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Lesson 1: Let’s talk about values

What do you stand for? How do you want to make people feel? What do you want people to say about you, after you have left the room? Your answers to these questions will help you define your values, and by knowing them, you’ll be able to create a heartfelt brand that feels authentic, and makes you proud to share what you do in public.

 

“Lasting brand value is earned when people see their own values authentically reflected in the organisation and choose to passionately live, breathe and share the company’s story.”

— Charlene Millar

What is a brand, and why do I need one?

This week’s exploration of your values is really the very first of the building blocks to be used in constructing what will eventually become your brand. But what actually is a brand? And why do you need one?

First, think about how you define “branding,” in your head. If you are imagining a logo and some kind of slogan, maybe a colour palette, you wouldn’t be alone. But these things don’t actually comprise a brand. A logo is nothing more than one of many resources that we can choose to use (or not) when we're expressing our brand. Same with a slogan and colours. They’re just part of the toolkit. 

A brand is how you make people feel

So here's what a brand actually is: it's how you make people feel. It's what people say about you after you've left the room, and it's what you stand for and what you believe in. 

All the external things that we tend to associate with branding - think logos, colours, images, taglines - those are all just handy tools to have in your branding toolkit. You'll use some of them more than others, and perhaps some not at all. No one tool makes the brand any more than a hammer makes a house. 

 

TIP: SEPARATE YOUR BRAND FROM YOUR PRODUCTS OR WORK

One of the questions I get asked a lot is around the potential restrictiveness of having brand parameters, or boundaries, when you are a visual creative. For example, artists are often wary of the idea of having a colour palette, when their actual artworks are many-hued.

I’ll talk about this more when we actually get to colours, but for today, and actually every day as we work through Let it Grow, let's always separate out your brand from your art. 

Yes, of course they are intrinsically linked and they can't not be, since both are reflections of you. But your brand is more about the way you create and share your work, rather than the work itself. 

So, to take some examples from pop culture…

  • Think of Beyonce: Crazy in Love is one of Beyonce's best known works, but her brand is more along the lines of modern, feminine empowerment

  • Frida Kahlo’s work is known for colourful self-portraiture, magical realism, and Mexican motifs, but her brand is that of passion, resilience through sickness and adversity, and powerful feminism

  • Everyone instantly recognises the brown-and-tan colour-palette and logo-pattern of Louis Vuitton, but that doesn’t stop creative director Nicolas Ghesquière using any colours he pleases in the garments he creates

FREQUENTLY ASKED: DO ARTISTS NEED BRANDS?

Another question I’m frequently asked is, “Does an artist even need a brand?” This question generally comes from a place in which the artist is imagining “branding” as some kind of corporate logo and slogan and, understandably, many think, “I don’t want or need that.”

But by now, as you’ll have read above, we know that these things aren’t actually “branding” at all. They’re just resources.

The answer to this question has two parts. First, it’s, “Yes, an artist needs a brand,” because having a properly articulated brand will enable them to share their work with honesty and consistency, and to become recognisable and understood, even when they change up the nature of their actual work. 

But the second part to my answer is that every artist (just like everyone else) already has a brand. People already form impressions about you, and what you stand for. They already subconsciously associate you with certain styles, values, personalities and affiliations, and likewise disassociate you (in their minds) with others. But if they are doing this without your guidance or input, are they getting it right?

Your choice is now this: will you decide to take control of that narrative? Will you write your own story? Or will you let strangers write it for you?

Action station

This week, work your way through each of the activities below. Be sure to approach them in order, as one will build upon the next.

You have all week to complete these activities so don’t feel the need to rush: sometimes it’s better to let these questions marinate so you can get to the truth of the matter.

Bonus lesson:
Establish your goals

 

First, why are you here? If you and I were sitting across from one another right now, over a cup of tea or coffee, what would you tell me about your business or project? Write your answer in your Workbook, on page 9. 

Now, let’s dig deeper. What are your goals for this business or project? What will it do for you that makes you want to invest your time, energies and money into building it?  

Try to think beyond the immediate (“I’m opening a shop,” or “I’m expanding my online business,” or “I want to sell prints of my art”) and instead, go bigger. What are your ultimate goals for opening that shop, expanding that business, selling prints? What will doing these things achieve for you, in your life? 

Dare to dream big! This is where you are going to write down those secretly-held, never-before-confessed dreams (I’m calling them your “ultimate goals”). Ready? Write them down on page 10.

Now, let’s time-travel five years into the future. Imagine you have achieved your ultimate goals: those dreams have come to fruition. What does your life look like? What does your business or creative practise look like? 

Write your answers in page 10 of your workbook. The answers you write here will help to motivate you. When you’re half way through Let it Grow and life is intruding, read back over these goals and remind yourself why you are here. 

Likewise, your answers will become touchstones for you, something to check back in on when you are making decisions. You’ll be able to ask yourself, “will this action or decision take me closer to my ultimate goals? Or further away?”