Awkward phases are normal… and so is growing out of them
I meet a lot of business owners who are embarrassed to tell me that they built their business with bare minimum or even non-existent branding.
My hot take: honestly, this is COMPLETELY ok.
Just like how the most fashionable person you know had to go through an awkward phase before defining their personal style, whether you saw it or not…
It’s normal and SMART to figure out what your business is and what it stands for BEFORE you commit to a brand identity and define its aesthetic.
Down the road, when you have an offer that sticks, a loyal audience, and you’re committed for the long haul, you’ll be ready to grow out of your awkward phase — and if you don’t, it can begin to hold you back.
Once you’ve found your perspective, values and vision, having an awkward, inconsistent visual identity starts to confuse your audience.
You have to create SOME visual consistency if you want your audience to SEE you as consistent!
Not to mention that you’re probably confusing yourself, too.
(Where’s that file with the color scheme I liked? *20 mins later* Now let me tweak it a little for this new thing… *35 more mins* Actually, I liked it better before…)
Defining your visual identity is easy to put it off. It’s just aesthetics, refinement, finessing, after all…
But, just like when you commit to a new style and give away all your old clothes that make you cringe… You’ve got to clean out your brand’s closet every few years, too!
So, when you realize that your closet is full of shitty fonts, stock photos you’re sick of, and 82 different shades of the same color… where tf do you start?
Here’s what I recommend: set aside ONE DAY to create your own makeshift brand guidelines. It will save you time for MONTHS to come.
Here’s how that might look:
Set aside a few hours or a day – feel free to plan it however you normally schedule (or spontaneously channel) content creation.
Collect all your content from the past week (newsletters, social posts, etc), your website, and any other brand representations your audience sees regularly.
Open a new document in your preferred design program.
Drop screenshots of ALL those pieces of content into the document.
Sample ALL of the colors from each source and place them on ONE page.
Screenshot ALL of the different fonts from all of your content and place them on ONE page.
What do you like? What do you not like? What have you outgrown? What feels exciting to lean into? EDIT.
Congratulations, you’ve made yourself brand guidelines. Keep it open while you're making content or print it out and keep by your workspace so you can refer back to it whenever you design something new!
Remember that the colors and fonts you select now don’t have to be forever — a brand will always evolve. The key is to keep it updated. Keep tweaking when you find the need to, and schedule a day to update it again next quarter.
I’d love to hear from you if you decide to try this! If you want a little extra accountability, let me know the date you plan to make your brand guidelines — and definitely send me your results!
