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Been wondering how to create a soulful brand identity for your business? In this post I’ll talk about the simple, key principal I’ve uncovered that helps me to do this for my clients.

There’s something I’ve been trying to articulate. A feeling about what is at the heart of all the work I try to put out there for my clients, but I’ve not been sure how to put it into words.

Have you ever felt like that? There’s something you understand and embody, but you don’t quite have the words to describe it and explain it to others?

Then, I saw someone talk about art practices for painting and drawing as part of a personal course I’m taking. It finally clicked into place.

The simple, key principal I’ve uncovered for creating a soulful brand identity

You see – what I’ve been trying to articulate is really at the heart of everything that people create. No matter if it is art, music, a piece of writing, cooking, dance, film-making, architecture…a brand identity.

The creator wants the viewer/listener/reader/taster to feel something. And we are always looking for things that make US feel something too. Things that make use feel something stand out to us.

But what exactly is it that we want to feel? What makes a piece of Art, music etc either good or…forgettable? I’d argue it’s whether there is a sense of aliveness in the piece.

Whether ‘the thing’ makes us feel alive. Whether we can see the aliveness in it. Whether we can feel the aliveness of the author or artist. By alive what I mean is that it feels like it has heart and soul. It isn’t bland.

So, how do we make what we create feel alive?

Here’s that key principle:

It’s through contrasts and differences. Subtlety mixed with boldness. Lightness and dark.

This is what I already bang on about with branding, but I’ve only just connected the dots back to why it works.

Annoyingly, if you’ve ever worked with a client or employer on any kind of design or artwork and they’ve said ‘Can you just make it pop?’ (or something to that effect) this is what they mean. It needs more contrast, more differences. It doesn’t feel alive yet.

As a person, part of what makes you so wonderful and interesting is your unique mix of personality contrasts, contradictions, and differences. This is your aliveness, your soul.

When you add contrasts and differences into your brand identity, you’re infusing your brand with heart and soul too.

How to build a sense of aliveness into your brand identity

Building a sense of aliveness into your brand identity through contrasts and differences can work in many ways. It’s important to note that it really is about subtlety mixed with boldness, because when you have too much ‘middle’, things can begin to feel muddy, rather than clear and alive.

Here are some ways to begin thinking about this. you don’t need to harness each way of creating contrast, there are no hard and fast rules. We’re talking about how things feel here…so feel it.

Choose your own adventure.

Colour

In your colour palette, you can quite literally choose two or three main brand colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel.

Colours and the way they interact with each other, what they mean, and how they make us feel is so fascinating to me. I have a lesson all about it in the Rebrand Roadmap.

The complimentary and triadic opposite colours here create a bold contrast, so you need to make sure you have subtlety elsewhere.

For example in my main branding for Lemon & Birch, I use a bright blue, pink, and yellow. This is roughly speaking a triadic palette, and so you’ll see less bold contrasts in other areas such as the fonts I’m using. Apart from differences in size, the fonts I use are simple, clear, and easy to read.

If you were to use an analogue (sometimes called a harmonious) palette, these colours have less contrast between each other, and so it would be important to create bold contrasts in other areas of your branding.

It’s always about balancing boldness with subtlety.

Brand Photography

This is something the photographers amongst us are already masters of. Balancing light and shadow, and framing a photograph so that there is ’empty’ space balanced with ‘filled’ space.

There are some really bold contrasts that can be created in an image when you know how to capture them. My client Caro comes to mind when I think of light and shadow play in photography.

You can also create a sense of spaciousness with your brand photography, but couple that with perhaps a detail rich illustrated logo, and you have a beautiful, balanced contrast.

Inversely, if you have busy floral photography for example, keep your logo and even your colour palette on the minimal, chilled-out side.

Typography

The typefaces you choose for your brand identity are a lovely way to bring in more contrast. You can use one type of font for headings and another type for body text.

You’ll probably instinctively be able to tell which fonts contrast with each other; but here’s some quick examples:

• Bold font weight with a lighter font weight
• A chunky slab serif with a simple sans serif
• A bold retro display font mixed with a simple sans serif
• Don’t forget how font sizing can play a role in creating contrast
• Colour can come into play with your typography too

I hope that discovering this principle has opened up a new way of thinking about branding for you. One where the rules are less constrictive and it’s more about creating lightness and darkness.

Sign up to my email list if this post resonated with you! 🥰

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The wonderful Shilpa hired me to design a colourful, modern brand identity design for her business Mindset, Mimi & Me! It was such a wonderful treat because the whole ethos behind her business made my heart sing!

We both worked with Bloc + Rose on our brand strategies. As a result of getting to know each other on the group calls for ‘The Bloc – Brand Container‘, Shilpa asked me to design her new branding.

At Mindset, Mimi & Me, the goal is to empower kids with self-worth by igniting their imagination. Shilpa translates the wisdom and self-development you have learned on your journey of self discovery into a language that kids love: storytelling, poetry and art.

You can all of the details of the branding below!

Shilpa wanted the branding to be bright and colourful, and to feel that it made sense for a brand creating poetry and art to appeal to children. It needed to be well designed, and modern enough to appeal to parents as well as children.

A last puzzle piece is that the branding needed to speak to Shilpa’s cultural roots. I did this through the shapes, motifs and colours used.

Can you see the shape of the Elephants trunk and how it is mirrored in the letter M throughout the logos and icons?

Colourful confetti, lotus flower shapes, and the teal mixed with the brighter colours all make this branding feel unique and fun with a modern edge. I had so much fun designing it!

Looking for a brand designer yourself?

Would you like to work together on a colourful, modern brand identity design for your business? You can see the main package I have on offer along with the pricing here. Alternatively, get in touch to discuss a custom branding package.

Not sure where to begin? Need help demystifying the branding process? No worries, I’ve got you covered! Head over to the Rebrand Roadmap, a 5 part branding mini course – watch the first video for free 🙂

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When you have an inkling you want to rebrand your business, it might start to make you feel unconfident to show up and share what you do with the world. Or perhaps it’s the other way round. You’re feeling unconfident and you’ve realised you need to shake things up with a rebrand.

A rebrand isn’t the absolute be all and end all. There are many ways to gain confidence (like working with a brand strategist, self-confidence or business coach, or getting help in any area of your business that feels sticky).

It is true however, that a new brand identity will help you to raise your vibration and bring some new energy into your business and build momentum.

You brand for the future; the ‘you’ that’s a couple of steps ahead. This helps you to shift energy and meet the vibration of this new season in your business and get you moving towards it.

It’s important to note that a brand identity on its own won’t bring you more clients, customers, and recognition. You and your actions combined with your wonderful new brand identity – that’s what’s going to move you forwards.

You need to be fully behind your new branding and so there are certain steps to take to make sure that it speaks of your soul and really represents what you do and the impact you want to have on the world.

When you’re fully behind your new branding you’re going to feel more confident to share everything you’re doing with the world.

So, where to start when rebranding?

It helps to go back to basics and make sure you understand what your brand identity and all the moving parts within it need to do.

Once you have a handle on the purpose of each moving part you can review and assess what you already have through a new lens. Ask yourself if each part is functioning as it should be.

This first puzzle piece is one I find my clients have sometimes missed in the past. Having knowledge of what each item is supposed to do means you’ll know when your branding or rebranding efforts are on track. It also means that your efforts are going to be cost and time effective.

What’s the purpose of my brand identity?

Creating a brand identity really is simply telling your brand story through typography, imagery, illustration (if that’s needed), and colour.

If we’re talking about your brand as a whole, you’re telling the story through your words and actions too.

Storytelling with visual branding isn’t linear. Think of it as “Telling a story with layering”. Layering up different elements in your brand to build up a technicolour picture.

When you’re thinking about all the layers in your branding rather than simply the logo and maybe the flat block colours, that’s when you start to build a brand identity that feels technicolour, evocative, exciting.

What’s the purpose of each part within my brand identity?

I have a 20 minute video for you all about demystifying what branding is and what the purpose of each part of the identity is. It’s the first of 5 videos in my branding mini course, The Rebrand Roadmap.

You can sign up to my online course cabin The Tree House to watch this first video for free!

Click the video below to go to the Course page.

And here’s what other people have said about the full mini course:

“Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and insight in such a clear, simple to understand and accessible way. It was exactly what I was looking for. A framework to get me started, and a few insider tips too. I will be dipping in and out of it again and again over the next few months I think as I start thinking more in depth about my rebrand. I just wanted to let you know how happy I am with it.” – Lauren Clegg Jewellery

“I have been working on a logo after watching and working through the Rebrand Roadmap. It was so so good – thank you Meg! I got so much out of it, useful information, tips and tricks. I have really enjoyed the whole process.” – Kathryn Goddard Photography

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The thing I find truly fascinating about visual branding is the layers of meaning that can be brought into the design work.

Layers of meaning and symbolism can of course be used in all types of visual art, but in my opinion, it’s an especially important part of branding.

What do I mean by Symbolism?

To be clear, what I mean when I talk about symbolism here is the use of imagery like the illustrations in your branding to represent ideas or qualities.

Symbols can come to mean something in retrospect, and that will be true for imagery used in your branding, that’s true for many big brands and was certainly true for my own logo design. Sometimes the image comes first and it gathers meaning as the brand grows.

But it’s also wonderful to make design decisions from the outset based on what has meaning for you as a business owner, and also what will have archetypal meaning for your customers or clients too.

Again to be clear…

“An archetype is a term used to describe universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious responses. Archetypes are defined as recurring patterns of situations, characters, or symbols existing universally and instinctively in the collective unconscious of man.” Citation

Why is adding meaning and symbolism to my brand identity useful?

When we use imagery that has universal meaning behind it we’re holding up little green flags for our audience that show that we’re the same as them, we think the same, we care about the same things. This is the very start of building up that ‘Know, like, trust’ factor with your audience.

When we add a layer to our branding that has deep meaning for us as the business owner, it means it’s more likely to feel right for us long-term. We do it once, we do it well, and we do it with meaning.

How can symbolism play out in my Brand Identity?

Take this Moth design for Helena Rose Photography; There is a layer of archetypal meaning with the design that like minded people will be drawn to.

The style of drawing, the witchy vibe of the elements, the Moth being a creature that is drawn to the light. This last point makes sense for a photography business where working with light is part of the skill of the art form. These are things that we intuitively understand as humans when we look at imagery, without really thinking about it.

And then we uncover the symbolism of what the design means for the business owner. It’s a deeper layer that might not always be apparent at first glance, but it’s important none the less.

Here the Moth represents the ethical and sustainable businesses that Helena works with; they are drawn towards the light in the sense that they are conscious of the how they impact the world.

If possible, we’re looking for something that works on more than one level, but you can always combine symbols together or weave meanings into other parts of your brand identity.

Tips for how to start creating your symbolic branding

1. You can start by noting down any imagery, things, symbols that you’re drawn to. You need to love the imagery you’re using in your branding as well as it holding meaning.
2. Think about any imagery that holds meaning specifically for the industry you work in, or for the specific services or products you’re offering.
3. Think about what imagery, if any, is evoked by your business name.
4. Symbols could be really simple, like a triangle, or it could be more complex imagery that would be more of an illustration, like a type of bird, animal, or plant.
5. It’s important to research any symbolism you intend to explore in your brand identity to make sure it’s culturally appropriate for you to use. You also may need to sift through the many meanings one symbol alone can have to make sure there isn’t anything negative that might come up for people.
6. The internet is obviously a great source of information, but books are even better and often more reliable. Try the Signs and Symbols Sourcebook by Adele Nozedar as a starting point.
7. Reference meanings of imagery in different places to make sure you have a good understanding of all the meanings.
8. Can your symbol link back to your business in more ways than one? It’s ok if not, you can add layers of meaning with other branding elements, combining symbols in a design, embellishments on typography, pattern designs, your colour palette, even photographs. Don’t force multiple meanings, lean into your intuition about what feels right.
9. Remember that your brand identity is not your logo alone in isolation. Everything should work together to form a multi-layered, meaningful design for your brand.

If you’d like to explore weaving symbolism into your brand identity with me you can apply to work together via my Unfurl Your Brand package.

You can also sign up to my email list below for more branding tips and advice.

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A question I frequently get asked is how to make sure a brand identity stands the test of time. It’s so hard to work on your own brand identity; you’re really close to it and you see it so often that your own perception of it is skewed from what other people see. People need repetition!

The main thing to note about your brand identity is that people need to be able to identify you again once they’ve seen your branding the once. So there is a little wiggle room for variety, but things always need to be identifiable as being yours. This is where trends can harm you rather than make you necessarily look more up-to-date.

And so here are my thoughts on how to create a timeless brand identity.

Think about what would stay the same even if your work evolved

Firstly, you’ll need to think about what your brand stands for on a wider level. If you had to pivot and change your product or service, what values or elements of your story and brand would stay the same?

An example is if you’re a jeweller, your work and style might evolve over time, but what inspires you at it’s core probably won’t. What is it that’s at the very core of your brand – the why or how you got here?

It could be a set of values, it could be your story, it could be a number of things. I don’t mean all the rest isn’t important, it totally is…but you want to get right to the heart and work out what’s unwavering.

And so how do you translate that into design?

Not every part of your brand identity needs to convey EVERYTHING

The fun bit! You’ll want to build these foundational things into your main brand identity – so into your logo and branding elements, your colours, the mix of fonts you use. It’s about finding the balance.

It’s not an easy process, but what I mean is that different parts of your brand foundation can come through in different areas. Always try to see the bigger picture of how things work together.

Not every part of your brand identity needs to convey EVERYTHING. That’s why you have different ‘moving parts’ (logo, palette, font system)

Colour is great for quickly conveying FEELINGS, EMOTIONS, and VALUES. Typography can show if your brand is MODERN, CLASSIC, or RUSTIC.

And logo icons, graphics, and illustrations can actually tell stories, or convey ideas and meaning in visual form. Everything works together to build a picture for your audience.

Focus on conveying the true essence of your brand so that people can quickly self-select

You’ll want to make sure it’s clear and that the things you’re showing are going to resonate with your audience. BUT at the very beginning you might not know your audience well, so don’t let that bit hold you back.

Focus on conveying the true essence of your brand so that people can quickly self-select. “That’s for me”, or “That’s not for me”.

The WORDS you use need to be much more rooted in the knowledge of who your client or customer is, and your WORDS are something you can easily tweak as you get more clear on that. Your brand identity is there to show the core of who you are (as a business), what you value and why, so that you attract like-minded people. Then you can have fun with trending things like gradients – as long as not every part of your brand identity is changing with trends, you’re allowed to have fun!

If you enjoyed this blog post you can sign up to my email list for more tips and insight into the branding process.

Laney from Silent Goddess Art Jewelry got in touch via Instagram after seeing the work I’d done for fellow jeweler Rosy Revolver. I’m always so pleased to be able to work with jewelers because I specialised in jewelry design and silversmithing in my Art degree. I later got into branding and graphic design via a corporate role – it’s so much fun to be able to combine my knowledge and expertise in these two industries and create beautiful, multi-faceted brand identities that really show the heart and soul of my clients’ work, but that also allow them to grow.

This is exactly what Laney needed – a brand identity that felt true to her work now, but that would allow her work to evolve and grow over time.

Here’s the summary of how Laney’s brand needed to feel:

A BRANDING EXPERIENCE that MAKES YOUR AUDIENCE FEEL CALM and REFLECTIVE as they DISCOVER YOUR JEWELRY PIECES and products  – an identity that is CLEAN but WARM and NATURE-DRIVEN, with a DISTINCTIVE edge.

(This addresses 2 key things to help keep your brand consistent and strategic: (1) how you want to make people feel and (2) what words that you want them to associate with your business.)

I put together the mood board below first, before diving into the design phase.

I was able to create a brand identity that Laney loved during the first design phase! See part of the process of bringing it all together below, plus a closer look at each element.

After working together Laney said:

From the first moment Meg sent over a preview of the branding package she created for me, I’ve been pretty speechless and I find myself in that same predicament as I’m writing this. I HIGHLY encourage you to reach out to Meg if you are interested in branding for your business. She did such an outstanding job and is so wonderful to work with. Meg, I continue to be in awe of the package you created for me. You are incredible. Thank you ⚒️???

If you’re looking for stunning, professional branding let’s work together in my Unfurl Your Brand package.

You can also join my email list below for branding tips, advice, and updates on new packages and availability.

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Safiyyah approached me via Instagram and asked me to create a Brand Identity Design for her business and I couldn’t wait to get started working with her!

Safiyyah is a British born artist and textile designer based in Birmingham. She specialises in floral print and pattern, taking inspiration from her original art work.

Her unique watercolour style embodies the magical unexpected beauty and wilderness found in nature, with all its imperfections. Safiyyah’s style encapsulates nature in its entirety as she strives to transport you to a world full of enchantment and beauty through her art.

Her audience for her beautiful nature inspired artwork had grown quickly on Instagram and so she wanted to make sure her website and the packaging for her paintings and products was professional and created a beautiful client and customer experience.

Here is our goal for how the Safiyyah Studio Brand Identity needed to feel.

A BRANDING EXPERIENCE that MAKES YOUR AUDIENCE FEEL ENCHANTED and SOOTHED as they DISCOVER YOUR ART – an identity that is TIMELESS, with an IMPERFECT and APPROACHABLE edge.

This addresses 2 key things to help keep your brand consistent and strategic: (1) how you want to make people feel and (2) what words that you want them to associate with your business.

After we were on the same page about how the brand identity needed to feel, I put together a mood board to show the direction.

After the mood board phase I was excited to dive into the design and I managed to create something Safiyyah loved during the first design round!

I created a unique typography logo, hand-drawn the leaves and branches, and overlaid them with Safiyyah’s own watercolour work and photographs.

I used overlay effects in InDesign so that the different layers of the background somewhat blend together to create this gorgeous textural effect. It bridges the gap between Safiyyahs floral artwork and her landscapes and feels distinctive without taking the emphasis away from her art.

See the process video of the brand identity I designed for her, along with a closer view of all the details below!

The Design Process

Final Logo and Brand Design elements

Here’s what Safiyyah said about working with me:

“Meg was a joy to work with! She just completely understood me and my brand and created something that is full of magic and soul. She helped me create beautiful, cohesive brand packagind that evokes a feeling of enchantment!”

Looking for a designer for your brand?

If you’re looking for stunning, professional branding head let’s work together in my Unfurl Your Brand package.

You can also join my email list below for branding tips and advice, new work and availability.

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TLDR: Your photo, your words, my animated doodles! Click here to see my availability and book this design service. Scroll down to see examples ??

There are so many wonderful people with small businesses these days – you shouldn’t see this as a a bad thing for your business at all though. There is more than enough work to go around, it’s just a matter of being MORE YOURSELF, because you are the only version of you.

People can sell something similar to you, but no one’s going to do it exactly the same as you do it. Plus, the people following along with you probably don’t follow along with all the other people in your industry. They probably follow a select few that they relate and identify with personally in some way.

You don’t need to share absolutely everything about yourself, but bits of what really makes you YOU here and there will go really far to forging connections with people that just GET you and your business.

I think we’ve all been through that phase of wondering whether we should make it clear that it is JUST US in our business, or whether we should use the WE instead of I. I think years ago we all thought it looked more professional if our businesses looked bigger than they actually were. Nowadays though there has been a big shift towards people wanting to buy from small businesses, solopreneurs, and people just like them. It goes for both product and service based businesses – being small is now a superpower!

One of the most fun things about being a small business is your ability to experiment and try new things – there are no gatekeepers, there’s no one to approve the new thing you want to do. There’s just you (and possibly your VA or small team). Experimentation is something I personally just love to do and it’s what can often lead to really cool new offerings, or a new way of sharing what you do via social media, or a fun thing that can make your website shine just that little bit more.

I found something that is all of these things for me, and I want to share it with you right here!

As you probably know if you’re reading this, I’m a designer and illustrator, and I’d seen some super creative people drawing over their photos and sort of ’embellishing’ them with the procreate app and their iPad and apple pencils. I gave it a go and it was fun and creative and just a nice extra to share on my insta account. I’d also seen that GIFs had become really popular, you know those ‘stickers’ on insta stories where you can add little moving phrases and pictures? That’s not the only place you can use GIFs but it’s where I saw text animated so that it ‘danced’.

I thought “What would happen if I put these two things together, the embellished photos and the dancing animated text?”

What I created was SO MUCH FUN to design! The embellished and animated photos are eye catching and quirky (I haven’t seen anyone else combining both these methods…yet!) and SO filled with personality.

I’m hooked on creating them and so I now offer this as a sweet new design service. You can book your slot here!

I also made a tutorial for anyone that has an iPad and the procreate app so you can try it yourself if you want to. iPad and Procreate are just the tools I use and a similar method would work if you have other drawing software that uses layers and allows you to export as file types like .gif and .mp4 – Photoshop would work if you have a tablet that allows you to draw directly into it.

The examples

I thought it would be really helpful to show you some ideas of how this animation method could be used over your own photos, but the possibilities are endless. All I need is a photo of your choice and some text that you’d like me to add over the top. You can specify whether you’d like colour added too, or can leave it to me to work my magic!

So there it is: Your photo, your words, my animated doodles!

The introductory price is £75 and the file types I’ll provide are:

1. One still (non-moving) version as a jpeg file
2. The animated version as an mp4 video file – this is usually only a few seconds long but Instagram automatically loops it when you upload to your feed, or you can loop it to make it longer with various free apps
3. A gif file – many website platforms/builders will allow you to upload an animated gif file in place of the standard still jpeg or png file.

After booking your slot in my calendar, please email your photo over. If you’d like text on your image, please email the text over along with your photo. I’ll need this BEFORE the date you booked in my calendar. Usually I’ll provide the files within 2-3 days, but I’ll always keep you updated.

Please do email me at meg@lemonandbirch.com or click on the chat box (in the bottom right corner) if you would like me to check your photo for usability. You can upload files via the chatbox 🙂

If you’re ready to book your slot for this in my calendar you can click here!

And don’t forget the tutorial I made if you have the tools and software and would like to learnt the method yourself.

I was super excited when Anna Dunleavy got in touch with me about her branding via Instagram. We had been following along with each other for a while and I loved all the work she was doing. I knew she was a personal branding photographer and had recently set up her community – Fearless Hustle Collective.

Anna created the Fearless Hustle Collective to provide a supportive community of likeminded female creatives where everyone can help each other on the way to achieving their goals.

There are a few different elements within the Fearless Hustle Collective. There’s the super valuable paid membership club where Anna provides group coaching calls, monthly expert sessions, accountability calls, downloadable worksheets, and a closed Facebook group.

She also has monthly in-person meet-ups in Nottingham (UK), and a podcast where she talks to other business owners and creatives to share their stories and the nuggets of wisdom they’ve learnt along the way.

Anna felt that she was struggling to grow her reach because her branding wasn’t memorable enough and didn’t stand out. She wanted a look that other female business owners would feel connected and drawn to. Anna has a real spiritual side (like myself) so we were inspired by sun and moon symbolism and I dived deeper into other symbols and their meanings in parts of the branding too.

I also created the three sigils shown in the following images that incorporate the moon along with symbols of strength and support, clarity, and wisdom for each section of Anna’s business. A sigil is where you set an intention and then distill that message down into a meaningful image or design. The sigils feel like a tangible representation of the benefits of being part of the Fearless Hustle Collective.

After sending through the first brand design draft to Anna, she had this to say: “YOU HAVE BLOWN ME AWAY!!! The branding is everything I wanted and more. It couldn’t have felt more me if you tried! And I can’t tell you how thoughtful the sigils are. Thank you so much for all of your hard work. I’m honestly so so happy, and can’t wait to start using the branding. Thank you!”

I hit the nail on the head first time with this design and after a small tweak to the weight of some of the text, we were good to move onto collateral items such as business cards and blog graphic templates!

If you’re looking for a stand-out design for your brand please get in touch, I take on a very limited number of projects each month