Consistent and recognisable branding is key to a successful business. It helps build a connection and sense of authority with your audience, which ultimately increases your likelihood of getting clients, collaborations and other amazing opportunities.
Creating your branding visuals can seem overwhelming, so we have put together a few top tips to help you nail your brand design and photography!
Hannah’s Tips for Brand Design
Don’t overcomplicate it
This is the number one mistake I see. And I see it a lot! Overcomplicating your design is a big no no. Keep your branding as simple as possible – less content with a beautiful design will be so much more impactful than too much content at the expense of design. We love ‘white space’. It creates room to breathe and draws the eye to what’s on the page. Simplicity is important in every aspect of your brand identity, from your logo, to your social content, to your website. Less really is more!
Be consistent
Once you’ve mapped out your brand look and feel, stick to it. You want your brand to be memorable, and brand awareness is built when your audience sees the same elements over and over again. Have a set of colours, fonts and patterns and weave them into all of your marketing and communications. Your brand tells a story, and every aspect of your brand should fit together to create that. Things don’t have to look identical, but if you lay them side by side, they should feel like a set.
You can have more than one logo
In fact, I’d actually recommend it! The ‘don’t overcomplicate it’ rule definitely comes into play here. Your main (primary) logo should be simple, beautiful and bold. Fussy logos cause problems later down the line when you’re putting images or patterns behind them. If your primary logo is long and thin, it’s okay to create a ‘stacked’ version of it too. That means putting the logo elements on top of each other rather than side by side. You can also have a logo element or a logo icon. These could be used at smaller sizes, or in situations when your full logo is not required.
Get help from a pro
I cannot stress enough how valuable it will be for your brand to bring a designer on board, and not just because I am one. The great thing about brand design is that once it’s set up and looking gorgeous, you can then take those elements and do the work yourself! A good designer will take that into consideration and happily set up templates in free programmes like Canva, and provide guidance on how to best use the fonts and colours they’ve selected.
Ellie’s Tips for Brand Photography
Get clear on your brand values
Knowing your top 5 brand values is key to creating authentic and relevant photos for your business. When you come to plan the images you want for your website and social media content make sure you refer back to these values and consider how you can portray them. If you’re unsure of how to portray a core value through an image, get in touch with me and I’d be happy to offer some ideas.
Work with a branding photographer (and one that you actually like)!
It’s no secret that smart phones take really good photos now, but I still highly recommend working with a branding photographer if you can. This will not only give you high quality images (better than any smartphone can produce), but also clarity around what kind of imagery will work best for your brand, support with planning your images, knowledge of the best locations, someone to give you ideas and direct you in the photos, all the photos edited for you, and hopefully even a new friend and someone to refer people to your business!
When looking for a photographer (hey!), choose someone based on how they make you feel and whether you like their work. If you like your photographer as a person and they make you feel comfortable, it will make the process easier and your photos will naturally look more authentic.
Plan your photos and communicate this with your photographer
I ask all of my clients to create a mood board before we shoot together and send over a list of any specific images they know they want. This helps me to understand the images you want to create and also gives you clarity around what you want your brand to portray visually and why. I love Pinterest, but there are lots of platforms you can use so find one that works for you! This step is absolutely crucial to make sure you are happy with your photos. Photographers are awesome, but we’re not mind readers and we can’t create your vision without ideas from you and clear communication.
Be yourself
Spoiler alert: you can be yourself in your photos! You don’t have to go and buy a whole new wardrobe and do your hair completely differently. In fact, this might just leave you feeling uncomfortable and unhappy with the outcome. Being comfortable and feeling like YOU is the most important factor in getting photos you are happy with. Don’t copy what other people have done in their photos just because you feel it’s what you ‘should’ do, what feels authentic to them might not feel authentic to you!
Our final tip!
Make sure your brand photography and design work well TOGETHER. You may have a beautiful logo and brand design, as well as professional images that show your personality, but if you haven’t thought about how they come together, you could be left disappointed with the end result. This is why we, Hannah & Ellie, have come together to offer you full-service brand design and photography packages. If you book a full-service package, we will liaise with each other throughout the process to ensure your brand visuals work together perfectly. If our offer might be for you, fill in our enquiry form here: https://bit.ly/fullserviceenquiry
If you’re interested in working with either of us individually, you can also email us directly.
ABOUT US
Hannah Pellatt (Brand Design) | hannah@hannahpellatt.com | @hannahpellatt
Ellie Jade (Brand Photography) | ellie@ellie-jade.com | @iamelliejade
Hannah has been a graphic designer since she graduated back in 2014, and has worked for several visual and communications agencies. She has worked with a huge variety of clients, from finance and tech, to health and wellness! Hannah loves a challenge, has impressive attention to detail, and is great at making your vision into reality.
Ellie is a personal branding and lifestyle photographer with several years of experience photographing top creative and wellness professionals for their businesses. She is an expert at making those who are anxious about having a photoshoot feel comfortable and authentic in front of the camera. You can see some of her work in her lifestyle and branding portfolio here.
Both Hannah and Ellie are also certified transformational coaches and are passionate about mental health and wellbeing, meaning they have a deeper understanding of how to best support you through the process of creating your brand identity, and make the experience as positive and stress-free as possible.
