- You’re a year or two into business and you feel as if you’re still evolving.
- You have an ‘off-the-peg’ website and ideas for products, but you want something more professional and unique to stand out.
- You catch yourself comparing your brand with other peers who may be at different stages in their business journey.
- You want to bridge the gap between amateur and a fully defined brand.
Sound familiar?
Yes, I have been there and I completely resonate with your plight.
You could even go on to say that there is an imperative expectation that I should already have a distinct brand identity, as my work is Illustration and Website Creation.
Here’s the thing, I am 18 months into my business and I still feel that I am growing and evolving with no definite brand identity. Yep!
Yet, you arrive at my website and perhaps like its style and hopefully feel at home and comfortable.
How do I create a unique brand identity?
Well, I will let you in to my secret.
I have thrown out the idea of a formulaic approach to branding. After all, there is plenty of information out there on how to get it right and how to get it wrong–often conflicting, right?
Well, personally, it sends my head into a spin and stops my creativity in it’s tracks.
Why on earth do we put pressure on ourselves to know exactly what our brand identity is when we are so new in business?
So I ditched the formulas.
I feel the more nourishing way to look at branding (Why I don’t like this word anyway) is by thinking like a plant! Yes, a plant! I am so in love with the idea of ‘A Living Brand’ that I have just finished producing a Deck of 52 Plant Ally Cards for daily inspiration and support.
For example (based on the explanation by the plant expert Craig Holdrege):
“A plant growing up through a crack in the pavement is embedded in a world of relations where it’s roots grow downward toward the centre of the earth. They explore and transform the soil while drinking up water and a fine array of minerals. The shoot and leaves grow in the opposite direction upward into the air and light. The leaves open themselves to these elements and take them in. The plant brings the stream of water and minerals from the soil together with the air and light, and in its unassuming way does something miraculous– it creates its own living substance…Living out of this embeddedness in the environment, the plant grows and transforms according to its own inner pattern and yet adjusts itself at all times to what it takes from the environment.”
This means the small and compact dandelion growing up through the crack may be strikingly different from one growing effusively as a ‘weed’ only a few feet away in a flower bed.
Even though the plant is not mobile in the sense that a human is, it is dynamic, connected, resilient and, in its ever-changing life, always in relation to the world into which it grows and evolves.
Why can’t we be like that?
Why can’t our brand identity be like that?
Food for thought…
3 tips to help get you started:
- We ebb and flow in our business and we are constantly adapting and evolving depending on our context. Become a plant-like thinker. Let go of the idea of formulaic advice about logos, set typography and colour psychology. Imagine the flexibility of thought gained if our ideas were no longer rigid and static, but were boldly expected to grow, transform and, when necessary, die away. What if our branding grew out of context-sensitive relations to the world we inhabit? How liberating is that!!!
- Think of, say, your website design as a basic blank canvas foundation. Keep headers clean and simple and set up your website or resources with an emphasis on user experience.
- Think about the visuals/ornamentals of your website or e-resource as pictures hanging on your walls. Put in images that capture your mood and thinking as it is right now. Of course, they can be swapped around and changed as you evolve. You have A Living Brand! Perhaps think about some original pieces of artwork/illustrations that feel resonant with you…;)
So, think like a plant!! A Living Brand…
Over to you
How does that sound?
Does the idea of A Living Brand feel more uniquely expansive, than a typical formulaic brand identity? I would love to know what you think.
Oh and also
If you like the idea of being supported by Plants, then perhaps my 52 Plant Ally Deck is a nice little adjunct to help you think more like a plant and tap into their wisdom. The sample cards have gone to the printers, so if you would like to be informed when they are available to buy, then click on this link to register your interest.
Let’s start a Plant Living Brand Revolution!
I can really identify with the idea of a living brand. And it certainly feels a more attainable goal, as you say, why put yourself under the pressure of coming up with an identity very early on in business life. I do believe though, that you should establish your company VALUES very early on as it is these that will be the moral compass for you.
Loved the images that accompany this great blog post.w
Oh yes Shari, I like that…establishing core values is so important whilst giving space around them to breathe and evolve. Thank you ;)))
I really love your summary of a living brand – and I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been through a re-branding/re-naming as I acquired more skills, and thanks to you, am now on my 3rd luscious website in 10 years – because like a lotus, as I have more firmly established my roots, my petals have really started to unfold and open more, unveiling my true colours and flavours.. and I have no doubt that this live process will continue 🙂
Helen Rebello recently posted…Embrace your Cave – How to Avoid Overwhelm in January
Yes…you are a perfect example of a Living Brand and you have the flexibility to change the art hanging on your online walls should you wish to change the flavour ;0)) xxx
I really love this blog Lisa, and the idea that my brand identity can evolve as both I and my business do.
Using your ideas & Helen’s I’ve put down roots and a few petals have come out but they’re not yet 100% sure exactly who they are yet.
And your images are just beautiful Lisa,
Lesley Pyne recently posted…5 ways to slay the Dementor
Thank you lovely Lesley… I would like to think you can hang those beautiful images on any online wall and we can also tweak the colour if you ever change your feelings towards them etc ..;) You are a transforming brand ;))
Wonderful post, Lisa, and ‘A Living Brand’ – what a beautiful analogy.
As human beings, we’re constantly growing and evolving, so having an authentic brand that reflects where we are for now but is flexible enough to change and evolve with us, is a fabulous idea.
Love your illustrations too – just had to hop over to my site to make sure my e-pictures can be swapped around/changed as I evolve, and I think I’m ok. That’s not something I would have thought of though when the site was re-done recently.
Your clients are very lucky people.
Linda Anderson recently posted…Tapping audio to stretch time
Ah yes Linda!! You do have A Living Brand 😉 Thinking like a plant loosens the struggle we can have to get things right off the bat… and it frees up our thinking…For example, my website is targeted at women, yet I am getting enquiries to do work for men …it would be tougher if I had logos and things all locked into my website theme that was only for female clients…it would be tougher if I thought I had decided finally on my niche and was unable to let go and open up to other opportunities to thrive ;))) Thanks for commenting x
Totally agree with you Lisa and all the other commenters about a living brand. Nothing is ever static and I am currently on my third website for my business, and in the process of changing the copy, images and tweaking the layout. We grow and evolve and our business and personal branding needs to work hard to keep up and reflect those changes. Brilliant suggestion too to keep a blank canvas and chop and change as and when. Bit like how I move my furniture around and pictures on the wall 🙂 It’s ideal to have websites and blogs that grow and evolve with us without costing a small fortune every time. And go with what feels right at that point in time. There’s no right or wrong way but what works for us and our people is a great place to start.
Melanie Mackie recently posted…Are You Ready to Flourish With Me?
Yes Melanie and you have first hand experience of the struggle your clients can have with thinking about their brand identity… I love how your business has evolved into a petite and boutique-type…it is unfolding and a fabulous example of an evolving brand ;)) thank you…