When I finished semester 1 I made a blog post talking about how I wanted to improve at getting more first hand research- access that blog post here. With the current situation that is happening around the world I have still found it difficult to get first research but I am trying to read more books and get off screen inspiration. So for first hand research I have decided to read the book below recommended by Daniel and I have included my thoughts and opinions on it.
Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler
This book is divided into 3 parts and within them the author highlights the key elements that make up a brand and describes in detail, the process of how to create each and the best approaches to take, within this book the author gave real life examples of these elements in real life which I felt was a beneficial addition. I have made a few notes on the chapters regarding touchpoint of a brand that I found very helpful for me as a designer and for the development of my personal brand.
Phase 4: Creating touch points
The book looks at each of the following touchpoints of a brand in detail-
- Packaging
- Website
- Signage
- Product design
- Advertising
- Vehicles
- Uniforms
- Stationary
- Ephemera
Below I have included some of the elements and touchpoints that concern my personal brand and I need to take into consideration at this present time.
Stationary- Business card
I took a look at the stationary section of developing a brand and the process of how to create the best business card.
A good business card is like a kick-ass tie; it won’t make you a better person, but it’ll get you some respect.
Sean Adams
Founder- Burning Settlers Cabin
I wasn’t quite aware of the still very current need for business cards and how they can actually gain more respect for your brand as they are a design touchpoint that will never go out of fashion and will always be appreciated by customers, this is beneficial for me to know and remember for the future. The above process regarding business card design really helped me to develop my business card into a more modern and overall better version, and I am very happy with my final business card outcome.
“A brand becomes stronger when you narrow the focus.”
Al Ries and Laura Ries
Packaging
Packaging isn’t something that I need at this very moment but it is something fun to think about and it can be very experimental and is something that I want to consider in the near future, the below screenshot is of the process of how to create packaging for a brand. I have found from reading this book that there are lots of lists and examples throughout which has been great for quick digestion, and this packaging section is definitely a section that I want to revisit.
Packaging is the most potent blend of brand story with customer behaviour.
This quote stood out to me as I wasn’t quick aware of how important packaging of a brand could actually be, this got me thinking about packaging, what packaging will I need, how I could create visually appealing packaging for personal brand and how I can incorporate my 5th elements and visual marques into my letters, envelopes, portfolio folder etc.
Ephemera
What is Ephemera?
According to this book Ephemera is simply just stuff!
This section caught my eye and when I saw the extensive list of items I had to read more! Ephemera can be a fun and playful aspect and physical touchpoint to a brand and this chapter definitely opened my eyes and gave me some very unique and inspiring ideas that I could consider playing around with in the future. The author included a long list of examples from pencils to sofas, from ordinary to random and I actually wasn’t aware of how wide the range of items could be!
I read this extensive list and made some notes on the ideas that I think would suit my brand and could be possible ideas for me to venture down in the future.
What did I learn?
As a beginner in branding and businesses this book gave me a nice overall view into the field and it covered aspects of business that I have found very beneficial. From looking at the individual touchpoints that are of concern to me and my brand I have definitely picked up some good tips and quick lessons on each as they are explained and described quickly and clearly; I am more aware of how to develop them into solid and well designed elements for my brand. There are chapters of this book that I will definitely reference back to in the future when the time comes for me to eventually create them.
A big message that I got from this book and about how to design a personal brand is to:
-to create a good brand I need to Unify, Simplify and Amplify my work and the secret to great work is passion, persuasion and perseverance.