Your Brand Story

If you’ve started a brand, there is a story worth telling.

While it’s tempting to focus on visuals when crafting a brand, there needs to be a few anchor points behind the scenes, that keeps it congruent over time.

They should be kept simple. The more words, the less likely you will actually refer back to it. Here are a few key points.

Keep it in one place

Make a single text document in the editor of your choice, and make it your own brand bible. Change it as you grow, but don’t split it into a bunch of different files. You want things simple and manageable.

What should it contain

Slogan

If you had only 1–2 sentences to describe your entire brand. What would it be. This is a great thing to start the document with.

Customer avatar

Building a customer avatar is immensely helpful. It is very simple. Answer the question: Who is the ideal fit for my product.

How you write it I will leave up to you, but imagine the person, and how your product contributes to their well being or solving their problem. By the way, this is easiest if you’ve made something that you like yourself — which is most often the case. Then simply try to define why you like it/need it, and put up some guard rails on your ongoing branding journey.

Guidewords

A few words to describe the aesthetic, or the emotions you want your brand to express. Now we’re talking about inner working behind the visual expression of your brand.

If this is properly in place, it is way easier to build your logos, colors and imagery around that.

Action points

• Write a single textdocument with a slogan, a customer avatar, and a few guidewords.