The branding process – a walkthrough guide

The branding process is another variation on design processes, brand projects are run by working in collaboration with clients through a process of research, strategy, and implementation. A branding project can prove to be one of the more frustrating journeys we put ourselves on, but it is also one of the most rewarding creative projects.

Projects vary greatly depending on resources available, the budget, or the size of the team involved. The process remains the same, all that changes is how deep a team can dive into each of the stages. Each is essentially a gated stage, moving from one to the next. Going through phases of divergent and convergent thinking to allow for creativity, and then for a meaningful strategy to be identified to underpin design decisions.

Why a brand process

A process sets expectations and allows people to understand their position in the project. It helps people understand the investment in the project and the effort needed to be put it. A process also shows that it is a proven method, aligns with business strategy to support goals

Research

A big part of branding is the picture stuff, building vision and mission statement. What are the organisations' goals and strategies to achieve them? A key part of this is stakeholder research and what are their points of view. You’ll also want to do a full audit of your marketing and competitor research.

Strategy

The best strategies are built of a mix of left- and right-hand thinking. It’s about letting all that research sink in. Assimilating the information and letting connections form. During the strategy, we start to form brand characteristics. Cocoonfxmedia has a brand template to take you through exploring characteristics. From this information, we can write a creative brief for the design of the brand identity.

Logo Design

A designer will distil all the information you have down into the essence of your logo design. They will consider many different directions before stepping foot down a route. For us, after we have done understanding the information found we put pencil to paper. It allows for easy communication with the client and brings in elements of co-design, involving the client in design decisions so they can understand why those decisions have been made.

Touchpoints

The logo has been designed and now the application of it on various marketing collateral is the next step. As part of the design process of the identity, many of these applications should have been considered. Obvious applications are business cards, websites, vehicle livery, signage, and posters. These extra pieces of material will really start to communicate the brand through the choice of imagery, colour and typography.

Asset Management

The most common tool to help with brand graphics applied standardly is the brand guidelines. A document that details how a logo should be handled and applied. Colour and Pantone values. How the logo should be handled on images. Most companies, they will use a central designer who is essentially self-regulated and only requires sign off from upper management.

For information on other services, we offer from branding to website design. Contact us on 0121 8203659. Based locally in Lichfield Staffordshire, we also work with businesses nationally and regionally.