Wow! Almost at the end of term and for me, the last day of work before the new year. And hasn’t it been a year?
This time last year I had a vision for a book that I hoped would go down well. I had a pipe dream to run workshops overseas. Never in a million years did I think I would be the proud author of such a well received, bestselling book. And I wasn’t sure if I’d have the courage to book that workshop in New York, but thanks to you – I’ve done it! Thank you so much for all of your help, support and encouragement this year.
To celebrate everything that’s happened, I wanted to do something to pull together the resources I’ve created. And so I got to thinking: Wouldn’t it be helpful to have a post that had everything in one place? A sort of Brand Styling master resource list, if you like. Something to pin, share and refer back to again and again?
Some of the downloadable resources will require you to sign up to my newsletter first, many you’ll be able to access straight away. Either way, I know that if you’re currently working through a branding project you’re going to find having these by your side seriously helpful.
Enjoy!
Getting started
You’re probably here because you know that creating a powerful brand identity will help you get out of the blocks faster and attract the right sorts of clients. The lovely sorts of clients who value what you do and will pay you what you’re worth.
Perhaps you want to create a brand that you can be proud of. One that’ll have people ‘oohing’ and ‘aaaahing’ over your cards, drooling over your website and buying from you in their droves.
Maybe it’s time to show the world you mean business and to create a brand identity that shows what you’re capable of, that has people taking you seriously and reflects where you want to be headed next. Styling your brand well can help you do all of this and more.
You’ll find an overview of my process for creating a distinctive brand identity in this post.
Before you embark on any branding project and certainly before you commission a designer, you need to do some groundwork. Identify what it is you want to be known for, who your ideal clients are and how you’d like your business to come across. Start with my Planning Workbook.
Once you’ve worked through what this new identity is to achieve, it’s absolutely essential that you create a concise, written brief that you can refer back to throughout the process. As you start out on your journey you will hopefully have a crystal clear vision of how you’d like your new brand identity to come across. But I promise you, somewhere, weeks down the line, you will be glad that you took the trouble to create a written brief. Because when you start getting inspiration overload and you start losing focus you’ll be glad to have something objective that you can refer back to and keep you on track.
You might also like to take a look over this post on choosing meaningful brand values before you write your brief out.
Creating a powerful vision
In my book, we cover Colour Psychology in a lot of detail – looking at first of all how you can identify your seasonal personality and then, how to express that through your choice of type, colour, pattern and textures to create a unique and engaging brand identity.
You can discover more about the Absolute Essentials of Colour Psychology here.
And you can use this worksheet to identify which seasonal personality best reflects your business.
And if you’re struggling to work out which season your business should be, it might just be that you’re muddying things by bringing in too many of your personal values. Take a look at this post to gain some clarity.
Once you’re clear on what season your business should be you’ll probably want to create a mood board.
The very clever Gudy Herder also wrote a post on mood boarding, Five Creative Techniques for Building a Moodboard – and her mood boards are gorgeous so definitely take a look at her tips!
Working with a designer
And then you’ll need a little help choosing a designer?
And even if you’re working with a designer, understanding the process behind colour palettes will help you make smarter choices, so have a gander at this post. How to Put Together a Powerful Colour Palette for Your Brand
Finally, you’ll want to download my checklist for evaluating creative work – because there’s more of a process to making smart choices than simply going with your initial gut reaction. You’ll find it here. And here’s a post packed with tips and my thoughts on reviewing creative work effectively.
Struggling to stay on track? You shouldn’t be if you’re following my process, but sometimes getting lost in the middle of a rebrand is inevitable. Take a look at this post which will help you get back on track in double quick time.
Styling it Up
One of the first posts I ever wrote! My tips on creating a business card with impact…
And you’ll find my tips on creating a website that wins you work right here.
And finally…
Oh, and one more resource, that isn’t free but will be worth every penny of the £20 you spend on it… My book, How to Style Your Brand covers the process comprehensively from start to finish. Packed with examples from more that 60 inspirational small businesses and with step by step instructions, you’ll find the book an invaluable resource as you work through the process of styling your brand.
“Beautiful book! I loved how the author explained, step by step, how to determine what your brand identity should be for maximum effectiveness with your target market. REALLY helpful book. Just the right length. It struck a good balance between delivering great information and not being overwhelming. Would be excellent for any solo-preneur or small business who wants to establish their own brand identity, but it would also be a good book for those who might still end up hiring a designer. It’s an excellent place to start, for sure, and I give it my highest recommendation.” Dawn Michelle
“I knew based on Fiona’s blog that the book would be good. WOW!! It is better than good. I have never seen a book be able to marry up beauty with incredible, informative, how-to, practical information as this book does. The beautiful layout and photos put puts me in such a creative state that I long to get to work on my brand identity and that is where the uncluttered, unclomplicated instruction comes to the forefront. I have never met Fiona in person but I feel as though she is right there with her energetic personality helping me figure it all out. Best of all, while this book energizes you to create the best brand identity, it is practical and not one of those vague cheerleader type books.” Kathleen Murphy
“This book is everything I hoped it would be and much much more. It balances practical advice with inspirational quotes, beautiful images and real world examples. It’s written in such a lovely tone that you feel like Fiona is standing next to you, guiding you through every step. And it really does cover every step of creating a brand identity from colours and photography, to logos and websites. I spent 12 years working in advertising and branding and I’ve learnt a lot from this book, and perhaps more importantly, been inspired and motivated. I wish it had been around when I was launching previous ventures – I will certainly have to hand for my next one.” Katie Tregidden
You can pick up your copy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or direct from my distributor who ship worldwide.
Thank you again for all your help and support this year. Here’s to a fantastic 2016!