Original subtitles

Welcome to the second video on the topic

of branding.

This one is all about creating a solid

brief for your designer that ensures your logo

and branded design elements will fit with your

business and goals.

At this point you may be wondering, can

I design my logo and website and everything

else myself?

Well, would you tell a graphic designer that

they can shoot a wedding themselves?

It's unlikely, but possible, that you are good

at photography and graphic design.

If so, congratulations.

You're a unicorn.

For the rest of you, you'll want to

find a graphic designer you can work with

so that your visual brand design lives up

to all the work you did with your

brand strategy.

Does this mean you have to spend a

lot of money on a designer?

Well, maybe not.

If you know one or get introduced to

one, try suggesting a trade.

Designers need photographers, especially to document their work,

and possibly you can find one willing to

exchange services.

That being said, good design has value.

You invest in the best camera equipment.

Why not also invest in a solid design

foundation for your business?

Hiring a designer leaves more of your time

to do what you do best, run a

photography business, and create amazing photos.

So, what do you need designed?

Initially, you'll probably need a logo and three

to five branded design items to demonstrate the

brand.

These items could include your business card, Instagram

ad, price sheet, maybe a demonstration of your

homepage hero.

You can decide on the items that are

most important to you.

This will be a foundation that makes designing

new items easier because you have some reference.

You'll have to pass your wish list on

to the designer so they can give you

an estimate on the work, and you can

decide if you can afford them.

How do you know if a good choice?

The first step would be to look at

examples of their branding design work.

Do you like what you see?

If so, you can get an estimate and

see if you can afford them.

If that checks out, then you can move

on to the next test, which is telling

them what you want help with, and then

asking them what information they need to know

before starting.

Don't just tell them everything up front.

Asking them what they need to know will

reveal whether the designer has a good process

or whether they just rush into design work

without considering goals.

Would you trust a wedding photographer that doesn't

have any questions for the couple?

Probably not.

Before working on your visual brand, a designer

should ask you about these things.

Your brand strategy, which we reviewed in the

previous video, your target audience, your competitors and

peers, what's working and what isn't about your

current visual brand, and examples of visual brands

that you feel are a good fit.

Different designers might use different words for some

of these items.

That's fine.

As long as they touch on the main

points, you're good.

In simpler terms, the list is why your

company exists and what it does, who your

clients are, who your competitors are, what your

current brand is like, and what look and

feel are you after.

As long as they ask most of these

questions, you should be in good hands.

When you put all this information together, it

forms a brief.

A high-quality brief can make the difference

between getting what you need from your designer

and spinning your wheels getting nowhere.

Now, let's go through these one at a

time and help you pull the information together.

Brand strategy, we've already covered in the previous

video.

That brings us to your target audience.

Who are your current and ideal clients?

Think about demographic information like gender, age, relationship

status, income, location.

Also think about the problems they need solved

as it relates to your services.

If you need to break up your target

audience into more than one type, that's totally

fine.

This step is important.

If you don't know who you're talking to,

how do you know what you want to

say?

Here is a description of two men's target

audience.

I won't read it out to you, but

feel free to pause the video and read

it yourself, or check it out in the

worksheet.

It's worth pointing out that when they first

started out, this was not two men's target

audience.

They had to work up to that.

So just like some other brand strategy elements,

your target audience needs to be revisited regularly

to ensure it's still relevant and aiming just

a bit higher than your punching weight.

Next, we need to define who your competitors

are and what they are doing with their

visual brands.

Once you've done this, you'll know what your

brand needs in order to fit in enough

and stand out enough.

Here's how you can do it in four

steps.

First, create a list of known competitors.

This is important for you to do as

you understand who your competitors are, and a

designer won't.

These are businesses working in the same space

at the same level as you.

Next, research more competitors online.

This can include more well-known brands that

you aspire to compete with someday.

Your goal is not to be exhaustive, but

to identify the top five or so examples

for local, national, and international levels.

Then, organize screenshots.

Take screenshots of all your competitors' logos and

website homepages and assemble them all together, organized

by local, national, and international categories.

Lastly, observe and note insights.

What do we need in order to fit

in?

What do we need in order to stand

out?

What should we avoid?

Your designer should be able to help with

this part.

For example, maybe you've noticed that many of

your competitors use the same color or use

the same font.

Note these insights so you can take advantage

of them when working on the visual design

for your brand.

Now, let's figure out what's working and what

isn't about your current visual brand.

Have a look at your brand strategy work.

Write out your brand strategy attributes in big

letters on a piece of paper to keep

them top of mind.

Then, look at your current visual brand and

marketing materials.

Does it seem like a fit?

Does it need a tweak or does it

need an overhaul?

Be sure to also compare them to your

competitors.

Do you blend in too much or does

your brand stick out in a bad way?

You need to share these kinds of insights

with your designer.

We've finally arrived at the last item you'll

need for your brief.

Examples of visual brands that you feel are

a good fit with your brand strategy.

Usually, designers call this a mood board.

Just like you did with your competitive analysis,

you're going to take screenshots of logos, websites

or any other collateral that you find appealing

and that you think is an appropriate direction

for your brand.

Put all these images in one place so

you can see them all together.

There can be multiple directions on a mood

board.

Typically, they are broken into sections by theme.

Examples do not have to be from the

same industry as you.

Your designer should absolutely be finding and placing

examples on the mood board as well.

When complete, the mood board is a set

of directional possibilities for the visual brand and

ensures that you and your designer understand which

directions are desirable to pursue.

It also provides a reference for the designer

when working on next steps.

The point here is not to plagiarize or

copy other brands but rather to set the

visual tone that you're going for.

So, that's the entire list of things to

include in your brief.

I recommend you take a break from video

watching and create your brief before moving on

to the next one.

Once you've finished it, the toughest part of

your branding work is done.

And next, you'll get to design your visual

brand, which is the fun part.

Thanks for watching.