My Exact Branding Process, Revealed

I am so excited to pull back the curtain on my custom branding process.

My process has been developed over my 5+ years of business and I am proud to say that it works! My clients typically don’t ask for huge revisions or redos (although that happens in a very few cases!) and it’s a smooth process that gets results for my clients that include:

1. Increased confidence in their business
   Nicole says: “ I finally feel like my website and brand properly represent my work and my couples.”
2. The ability to book clients after a 20-30% increase in pricing
   Maeghan says: “I am attracting my ideal clients and booking them at a price point I’m excited about. My investment in rebranding with Lyra Studios was the best decision I’ve made for my business to date.”
3. Being seen as the experts in their industry they clearly are
   Christina says: “[my brand] gives me so much more confidence to show up as the professional I know that I am!”

…and more!

It is so important to me that my process serves my clients well at every step. This is why we start with brand strategy.

Brand Strategy – a strong foundation

It is sooooo tempting to want to jump right into stunning moodboards, beautiful colors, fonts, and graphics, but it’s SO important to start with “Why”.

Before we get into all of the fun visual elements, we want to establish a firm foundation that your brand can be built on. Chasing trends with no strategy will leave you wanting to rebrand over and over – and that’s a sure way to cause a lack of trust in your business as a whole. Consistency is one of the best ways to build trust, whether it be in your brand, your customer service, etc.

The first thing my clients receive after they sign their contract and pay their invoice is their Brand Strategy homework sent via Honeybook. It can feel overwhelming because they are fairly in depth, but my clients walk away with a better understanding of their intentions, goals, and vision for their business and it gives me as your brand designer a clear picture of who YOU are as a business and who your ideal client we’re trying to reach is.

Some info in those worksheets include things like:

Your why: Why do you do what you do? Why did you start? What lights you up and keeps you going when things get hard?

Your mission: WHAT are you doing and who is it for?

Your goals: What are you hoping to accomplish through your business? For your clients, and for yourself? What do you want your legacy to look like?

Your ideal client: Who is the kind of person you’re dying to work with? What do they like to do in their free time? What do they value? What are their goals in life and how does your service or product fit into those goals and serve them well?

…and more! I encourage my clients to not get overwhelmed and not overthink – your initial gut reaction to a question is typically the most true. 

I ask that this homework be done a week prior to the branding project start date along with a Pinterest board of visual inspiration. Try and focus on colors, patterns, textures, fonts and more aesthetics vs other designers logos or brand boards.

Research

Now that I have all of this important information, it’s time for you to live your life while I dive into your branding project.

Every project starts with lots and looooots of research. I research your competitors, your ideal clients, what your ideal clients are interested in, and even the area you are located in.

I carefully review your brand strategy worksheets and create an internal document to organize all of the information you’ve given me.

Design

*Finally* we get into visuals! I take all of my research and the info you gave me from your brand strategy worksheets and start working on a moodboard and color palette that capture the essence of the brand we’re striving to create.

Once I’m happy with the visual direction, I start testing and trying main logo fonts that support that direction. I sketch, draw, and rearrange until I develop a main logo, secondary logo, submark, and icon.

With logos designed, it’s time to work on a font palette for your website and marketing materials that will coordinate with your logo. I typically use a mix of free/paid fonts (usually not exceeding $30).

From there, I work on stationery pieces that I then create mockups of so you can see what your brand will look like in the real world.

Brand Presentation

With all of the design elements finalized, it’s time to put them together in a brand presentation.

I used to simply present a branding board with the logos, moodboard, and color palette, but I found that a branding board was insufficient to communicate the strategy behind the brand design.

For the past several years I’ve instead implemented a brand presentation. My brand presentations are around 25 page documents that explain in depth the reason behind my design decisions and how I believe they’ll represent your business well while attracting your ideal client.

They include 

1. Pages for your moodboard and color palette
2. A few pages for each type of logo explaining how they’re to be used, what design elements I’d like to draw attention to and why I chose them, and what they look like in different colors from your palette.
3. Your font palette
4. A comprehensive design application section. Design applications are meant to show your branding in context because your brand is more than a logo on a white piece of paper. This section includes mockups, your branding shown over images or on apparel/signage, and much more. 

Feedback + revisions

Once you receive your brand presentation, you have 48 hours to provide feedback about what’s working and what may not be working for you. You get two rounds of revisions for each item (logos, stationery, graphics if applicable) and this is typically more than enough for my clients.

Once you’re happy with every aspect of your brand design, it’s time to create your final files.

Final files + Brand Style Guide

At the conclusion of your project, I make final files for each logo type in various colors and file formats, along with your stationery with bleeds so they’re ready for print. 

Next, I create files to be used for launch, either in a reel/story size for instagram or a portrait post size – whichever you prefer.

Finally, I create your brand style guide. This is to help you stay on brand. Your brand style guide includes:

1. Your logos minimum sizes and how they should be used
2. Hex, cmyk, and rgb codes for your color palette
3. Font information including where to purchase/find and what size to use each heading/subheading/body font on your website.
4. Photography direction if applicable
5. Color usage – dos and don’ts
6. Brand application

All of these items get packaged in a zip file in organized folders:

Logos
Stationery
Mockups
Graphics (if applicable)
Launch

And there you have it! I’m also happy to answer any questions in the following weeks such as suggestions for Showit templates, font questions, and more.

Many if not most of my clients end up coming back for web design – custom or semi-custom! Web design includes one of my Showit templates, too.

If you’re interested in investing in this in depth process for your brand, I’d love to chat! Reach out today and let’s see if we’re a good fit.

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Lyra Studios creates purposeful brands for women in business so they can be recognized in luxury markets and build connection at every touchpoint. If you’re ready to ditch the DIY cycle and create a brand that will help your business grow, get in touch and let’s get started.