and biz have been a game changer!”
– Kate Hollis
😊That’s my deepest wish for my clients. That when they come to me feeling unsure and overwhelmed, they leave filled with confidence and ease.
Definitely go check Kate out and give her some love! 💜
