31 Jul, 2024
Graphic design and branding for an author and speaker's book proposal Keith had already spent years developing the content for his new book—now that it was ready to be sent to publishers, it's time to set up a brand kit to visually represent the content and make the proposal that much more effective! Step 1: Research the Existing Brand Identity Because Keith had been teaching and living the content of his new book for years, there is already a "brand" that exists: Keith himself! As a leader, preacher, teacher and coach, Keith has a strong identity with the people who already know him. It's my job to capture that and leverage it to help communicate who he is, and why his book will be worth publishing and distributing. I created a Brand Discovery Quiz that leads my clients through some questions that help us identify the positioning, tone, language, colors, fonts, and more that will help establish the visual identity and messaging for the brand. Taking my clients through the Brand Discovery Quiz is one of my favorite parts of this whole process. Not only does it challenge the way they've thought about communicating their work in the past, it also starts to help educate them about the ways different fonts, colors, and words communicate on a subconscious level. Some people may find the quiz a little more challenging than they expected, which is why I give them plenty of time to take the quiz before we move forward on the work. Step 2: Mini Style Guide After Keith completed the quiz, I took his answers and created a custom Mini Style Guide : a one-page document that establishes the colors, fonts, brand voice, and even photography and textures! I knew Keith wanted a fairly toned-down and professional color palette that looked kinda sleek but still approachable. I gave him simple-but-upscale fonts for his main titles and copy typography, but wanted to add an accent that would add some "passionate teacher" vibes. That's where the handwritten style font and yellow highlighter/marker texture came from! These added touches brought another layer of energy and authority, while keeping some fun in the mix. Side note... It's key to point out here that determining the "Voice" of the brand is just as important to this process as anything else; in fact, nailing the voice and positioning is a key part of picking out the fonts, colors, and visuals to begin with! People may think that the branding process is as simple as choosing a cute color palette or the most trendy fonts, but the best brands start a lot deeper, require time, research, and even basic understanding of psychology and marketing/communication to be as effective as possible. Without intentional goals, and a "why" behind each branding choice, a brand kit would just be a collection of hex codes and random vector files. But maybe that's a longer conversation for another day!
