Hi there!
I recently re-branded and wanted to share my process with you! Maybe you’re reading because you’re interested in creating a brand for your business, or maybe you’re contemplating a re-brand – either way, I hope this series helps you! This is the first of a 4 part series on how I re-branded my photography business and what I learned. Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert, for that you need to check out Native State Design Co., but I wanted to share all I know.

So here we go – Part 1: The Concept.

A brand is an intangible thing – it’s a feeling, a look, the way someone recognizes you; It’s a concept, a notion, and recognition. Because a brand is such an intangible thing, it’s hard to imagine one sometimes. But it’s not impossible and there’s a lot of really great brands out there like: Starbucks, Target, and Anthropology. You get a feeling from all of these stores because of their brand. You look at a Starbucks and you know it’s a metro place you can go and hang out even if you’ve never been before. You look at a target and think it’s a clean, happy place to shop. You look at an Anthropology and you know its an urban, sophisticated clothing store. You’re able to deduce all these things because of the brand: a collection of colors, logos, pictures, surroundings, and vibes.

“When I began my re-branding process I was ready to establish Gold + Sage as a welcoming, ethereal, and simple creative studio. That was my concept and everything else flows from that.”

To me simple colors are black and white, so I incorporated a lot of white space into my website, logo, and my printed materials. I avoid colored fonts and blocks so that I can achieve a simple, clean look. Next is my style: ethereal. My photography and video style is romantic and moody; I play on the shadows rather than the light and capture raw emotion instead of posing my couples. I’m slowly building a photography and video style that is recognizable without someone seeing my name on an image or video. Lastly, I wanted to be welcoming and personal. I’m not the business, the business is me. When you read my blog, it’s me talking – when you visit my website I want you to feel like you’re hearing from me personally. I’m not a formal person, I’m a real person and when someone books with me, they’re booking with me not a business. So I say the silly things that pop into my head and I don’t always use perfect punctuation so that my posts read the way I want them to (and all the English majors cringe).

All of these things make a brand and consistency is key. For me that’s the hardest part! It means I don’t always get to post the cute thing my dog did on instagram (which is why I also have a personal account – for the not professional dog photos), but it means that the things I am posting are consistent with my brand. BTW: branding your instagram feed is SO HARD. Once I figure it out, I’ll let you know (which will be never, fyi). So in summary, know your concept before you begin. Do your research and determine the vibe you want to project – a great way to do that is to create an inspiration board on Pinterest or a physical one. Once you’ve nailed down the direction you want to go, start building your visuals like your logos, print materials, website, and Instagram feed.

Stay Tuned for part 2 next week: “DO IT.”

xoxo,

Gossip Girl

(Jk, it’s Sarah)