Brand development is one of the more creative projects that we, as a marketing firm get to do. It has become a bit of a competition in our office! With multiple in-house designers, we are able to create and present a wide variety of brand development designs with our process. To brand a business, a client is able to work with us through multiple rounds of revisions until we’ve nailed down their ideal new brand!
Our latest brand development project at Storm Cloud Marketing was to rebrand Mid America RV, an RV dealership and service center, in Carthage, MO. The new brand pays homage to the original branding of the company from 2005, which had become outdated and was in need of a refresh.
So, what is the first step?
Talk With Client
The first step is to talk with the client. In this case, we knew that the original brand would be the baseline, but there were still some questions that needed answering. The most common questions we have, whether we are rebranding or branding from scratch, are:
- Are there any colors that you are looking to use or not use?
- Is there a certain type of font that you prefer?
- Is there any certain feeling that you want your brand to portray?
- Would you like the branding to strictly be word graphics or would you like to include other elements like an emblem or badge?
- Do you have any examples of brands that you like?
Our client asked for a modern look while the main color palette of their current brand.
Our graphic designers certainly like their creative freedom when it comes to branding and logo creation, however, with answers to these basic questions, we can get closer to hitting the nail on the head in the first round.
Brand Design Options
The next step is to have our designers take direction and go to work creating the first set of logo and color palette options.
Within a few days, each of the in-house graphic designers submits their designs for internal review. We review all the designs as a team and combine them for a side-by-side comparison to send to the client.
As you can see below, these four different design styles, all created by different graphic designers, present a wide range of options for the client to choose from.
We ask our clients for feedback on which designs they like, what are they drawn to, etc. Typically in this stage, we remind clients that anything is possible. If you like one element from one design and want to see it with another color and a particular font, all from different designs, it can be done!
After we’re armed with this feedback, our designers revisit their work and make revisions.
Step 3
Our client liked 2 very different designs and wanted to see an option with the bear incorporated into the more modern version. They also liked the introduction of a new gray color into the color palette. After some discussion, it was decided that the bear fit better as a side element and to move forward with the modern version.
Now it’s time to make more edits and send new designs back to the client for review.
Can see the theme here? Design, send for feedback, tweak, send for more feedback, tweak, send again…
Final Tweaks
At this point, by working together, our designers and the client have nearly reached the final logo and color palette! After several rounds of feedback and revisions and feedback and revisions, we have narrowed down the primary logo and can begin to make final tweaks and decide on variations.
For this round, we reverted to the cleaner look of the original design but still wanted to present the option to incorporate fun elements, like the bear and the trees, into alternate versions so the client could see how versatile this brand could be.
As the logo became more and more defined, one more small request was made to see a version with a camper element in place of the bear. Bingo! With our client’s blessing, the last step is to create a full brand guide based on the approved logo designs and color palette.
Brand Guide Creation
We provide our client with a full multi-page brand guide which includes instructions for your brand and defines the core identity, primary, secondary and tertiary logo variations and usage instructions, color palette and graphic elements, typography, voice and tone guidelines and imagery suggestions.
A brand guide is an important tool for ensuring that all of your business-related items are cohesive and that they represent your business in the appropriate way. Keep your brand guide on hand for when you work with any marketing firm or designer to help speed up the design process and ensure consistency, no matter who you are working with.
View our final multi-page Brand Guide for Mid America RV.
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