Brand Lite

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Continuously refining who I am, before defining my brand and aesthetics.

Hey, Cozy Friends!

This week has been exciting developing and refining a brand book (guideline) for my current personal brand. Over the years, I have had several visual styles and aesthetics that I have gravitated to and identified with. After years of working as a designer and developing brands, I can say that my personal style has further continued to refine and align with a more warm, crafted, and timeless aesthetic.

Before jumping into content creation (which I have been experimenting with these past few weeks), I have been setting up accounts and simple systems in the background to make the branding, operations, and marketing of the business smooth and sustainable. With so many accounts to manage and tools to set up and learn, it was easy to accumulate notes, documents, and Pinterest photos until it was time to review and translate all of this information into a cohesive and comprehensive brand.

To be fair, this is sometimes the most challenging yet exciting aspect of the brand development process: getting clear, focused, and intentional with the brand story, purpose, and visuals so they all holistically make sense and strengthen one another. This pruning and curating process filters all elements and decisions through a lens that helps the business stay relevant, authentic, and high quality. Once essential elements of a business such as product/service details, goals, and marketing pillars are clear, the brand story and aesthetics are then designed to visualize the brand’s world and attract ideal customers that wish to explore and engage in it.

Intentional Storytelling

I sense that we are at a point in our modern world where we do not want to be sold and advertised to all the time. From luxury brands to staple brands we love and use in our daily lives, the use of our technology and social media make it easier for us to be in contact with ads, influencers, promotions, and products. For smaller, newer brands and startups (like me) leveraging social media to share and market business has allowed global access to connect and commerce with anyone and everyone.

So being marketed something to buy online is nothing new. What I see is becoming an expectation in online marketing is that we are not only on the lookout for items and products to buy, but to connect, share stories, and get behind something or someone to support and align with. That is why I think designing a brand with a story, a personality, a human or team of humans is so important to stand out in a time of AI content and marketing. I find it interesting that AI is great in strategizing, organizing, and optimizing, but not always in feeling and deciphering emotions, sensibilities, and taste which is what drives distinction and intentionality for us as humans. At the end of the day, we connect as humans: we share stories, experiences, and opinions.

So telling our stories, as a brand, business, or as an individual is still simply sharing your thoughts, feelings, and emotions. We let others share their stories or give us feedback. We adjust or stay true to what we think and feel. When I look at these simple interactions, this is us as humans gaining knowledge and experiences while making opinions, decisions, and at times problem solving, learning and growing. What we identify with and value stays with us and we seek deeper connections and alignment to those values.

Know thyself, know thy brand.

Developing a personal brand has been a process that I have done many times over in my design career. I think it has been challenging at times because I am always growing and learning. I get exposed to different brands, aesthetics, visuals, and vibes, that exploration and experimentation is never-ending. Perhaps it is the time in my life, as a wife and becoming a mother, that I am becoming more conscious and deliberate with what I value, identify and align with. This process of reflecting on my why and how that feels and what that looks to me, what I envision, has made this round of brand development very exciting and such a pleasure.

I feel like I am settling into a version of myself that I am at peace with. This may be strange to say for someone my age (early 30’s) and it doesn’t mean that I have stopped growing and won’t change anymore. It just feels like I have a strong foundation of self, (I know myself and who I am and I love her very much), that the brand story and visuals that I am designing and presenting really are Patricia. And that makes me feel very happy, calm, and grateful.

I think if you are developing a personal brand or business, there is value in putting yourself and your humanness into the mix of your brand story and marketing. Your thoughts, opinions and personality is what makes you unique. It’s interesting how bigger brands leverage micro influencers and smaller creators to connect with audiences today. There is a growing sense that storytelling should be intentional, relevant, and intimate. Influence is no longer held just by creators on social media, legacy media, political figures, industry experts, celebrities or AI, but through our family, friends, and our own experiences and tastes.

Growing from within.

These weekly blogs have been an outlet for me to reflect and express my thoughts and feelings about branding, design, and social media marketing as well as personal growth and life. I find it so interesting. I’m sure I can get AI to write up a highly optimized blog piece that can help me grow my followers and showcase my authority in the design and creative field in a few minutes, if not seconds. But I am starting to see that that is not how I want to grow this brand or myself as a person.

There will always be many tools, platforms, and opportunities to market. I plan to keep this Life Lately blog as an online diary to connect to myself and share my inner thoughts and feelings with other cozy creatives and friends like you. Thank you all for the support and keeping up with me. See you next Friday!

– Sincerely, Pat