Do you provide one-on-one custom services?
This is the cornerstone of luxury brands. Bespoke, tailored, one-of-a-kind, considerately crafted.
And yet, “luxury” and “high-end” communicates different ideas to different types of people.
On one hand, these terms are elitist. Moving away from such things would be to move toward authenticity.
On the other hand, these terms are out-dated. In the past, luxury items were made at the expense of others.
Today, there is a new way to do things.
A way to combine craftsmanship with compassion.
A way to breathe life into our idea of luxury.
The answer is Organic Luxury.
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What is organic luxury?
What is a Brand Identity?
My specialty is branding. By combining research and strategy with creative design and purposeful intention, my clients receive a brand identity backed with market data to support every decision. Visual brand identity design is not limited to only graphic design, like logo design and website design. It also includes brand photography, even elements as fundamental as brand colors, font families and typefaces.
In reality, visual brand identities is a system of assets that encompass every element used in the brand! So if you’re thinking it’s a big deal, you’re right!
VISUAL BRANDING ELEMENTS
Here is a short list of some important visual branding elements to include in your brand:
Logo & Branding System
Color Psychology
Fonts / Tone
Website Design / Mobile App
Blog & Media
Business Cards
Small Format Print Advertising / Flyers
Letterheads / Purchase Orders / Forms
Large Format Advertising / Banners
Digital Marketing Pieces
Brand Imagery / Photography
Social Media Cohesion
Interior / Exterior Signage
Employee Apparel / Attitude
Event Design
and more!
Luxury Branding Needs Consistency
If you’ve been in business for any amount of time, you may already have a few of the elements (or maybe all of them!) listed above.
But since having a logo and website or business cards is not enough when it comes to building an entire brand, luxury branding is no different.
Recognition
When brand colors, fonts, and attitude are presented consistently on every digital and physical marketing correspondence—your brand becomes very recognizable. Whether someone visits your website or stumbles across one of your social media posts. They know it’s you.Trust
When people see consistency, they build internal expectation. Now they know what to expect from you, and on a psychological level this builds trust. When you’re consistent with your branding, the intrinsic message for people is that you’re consistent with your business and your life.
Identify Brand Values
Have you ever heard of the phrase, “If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything” ?
When you surround yourself in life with people who share in the same values, there is exponential growth. The same goes for business.
But let’s take our own brand for example. Organic luxury is still an ideal, part of the future we’re building.
Yet luxury exists in the present day. Our luxurious printing takes added care and consideration that every printed piece is a perfect result.
But real, eco-friendly sustainability would mean that we should stop printing altogether.
With organic luxury, the processes that already exist are made to become more sustainable over time. That’s why we partner with production facilities that source their papers from sustainable forestry, so that each of our printed projects is part of a larger interconnected system of paper recycling.
It is a small step in the right direction.
Before the Industrial Revolution, people purchased custom clothing from tailors and seamstresses. After fast fashion, overproduction, and globalization cheapening all products, this fine care is now (truly) an exclusive luxury. For eco-friendly fashion brands today, choosing to manufacture items when they are ordered is a step in the right direction.
It is what we must do, because we have been walking in the opposite direction for far too long.
Fine care and craftsmanship shouldn’t stop at the consideration of our planet and our place in it.
In fact, the two should be integrated so seamlessly that one should marvel at how we didn’t integrate true sustainability sooner.
“Many assume that economic interests and environmental interests are in conflict. But new research makes the case,” as reported by The Nature Conservancy, “that this perception of development vs. conservation is not just unnecessary but actively counterproductive to both ends. Achieving a sustainable future will be dependent on our ability to secure both thriving human communities and abundant and healthy natural ecosystems.”
The world is already moving toward the set of values that our brand believes in.
By identifying these values, communicating them consistently, and demonstrating your dedication to these values, your trusted audience grows with pride simply by being associated with your brand. You can see how people enjoy self-representing the “Saltlife” brand, for example, because people crave to be part of something that aligns with their likes, dislikes, goals, and vision for themselves. Salt Life is a clothing brand, yet people put their stickers on their cars (and trust me, they’re not being paid for it.)
Advertising sometimes attempts to manipulate what peoples’ vision of themselves should be, and then creates unnecessary ‘solutions’ to problems that never existed. But marketing is connecting people who are already looking for goods and services to people already looking for buyers.
Think of it in terms of gain and loss - without a set of values, there are less attributes available to distinguish a brand from their immediate competition. That means each social position is an opportunity.
Connecting with likeminded parties will yield more engagement, and subsequently more conversions, even if you are practicing out of a niche or untapped corner of the market.
Building a Luxury Brand: First Impressions
Your initial interaction with a potential client will be through an element of your visual brand identity. Maybe you’re not convinced yet. Maybe you’re wondering, “Does this visual branding stuff really matter?”
I’m here to tell you, yes it absolutely does.
If your business card looks cheap then your products will seem cheaply made.
High-paying clients don’t throw money at just anything. They pay for craftsmanship, quality, and consideration. The first impression, and each subsequent interaction, communicates the depth of care you will put into their service or product. Because that is the depth of care you are putting into yourself.
What does a superior experience mean to you?
If it means a cheap and flimsy DIY marketing piece, the only people that will respond will be those looking for the cheapest option. So those Business Cards are actually a pretty big deal - long-term strategy plays a vital role in making the most of your advertising design investment.
And every aspect of a visual brand identity is a “big deal” too!
Hence the need for luxury branding.
ARMANDO VIDAL'S BRAND TRANSFORMATION
Armando is a public adjuster who came to me because he was ready to attract more clientele and elevate his logo and brand identity. He’d been in business for a while and he did great work in over 10 US states. But his visual branding wasn’t where it needed to be.
He had a logo that was made from specific inspiration - his main competition. Already looking like his biggest threat, he wasn’t getting as many organic leads as he thought.
We discussed his needs, I researched his market and target, and developed a brand strategy that made sense for his business.
With new branding, a new website, brand strategy, he’s attracting the right customers.
Work with a professional brand designer who can help you not just design a pretty logo, but build a strategic and cohesive visual branding system that is effectively communicating your value to clients without you ever having to utter a word.