We had the pleasure of working with Brittany Harris at Princess University on some merchandise design for her first collection of apparel. Once we wrapped, she decided she was ready to take the plunge and invest in a Mini Brand.
As a refresher, our Mini Brand includes brand strategy, type selection, color palette, type set primary and secondary logos, a monogram, final files, and Branding Guidelines. Perfect for someone at the very beginning of their business who wants a strategic brand, but is not quite ready for all the bells and whistles quite yet. Someone who wants to start off on the right foot and not redesign their logo in Canva every 6 months.
When Brittany was ready to book, we start how we always do. Onboarding! During the onboarding process, we send our clients a few things:
Once the contract is signed, invoice paid, questions answered, and the meeting is scheduled, we have our 90-minute Branding Intensive Session. This is the most important part of branding a business. It is where we figure out what makes their business tick. Their why, mission, vision, and values. Their likes and dislikes. We go over who their dream client is. What their competition is doing and how they can stand out from the pack. The questionnaire and this session will directly inform their visuals.
Speaking of which, that’s the next step! We prepare 2-3 fully fleshed-out branding options to present as a first-round via video chat. Here’s what we came up with for Princess University:
After we present the first-round options, we send the client a feedback guide and let them sit on it for a week. Sometimes the first time you see your options you really resonate with one at first, but end up choosing another after thinking about it for a few days. We love it when our clients want to share their proposal with the world, but we ask them to hold until we have a final to avoid the Group Grope, when you get so many differing opinions that it clouds your judgment. We advise our clients to show the proposal to a select couple of people. Such as a spouse, parent, business partner, or best friend. Someone who knows the client inside and out, as well as their business.
Once the mulling has finished, the client can do two things: approve their final selection or make any edits they’d like to see. If they have any edits, it’s usually something like ‘We resonate with the colors from Option 1, but feel that the marks in Option 2 best align with our strategy.’
Brittany liked Option 2 the best but wanted to add in some of the sparkles we see in the other two versions to make it more magical. And we ended up here:
We have 2 rounds of edits to make those edits, if the client requires any additional work, that will be an extra charge. We want to make sure that we keep to the timeline and get settled on their final brand as efficiently as we can so they can start using it as soon as possible.
Once those edits have been finished up, we have final approval! YAY! We always have a few steps to complete before wrapping up a brand:
And that’s it! We absolutely loved working with Brittany again on this project, she’s such a great collaborator. Since then, she has released a second collection and is about to launch a third. Go check out her online store, they make perfect gifts for any pop culture lover!
We’ve loved seeing all the different ways Brittany has used the Princess University brand. We always feel like proud parents when we see past clients using their Branding Guidelines and creating amazing things with the designs we worked on together. It’s definitely one of the most rewarding parts of the job!
Are you ready to ditch the Etsy logo and invest in a well-rounded, strategic, aligned brand? Book a free Discovery Call with us today and we can find the best package for you and your business.
Until next time,