Branding Your Business
By Nick May
Owner of Walls by Design
The first thing that usually comes to mind when branding is mentioned is a logo and name. These are integral parts of your brand, but there is so much more when you brand your business.
But before we get into all that let’s talk about what branding is. A brand is the perception that a client has when they think about your business. So that means you need to think about what you want your clients to think and feel when they see your brand. This goes beyond your logo and your business name. It is the feeling that your brand evokes. Your brand should represent your aesthetic as a designer and it should also fit with who your clients are. As designers we know well how colors can affect our moods and how fonts can evoke specific emotions– this applies to your branding as well.
Some important questions to ask yourself when branding your business are:
- Who are you? What is your style? What does your business do? What is your area of expertise?
- Who are your ideal clients? What type of person is your ideal customer and what is their budget?
When thinking about your own personal style you must decide what design style fits you best. Are you colorful? Dark and moody? Bright and clean? Rustic? The list goes on. This will help you determine what colors and fonts you want to use.
Now, let’s get into specifics, the main areas of branding include:
- The name of your business
-This should represent your business – what you do and who you work with. - Logo
– Color and font are very important here.
-Simplicity can go a long way for a logo – think simple and something easy to remember. - Color
– Color is oh so important in the interior design industry.
-Color should match your aesthetic and work well with what your ideal customer is looking for. - Consistency
-Consistency across all marketing, advertising, business documents, social media and your website is key to creating your brand.
– Your logo and colors should be on all of your content to create a cohesive look so that when a client sees your content, they know immediately that it is your work.
When branding your business, it is so important to understand who you are as a business owner, what your goals are and who you want to be working with. If you brand your business properly you will attract the kind of clients that you want to work with, the people who share your vision and aesthetics and are willing to pay for it. So, get creative and really dig deep to find out who you are as a designer and what you want your brand to say about you.
Looking for more ideas on branding your business? Check out this blog post, Is Your Brand Cohesive.
Nick May is the host of a widely acclaimed interior design podcast, The Chaise Lounge, dedicated to the business of interior design. Each week he interviews top designers from across the globe to find out how they got into interior design, why they started their firm, and what has made them so successful.
