Is it time for a brand refresh?

Hello lovelies! Today on the blog we’re going to be talking about re-branding, or in other words, refreshing your brand image. I can’t emphasize enough how important branding is to your business. Your logo is the very first thing a client will see when they find your website for the first time. Your business card is the thing they bring home from that wedding show. The colors and vibe of your Instagram feed will be the thing that makes them fall in love with your work. Branding is such a big part of all of these elements and more, and these are all things that will help your client understand you and the service you offer–and in turn choose to hire you. If your branding or logo isn’t working for you anymore, or if you plain just don’t like it anymore (there is probably a good reason why), then ask yourself if you fit into one (or more) of the following situations.

You need a brand refresh if…

Your logo is outdated.

Take a good look at your logo. How old is it? Does it look classic, clean and timeless? Maybe you hopped on a popular trend years ago when you were just starting, and now the design choices look really dated. Basically, if your logo has a drop shadow, beveled edges or “web-safe colors,” we probably need to talk. :)

Branding update by Gallerie Q

Note: We want to point out that it’s not always a bad thing to incorporate some trends when creating a logo (we love flat design, pretty pastels and hand drawn elements right now), but it’s important to use these effects subtly so your logo will translate well in the future.
You made your logo yourself.

A lot of problems can arise from attempting to create your logo yourself. One many people run into (besides not really having a graphic design eye) is not having access to the programs that are needed to make a high quality, multi-use logo. For example, if you made your logo in Photoshop, you made a raster image. This means that whatever resolution you created it in, that’s the best it’s ever going to get. Your logo might look just fine as a header on your website, but imagine one day you’ll need to put your logo on a on a large poster at a wedding show or on a sign on your brick-and-mortar store front or even on a billboard (dream with me, here!). Unless you made your logo as a scalable vector (using a program like Adobe Illustrator–what we use), blowing that logo up is going to make it look all kinds of fuzzy and pixelated. And pixelated translates as unprofessional, every time.

Another common problem is with fonts–and possible license infringement. Do you remember where you downloaded your font(s) for your logo? Was it free, maybe from a site like www.dafont.com? If so, chances are you might have downloaded a font file that was free for personal use only. While many pretty fonts have a free or demo version available, as a business, that’s not something you can use for commercial purposes. You’d need to make sure you have a commercial license–after all, your logo is something that’s helping you sell your service or your product.
Your logo, name, or brand doesn’t fit you anymore (or it never did).

I hear about this a lot actually. “I didn’t know what feel I was going for when I first started.” “This doesn’t look like me.” “I didn’t think hard enough about my business name in the beginning.” One common situation I hear is that your current logo just doesn’t capture what you want to say about yourself, either in aesthetic or in message. This could have been for a multitude of reasons–you thought you needed something quick and maybe even cheap, or your original designer didn’t sit down with you and have a conversation about what you really needed for branding. It’s also really common to outgrow your brand. You may have expanded into a larger business so “Your Name Photography” doesn’t work anymore, you may have learned more about your industry, or your interests and tastes may have simply evolved.

Branding Update by Gallerie Q
All you have is a logo.

When you’re first starting out, it’s easy to just say “Ooh, I need a logo!” But there’s so much more to branding than just having a logo. Branding encompasses colors, fonts, and usage guidelines. It’s also very closely tied with marketing materials–things like business cards, business templates (invoices, receipts, letterhead), advertising, brochures and packaging. Do all your marketing materials look branded?

It’s also very important to establish your brand on social media. We’ve all heard how important it is to have a consistent look to your Instagram feed, for example. Branding should play an important role in the tone of your feed, as well as the colors you highlight and the fonts you use for overlays, advertisements, etc. If all you have is a logo, you’re missing out on all these other opportunities to tie your brand together and make it speak to your target audience.
Your target client has changed–or, you don’t really know who your target client is.

As time goes on, businesses change, grow and evolve. Perhaps you started out photographing families and seniors and everything in between, and now you specialize as a wedding photographer. Does your logo fit the vibe that brides today are looking for? Similarly, you could have started out with not much direction at all, and are looking to hone a broad range of skills into one that has a targeted, niche appeal. Your logo should reflect that. Part of our branding process is sitting down and discussing your unique focus, your goals for your business, and exactly who your target audience is–who they are, what they look like, what they love, and what they need from you. Once we have a plan together, we can build a logo that accurately reflects the message you’re hoping to convey about yourself and your business.

So, do you think you need a re-do on your branding? Let us know–we’d love to help! Contact us now and let us know what you’re looking for and we can set up a time to chat!