If you’re staring at a task list that’s longer than your arm, “developing your brand” is probably sitting at the top like a big, vague, scary item. And let’s be honest, what does that even mean?
There are a million opinions on how to do it, but I’m here to give you a simple starting point, whether you’re brand new or refreshing an existing identity, that you can put to work today.
And it all begins with Brand Strategy.
You might be thinking: “Hannah, WTF is Brand Strategy?”
Here’s the short answer: it’s one side of the “branding your business” coin. Most people think branding = visuals: logos, color palettes, photos, fancy websites. That makes sense. Heck, even in my early design years, I wanted to jump straight to the fun, pretty stuff.
But here’s the truth: design without strategy is just decoration.
Brand Strategy and Brand Design go hand in hand. One influences the other, and vice versa. Strategy is all the things you don’t see, a.k.a. the heart of your brand that guides decisions, messaging, and growth.
Think of it this way: strategy is the compass, design is the path you take. Without a compass, even the prettiest path can lead you in circles.
When I work with clients, the strategy process typically covers three main areas:
Let’s break those down.
Your Brand Essence is the heart of your business. It’s why you get up in the morning, excited to do what you do. It’s more than your product or service. It’s your purpose, your values, and the impact you want to create.
While there are commonalities between each of us, the brand essence is different from person to person and business to business, because of our own unique life experiences.
If you were to take a pause and really truly reflect on why exactly you’re doing what you’re doing, what would that look like?
For example, if your company makes dog toys, the product itself tells us nothing about your brand. Just look at how many dog toy companies there are out there. But your “why” might be:
You could go from “We make dog toys.” to “Every toy we make is a memory in the making.”
See how much more resonating that is?
Knowing your why goes beyond your mission and vision statements. It’s also about the values that drive your business forward, which overlap with what your ideal client or target audience values.
Let’s say your company values good customer service (or maybe not if you operate a business like Dick’s Last Resort). This is a great starting point for developing your values, but what if you went a bit further. I would ask how you show up and provide quality customer service…
These answers guide every decision, big or small.
As part of my Brand Strategy process, I identify each client’s Brand Archetype. If you aren’t familiar with Brand Archetypes, they were developed by Psychologist Carl Jung. Archetypes are recurring symbols and patterns that show up across cultures and myths. For brands, they’re a shortcut to understanding personality and connecting with your ideal customers.
Back to our dog toy company: their archetype might be The Innocent, because of their optimistic, good-hearted nature.
When you know your archetype, your messaging, visuals, and overall brand personality all start to align naturally.
If your brand essence is why you exist, your Brand Positioning is how you show up in the world. This is where you zoom out and look at the landscape your business lives in:
Positioning is not about being everything to everyone. It’s about being the right thing for the right people. At its core, Brand Positioning answers a few critical questions:
This is where a lot of businesses get stuck, because it requires clarity and honesty. It asks you to make decisions – sometimes uncomfortable ones – about who you’re really speaking to and what you’re willing to stand for.
If we use our dog toy example again:
You’re not just selling toys. You might be serving nostalgic pet owners who see their dogs as family. Or busy professionals who want quality without overthinking it. Or dog parents who care deeply about sustainability and ethical sourcing.
Each of those audiences requires different language, priorities, and touchpoints. Brand Positioning helps you choose which lane you’re in and commit to it.
There are even more ways to go more in-depth about your position relative to others, including completing a SWOT analysis, conducting focus groups, interviewing past clients, or just simply stalking your competitors’ websites and socials and writing down the differences.
The key is not to focus too much on what your competitors are doing. Otherwise, you’ll end up finding yourself comparing your business to them in negative ways, such as comparing your successes.
When your positioning is clear, your messaging becomes sharper, your offers feel more intentional, and your marketing stops sounding generic. Instead of trying to convince people, you start attracting the ones who already feel aligned.
Creative Direction is where strategy starts to become tangible.
This is the bridge between what you’ve defined and what people experience. It ensures that your visuals, messaging, and overall presence are reinforcing the same story and not competing with it.
Creative Direction includes things like:
Before any design happens, I ask clients to identify five core personality words for their brand. These words are rooted in the work we’ve already done in knowing the why and the what. They become the filter every decision passes through.
If a design choice, phrase, or idea doesn’t support those words, it doesn’t belong – no matter how trendy or pretty it is.
In my process, I also root brands in a Season, a concept I learned from Fiona Humberstone. Seasons give brands an emotional and psychological framework to guide color, contrast, and visual intensity.
A Spring brand might feel light, optimistic, and playful.
An Autumn brand might feel rich, grounded, and reflective.
By doing this, you can ensure the way your brand looks supports how it’s meant to be experienced.
Creative Direction keeps your brand from drifting. It allows designers, writers, and marketers (including future you) to make aligned decisions to be proactive about your brand instead of always playing catch up by reinventing what’s come before.
When you build from intention instead of reaction, branding stops feeling overwhelming because you aren’t guessing every single thing you do. It gives your business clarity, guides your decisions, and makes your design, messaging, and marketing work for you – not against you.
That’s the real difference between having a brand and having a business that looks nice.
Start with your why, know your what, and define your direction and everything else will start to fall into place.
Brand and Website Designer crafting strategic, elevated designs for mission-driven entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits.
Every Wednesday, this branding newsletter will bring you one real story, one sharp insight, and one reminder to help you show up more fully in your business.
And I'm here to help every decision, design, and message work towards the building the business and brand that you’ve imagined.
tell me more
