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I write to you today with the most humble of offerings — a list of a few graphic design mistakes I have made myself over the years. They’re the simplest of things that make all the difference when you’re creating any kind of designs for social media or digital platforms. Now, you may not even […]

One of the best parts about crafting a Tiny Brand is how fast they come together. Because it’s curation and not custom design, the time commitment and investment is much less than the traditional brand identity design process. I love demonstrating this during my Watch Me Craft events. You get to see the curation process […]

A Tiny Brand case study featuring Macaulley Whitlock!

Mac is a dear friend from way back in college. I asked her many of the questions I ask my clients, taking into account what I know about her from our decade-long friendship like her love for cats, travel, and aesthetically pleasing workout outfits.

Here’s what we came up with for her Tiny Brand.

You guys. My favorite topic. Design software and all the fun designy things.

Below is a comprehensive list of what I currently use, have used, tried, and love for creating everything from simple social media graphics and newsletters to logos and full visual identities for brands.

The jargon out there for branding is…extensive. There are lots of terms, people use them in different ways, and many times use them incorrectly. I have been guilty of this as well in the past, but it’s nothing a little education can’t fix!

Here are the terms you need to know if you’re planning to build a business that tells your story, invites your audience into a community, and creates an impact in the lives of others.

The essential question that every brand answers is “Who are we to our customer?”

Each aspect of your brand, from your mission and vision, core values, and products or services to your visual assets, website, social media style, etc. should help answer that question.

You are in business because you want to make an impact on someone, right? It doesn’t matter whether the impact is large or small — any transformation you’re offering in the life of your customer is a big deal. And ultimately, you want the visual expression of your brand to truly represent what that transformation looks like and feels like to your customer.

So, how do we craft a brand to communicate that impact?

I met Megan through our work together at hope*writers. She is the current Social Media and Launch Manager, so we’ve worked closely right from my onboarding on social graphics and establishing the new hope*writers brand throughout social media. I quickly learned what a valuable asset Megan is to the HW team — it’s no surprise that her social media expertise has grown the hope*writers accounts to nearly 40k followers over the last two years.

In her own work, she’s growing a business as the go-to social media marketer for simple and streamlined systems. One glance at her Instagram account and you know straight away what kind of marketer she is: authentic and real, entertaining, and unafraid to show up and encourage you to do the same.

In this case study, I’ll walk you through how we put together the Megan Ericson brand from inspiration to the final product and how it’s functioning in the world right now.

A common problem I see in DIY branding (my own stuff from the past included) is a focus on color and fonts as a means to an end rather than an opportunity to showcase your expertise. Choices are made for colors and fonts based on what is likable without much thought given to how it will be perceived by clients and customers.

Personally, I think branding is so frickin’ cool because it gives you the opportunity to create an *instant* connection with your audience. They’ll know within the first few seconds of looking at your IG feed or website if they want to spend time learning more about you.

Take advantage of those first few moments of interaction with your audience and make sure your visuals match the first impression you want to be giving off — an impression of expertise, the ideal solution to their problem.

I’ll kick this off with a quick personal story: When I first started brand design, I was working on my music duo’s brand, The OK Factor. We had zero strategies for our designs — in all honesty, we just wanted them to look professional so people would take us seriously. The result was a brand that was focused on us and who we were, rather than speaking to our audience and inviting them into a musical relationship.

We didn’t know there’s a difference between design that works and design that converts. Our designs ‘worked’ in that they looked fine and convinced people we were ‘professionals,’ but people always asked, but, like, who are you? What do you sound like?

Embarking on a rebrand or establishing your brand identity for the first time can feel like a daunting process, but my job as your designer is to provide encouragement and support through the design process as we craft this new identity together.