We’re now over the half way mark and from the look of all the activity in the clubhouse, there has been tons of fantastic progress being made with the portfolio pieces.
This week we’re going to be working on one of *the* most important aspects of your business…your branding. It’s an area that many illustrators neglect – forgetting that first impressions do still count.
Online (and offline) you just can’t afford to forget that…if your shop window isn’t up to scratch, potential clients and customers won’t even walk through the door which is why we’re going to start implementing your brand NOW!
This Week’s Task
Here’s your task for Week 7 of the zero2illo 12 Week Challenge: Brand yourself and/or your illustration business.
Your output this week should include the following:
- A name for your business/project/service
- What your brand stands for (3 words)
- A logo or some sort of visual identifier for the above
- A colour scheme for your brand (a primary colour and complimentary secondary colour palette)
This Week’s Advice
Branding isn’t just about a slick-looking logo (although that can help), here are a few questions that will help you get closer to the key elements of your brand:
- What single core message do you want to convey to your audience?
- What 3 words would you like people to use to describe your illustration business/service?
- What colours convey the image you’d like to portray to a global audience?
- What look and feel most communicate what you’re trying to convey most effectively (does it reflect the style/medium you work in)?
- What kind of language will your audience best respond to? Formal, informal, slang, any global/international considerations?
- Will your brand include an identifiable glyph or icon that could, in time, become associated with you and your work? If so, what single icon best reflects you/your work?
Many illustrators focus on one or two of the above but fail to get all of them right. This week is about getting clear in your own mind what you want your brand to stand for.
Here are some resources that you might find useful this week:
• Nameboy - great little domain name generator tool
• The Brand Called You - Old, but great article in Fast Company
• Rockstar Personal Branding - Free ebook from Rockable Press (by Skellie)
• Personal Branding for the Business Professional - Free ebook from Chris Brogan
I will be posting a very special extra resource tomorrow from Holly DeWolf (illustrator and author of the fantastic book ‘Breaking Into Freelance Illustration’ - a must read!) who kindly agreed to write a post especially for zero2illo 12 Week Challengers called ‘Branding For Illustrators’.
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