Process

Brand Strategy & Design by Justin Trammell

Brand strategy and design elevate the perceived value of your business and help you connect with your target audience.

At Brand Mountain, the process is centered around YOU. I want to understand your business, your vision, your challenges and your dreams for the future. We will work together to identify objectives and outcomes in a creative brief that will organize and drive the creative process. Design decisions, feedback and revisions will all be tied back to this strategy-driven brief so that we don't lose sight of the summit along the way!

Your ascent starts here.

BASE CAMP

The project begins with a conversation about your brand. You talk, I listen. Tell me about your vision for your company and where you hope to be in ten years. Then we can talk about what is standing in your way and how to overcome those obstacles. This is the first step in strategy-driven design. Next, I will conduct some market research to further support the information gathered during our initial conversation. The scope of the research depends on the client, but I always take a look at things like market conditions on both your competitors and any “big brother brands” that can serve as a model for best-practice in your industry. The result is a strategy-driven creative brief: an agreement between the client and the designer that will guide the design decisions made throughout the process. A creative brief usually includes an overview of the business, goals and objectives for the project, market analysis (audiences and competitors), and the parameters (timeline, deliverables, etc.) for the finished product.

CAMP 01

Time to design! Using the creative brief we setup at Base Camp, I will begin exploring a variety of design directions. I will typically present 1-3 designs to you for feedback. If a client wants to pay more to have several more ideas they can, but this is rare. Because the designs are created using our strategy-driven creative brief, it is common for a single direction to present itself and receive approval early in the process. Your feedback here is very important. Please refer to the creative brief when considering revisions. When the process is driven by an agreed upon strategy, there are rarely major objections.

CAMP 02

Taking the feedback from the initial presentation at Camp One, I will make strategy-driven revisions to create what typically ends up being the final design. Presentations are created and shown either as a PDF file or a slideshow for discussion. I will include mock-ups to show you how a logo or identity looks in context, such as on signage, stationery, uniforms, vehicle graphics, etc. Further revisions beyond the parameters of the creative brief can be requested for an additional charge, however, this is rare.

SUMMIT

We have reached the top! The roll-out of your new identity depends on the scope of the creative brief and there are a variety of services that I can provide to make sure that you feel confident and prepared to fully implement the identity. For example, if you have multiple offices nationally or internationally, a style-guide can be created for distribution across locations to ensure consistent application of visual standards. I am always available for questions regarding brand strategy and design implementation so please do not hesitate to ask. 

You can’t beat the view from the top! 

BASE CAMP

The project begins with a conversation about your brand. You talk, I listen. Tell me about your vision for your company and where you hope to be in ten years. Then we can talk about what is standing in your way and how to overcome those obstacles. This is the first step in strategy-led design. Next, I will conduct some market research to further support the information gathered during our initial conversation. The scope of the research depends on the client, but I always take a look at things like market conditions on both your competitors and any “big brother brands” that can serve as a model for best-practice in your industry. The result is a strategy-driven creative brief: an agreement between the client and the designer that will guide the design decisions made throughout the process. A creative brief usually includes an overview of the business, goals and objectives for the project, market analysis (audiences and competitors), and the parameters (timeline, deliverables, etc.) for the finished product.

CAMP 01

Time to design! Using the creative brief we setup at Base Camp, I will begin exploring a variety of design directions. I will typically present 1-3 designs to you for feedback. If a client wants to pay more to have several more ideas they can, but this is rare. Because the designs are created using our strategy-driven creative brief, it is common for a single direction to present itself and receive approval early in the process. Your feedback here is very important. Please refer to the creative brief when considering revisions. When the process is driven by an agreed upon strategy, there are rarely major objections.

CAMP 02

Taking the feedback from the initial presentation at Camp One, I will make strategy-driven revisions to create what typically ends up being the final design. Presentations are created and shown either as a PDF file or a slideshow for discussion. I will include mock-ups to show you how a logo or identity looks in context, such as on signage, stationery, uniforms, vehicle graphics, etc. Further revisions beyond the parameters of the creative brief can be requested for an additional charge, however, this is rare.

SUMMIT

We have reached the top! The roll-out of your new identity depends on the scope of the creative brief and there are a variety of services that I can provide to make sure that you feel confident and prepared to fully implement the identity. For example, if you have multiple offices nationally or internationally, a style-guide can be created for distribution across locations to ensure consistent application of visual standards. I am always available for questions regarding brand strategy and design implementation so please do not hesitate to ask. 

You can’t beat the view from the top! 

Resources

Click each phase to download free workbooks to guide you from Base Camp to Summit.

BASE CAMP

The project begins with a conversation about your brand. You talk, I listen. Tell me about your vision for your company and where you hope to be in ten years. Then we can talk about what is standing in your way and how to overcome those obstacles. This is the first step in strategy-led design. Next, I will conduct some market research to further support the information gathered during our initial conversation. The scope of the research depends on the client, but I always take a look at things like market conditions on both your competitors and any “big brother brands” that can serve as a model for best-practice in your industry. The result is a strategy-driven creative brief: an agreement between the client and the designer that will guide the design decisions made throughout the process. A creative brief usually includes an overview of the business, goals and objectives for the project, market analysis (audiences and competitors), and the parameters (timeline, deliverables, etc.) for the finished product.

CAMP ONE

Time to design! Using the creative brief we setup at Base Camp, I will begin exploring a variety of design directions. I will typically present 1-3 designs to you for feedback. If a client wants to pay more to have several more ideas they can, but this is rare. Because the designs are created using our strategy-driven creative brief, it is common for a single direction to present itself and receive approval early in the process. Your feedback here is very important. Please refer to the creative brief when considering revisions. When the process is driven by an agreed upon strategy, there are rarely major objections.

CAMP TWO

Taking the feedback from the initial presentation at Camp One, I will make strategy-driven revisions to create what typically ends up being the final design. Presentations are created and shown either as a PDF file or a slideshow for discussion. I will include mock-ups to show you how a logo or identity looks in context, such as on signage, stationery, uniforms, vehicle graphics, etc. Further revisions beyond the parameters of the creative brief can be requested for an additional charge, however, this is rare.

SUMMIT

We have reached the top! The roll-out of your new identity depends on the scope of the creative brief and there are a variety of services that I can provide to make sure that you feel confident and prepared to fully implement the identity. For example, if you have multiple offices nationally or internationally, a style-guide can be created for distribution across locations to ensure consistent application of visual standards. I am always available for questions regarding brand strategy and design implementation so please do not hesitate to ask. 

You can’t beat the view from the top! 

Ready to plan your ascent?

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.