Episode 57: Defining your Brand as a Designer

Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] This week we talk about how to successfully brand yourself as a designer
[1:30] Branding yourself is not as easy as it is doing branding work for a client
[2:00] It also raises endless questions
[2:40] Branding is how people perceive you and talk about you
[3:10] Tom asks the hosts to define their brands
[3:40] Lisa jokes about presenting herself as an illustrator in the past and not going so smoothly
[3:55] Dustin is not very happy either with his historically inspired designs description
[4:10] Ian’s description: “I design, draw and talk about letters” – inspired by Joan Gorman
[4:50] You need multiple variations of your branding for different platforms
[5:50] Tom describes how he introduces Design Cuts to non-designers
[6:20] A short, clear description would help others understand what you’re doing
[7:10] Dustin’s mum still doesn’t understand what he does and she doesn’t listen to the podcast either
[7:40] Tom’s mum is a regular listener and she loves Lisa
[8:20] Lisa finds it much easier to visually describe what she does
[9:10] Tom gives a few examples of corporate brand guidelines
[9:40] Consistency leads to successful brands
[10:10] Designers will spend more time on their design work, but not so much on designing their brand
[10:30] Quality and care are at the heart of the Design Cuts brand
[11:40] Dustin lists everyone’s website description
[12:15] A lot of thought went into the descriptions
[12:50] Ian finds it very difficult to choose a single style for his logo
[13:40] Lisa admits she struggles with designing her logo too
[14:10] It’s been an entire journey getting to where the brands are now
[14:45] The name ‘Retro Supply’ describes what the brand is and what it does
[15:30] It’s very hard to brand yourself as you’re too close to the brand and you want to add it all in
[16:15] Dustin asked Chris DeLorenzo’s help to design his brand
[16:45] Ian feels it’s a bit like cheating to ask another designer to help when you’re capable of doing it yourself
[17:20] Ian admits he struggles with writing his name in a logo, especially with the capital letter ‘I’
[17:50] Ask someone who knows you very well to validate if your brand represents you
[18:40] You should feel excited about your logo and using it
[19:30] Dustin suggest Ian and another hand letterer should create each other’s logo
[20:20] You need to define your audience before you can get started on defining your brand
[21:20] Branding is very important, especially if you want to be taken seriously
[21:50] But firstly you will need a functional website that highlights your work
[22:20] Don’t spend too much time on your branding exercise
[23:20] Ian’s face and hands are his brand – especially on social
[24:40] Tom suggests Ian should add a great review on his website
[25:20] Think what you’re using your website for and create your brand accordingly
[26:00] A brand is ever-evolving
[26:45] Tom’s example of how the random ‘Google’ name became so famous that it turned into a verb
[27:40] Tom lists all the changes that took place with the Design Cuts brand over the years
[28:20] He explains how he came with name Design Cuts
[29:45] What are the designer’s struggles when branding themselves?
[30:40] “A successful brand does not make a business, but it will put a successful business on steroids” – Tom Ross
[31:10] All the work that comes before it, makes the brand possible
[31:50] Get something out whatever it is, as that might not be your final brand
[32:15] Just start by pick a font and writing your name – you can make changes later
[33:00] Give yourself time to know your clients and learn about yourself
[34:00] Focus on getting started and not on making your website and your logo pretty
[34:45] Lisa got a clearer image of what she should include on her website later in time
[35:50] Her website would be different if her initial design projects were successful
[36:10] Tom asks the hosts to describe their design style in one word
[36:20] Lisa: “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, Tom’s word for Lisa: “whimsical” and Ian’s word: “cute”
[37:30] Tom’s word for Dustin: “authentic”, Lisa’s word: “juicy” and Ian’s word: “nostalgia”
[38:40] Tom highlights the struggle the hosts are having with describing each other in on word and points out it should be difficult
[39:00] Exercise this by writing down a lot of names that describe your brand
[39:30] Some words might be strong enough to summarise your entire brand
[40:15] The worst thing is when you have no ideas and you’re inconsistent with your brand
[40:50] Dustin describes the Design Cuts brand from the point of view of someone that know us very well
[41:20] The importance of transferable brands
[41:50] The true authentic personality behind a brand can be transferred to another brand
[42:30] You will feel when you found a brand that fits
[43:00] The hosts would like to revisit this topic in a follow up episode
[43:30] Tom suggests using a guide to take you through the process of developing a brand
[44:10] Do for yourself what you do for your clients
[44:20] Thanks so much for listening to this week’s episode