Rebranding my own creative business — thoughts, process and learnings.
I took a 2-month break! And yes, here I am, launching my own rebrand. It was necessary but scary.
I've always been freelancing, but to be running a business, that's something new to me. I dived head in, had a logo, some colours. But I didn't have a strategy, unlike what I was always advocating for. I was busy working on client projects, I forgot about my own business. And soon, I knew something was wrong.
So what's wrong? I felt like a fraud.
Nope, I am not talking about imposter syndrome. But it was me not doing what I asked my clients to do and what I stand for. It is blatantly there for everyone to see, and I would like to call myself out for it.
I didn't have a fixed set of colours (just look at my Instagram)
I didn't have a consistent font too (again, look at my Instagram)
My website and Instagram look nothing like each other.
I used Canva templates that were not fit for my brand.
I should be leading by example, but I made the most obvious mistake of not being consistent.
All because I didn't have a strategy
And to top it all off, I hated how my logo and website looked. It was gloomy, messy and while it was working for me, I just didn't feel aligned.
Onto my process, how did it happen?
01/ Take a step back and re-evaluate
While I was very tempted to start the design inspiration process via a Pinterest board, I managed to stop myself. As with all rebranding, start by re-evaluating your business.
Take a look at what's working vs what's not working. That way, you will know what to keep, kill and improve on.
Have a look at what others are doing as well. Are there any gaps you can fill with your current skill set? Is there any service or products that you want to provide as well? But don't copy. Just don't. You will never be able to do it better than them if you choose to copy. So why waste your energy there?
02/ Look Inwards & redefine your brand values
We always ask, what solutions can we provide for people? What problems are we solving? But before that, think about these questions first.
What are your north stars?
What does the business mean to you?
What is this business doing for you?
Why are you in this business?
I started PassionSwirls because I wanted more time to take care of my health. Building a sustainable joyful business is the core of my business and the message that I want to send to everyone. Because more money doesn't mean more happiness and constantly burning out is no fun as well.
03/ Skillset and solutions
I am sure you have many skills that you can offer, but do all of them light you up? If they don't bring you joy, ditch it. Here's what I did to streamline my services.
List down everything that you can do
Cross out the ones that you hate doing
Choose your favourite skill and offer it as a solution to people’s problems
(This is your core offering and you should be known for this)Pick out some other skills that could be complimentary
(For example, i offer branding as a core service, web design would be the next natural problem that my people would have)Bonus: Fill up any gaps that the industry lacks
(But only if you truly have something to offer. Don’t force it. Basic is good enough too)
And there you have it, your very own unique service guide that lights you up. You don't have to be offering everything. Just do one thing really well, and you will be seen as a leader in that field.
For PassionSwirls, our core would be crafting purposeful identities. We offer website and marketing as the next natural step. Since I was a marketing designer and enjoyed it, I made it part of my offering. It's natural and a problem that my audience would need a solution to after establishing their brand and website.
04/ Brand Identity
Yayyy! We are finally here at the fun part. Let’s start with our Pinterest board. And I say ↓
First, ditch the strategy; pin whatever attracts you.
it seems weird at this point, but trust the process and read on
Start with an aspect that you usually notice. Is it colours, typography, images, videos or layouts? I would suggest making different boards for each category, so it's easier to spot an ongoing theme.
If there is something that you want to retain from your old identity, start with that. Start building onto it and just see where it takes you.
Next, incorporate your brand values and give meaning to the style you picked out.
What? Didn’t everyone advocate to be strategy first? Why are you forcing your values onto the style?
Yes, I know this might seem counterintuitive. But you did go through the strategy process first. You have done all the heart work, digging deep and eliminating things that don't light you up.
So when you move on to the Pinterest phase, you are picking out things that speak to you because now you know what represents your brand.
If you are not convinced, ask yourself the following questions.
Why did I choose this style?
How does it make me feel?
How will it support and reflect the solutions that I am offering?
Why will my ideal audience be drawn to this style?
If you can answer everything above with confidence and believe in it, everyone else will be bought over.
This is what I call intuitive and heart-led design. You can read more about it here.
*A note of caution: I can do this easily; it comes with experience. If you are working with a brand designer, trust them to tell you if something will not work out. If you are DIYing your brand, ask around and see what others think of your brand!
How did our rebrand turn out?
For PassionSwirls, we were still very much attracted to hand-drawn elements, warm colours and serif fonts. While we didn't stray far from what we had previously, our brand identity turned out entirely different. It's now bright, happy, warm and reflects everything that we stand for.
We approached our visual identity from a broad view and now have a solid execution foundation that we will build upon as our brand grows with us. You can read more about our rebrand here, where we give you real examples of how we incorporated our values into the style we chose.
Unexpected learnings and rewards
01/ give it time to settle
I was thinking about getting everything done in a month because we weren't starting from scratch. But as usual, branding yourself is a lot harder than it looks. You do not have anyone from the outside to give you an objective view. I was also constantly doubting myself while dealing with shiny object syndrome.
I gave myself a lot of time to sit with my new brand and the messaging I wanted to put out. I took my time to develop my website, tweaking and adding tiny little details as we went along. Good things take time, and you can't rush the process.
If you are not well versed in design, bring on a creative partner. You don't have to invest in a brand designer right away if you are not ready to. Maybe just invest in a consultation session to check out the blind spots you've missed and feel confident in moving forward.
02/ I feel alive again!
Before my rebrand, I was actually easing into yet another burnout despite having enough time to rest. Things just weren't aligned, and it was dragging me down. Working in a brand that you don't feel aligned with impacts you way more than you can imagine.
Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world, so no matter how established your brand is, people will know.
Now that everything's aligned, I can't wait to share PassionSwirls with the world and start my creative partnerships again!
Thank you, thank you and thank you.
I can't thank you guys enough for making it here! That was a long one, but I hope my process will be helpful for people who are going through the same thing as me! If you have any questions about anything design, I'll be happy to chat :)