Our Most Inspiring Resources for Finding Your Brand's Style
Court, our studio founder, has over 15+ years of design experience. She’s seen the joy of designing for clients who know exactly what they want. She’s also seen many clients start by drawing a blank, creating quite a long journey and investment.
Want to save a bazillion hours of research and design concepts that aren’t hitting the mark?
Here are Court’s easy suggestions to help you in narrowing down your style with:
Find your muse
Know a brand, entrepreneur, or vibe you instantly think of when considering your brand? LEAN IN.
The idea is to get to know one — or a few — sources of inspiration on a deep + personal level.
Here are a few ways you can get to know your muse, from a business perspective:
Follow them! Find out where they like to hang on socials and give them some love. While you’re at it - take note of their community as well.
Collect examples of their work. Print out visuals for moodboards.
Read their memoir, enroll in their class, watch their movie /show(s), download any free content on their sites, devour interviews, and soak up any publicity you can find.
Outline the path their success journey took, and/or document rhythms of their marketing strategy.
Soak in the energy they put forth, the subtle ways they are different from their own competition, the language and tone of their messaging… take it all in.
Your muse is an inspiration you can go to when you say, “What would insert your muse’s name do?” Remember, the idea here is to be inspired, NOT to copy. And if you need to light a fire, try this visualization - imagine they are coming to dinner to talk about you, your brand, and your plan. Then put together your pitch. ; )
Moodboard
Just as it sounds, we’re going for a M-O-O-D! The untouchable element of any brand is the way they make their community feel, so let this illuminate the personality of your business.
Gather your favorite magazines that embody your brand’s mission, cause, or area of expertise. Physically clip anything you love (for any reason) and gather it together on a classic corkboard, poster board, or another large area where you can see it from a few steps back. This can double as a vision board, so go BIG and cater to the most brilliant, profitable, successful dreams you have!
Pinterest and Instagram
Two platforms you can save and collect your inspirations, follow brands that are closest to you and your style, as well as get to know their posting & communication strategy.
You can join for free and create your brand inspirations right away. Simply search for a term that is at the core of the vibe your brand will give, then feel free to fall down the rabbit hole and pin ALL the things that give you the same feeling. Bonus, putting this together is SO helpful for your designer, and can stem from the concepts you’ve pulled for your mood board. Please note, these don’t all have to be design-savvy. They can be anything that simply catches your eye and feels good. When you converse with your designers, they will be able to help apply their translation - which will hopefully target aesthetics as well as an understanding of the gist.
While you’re scrolling your curated feed, the next time you see something you l-o-v-e, simply hit the bookmark icon to collect posts and content. Next to single posts, hop over to the profile feeds of brands you like. What’s their visual, content, strategy, and posting style? Do they use a consistent color, rhythm, or formulaic use of tools like reels / posts / carousels / stories? Do they have a pattern of reels, to IG TV, to carousels, to single posts ratio? Is there a person at the face of their brand or are they using lifestyle photos or text/quotes primarily? Get curious about what they’re doing and study up! Socially, Instagram can provide lots of quick-to-digest information on brands you love and admire.
Behance & Dribbble
These sites are design HEAVEN. You may not have ever heard about them, but I would highly recommend checking them out. When it comes to designing brands, websites, and more, these sites can drive your inspiration and style to a million levels above. They feature the most forward-thinking designers and concepts from around the world, giving you lots to spark a bit of newly found imagination.
BEHANCE | DRIBBBLE
Go exploring & get creative
It’s probably something you’ve heard before but throw caution to the wind and get out to explore!
Your town, the big city next door, book a mini-vacation, go museum hopping, or shopping - whatever you do to get a feel for the community you want to be a part of. Collect mementos or little sparks along the way. If it works out, pin them to your mood board, tape them in your sketchbook, or place them in a box of inspiration.
Every client I’ve ever had has told me they can’t draw. Here’s a little secret - neither can I! But! A sketch from a client is invaluable, so this is where I ask you to get creative. Play with a sketch for your designer - and KEEP IT - so that you can look back on the first note made for your brand and the evolution that is yet to come.
Listen up: Mastermind, Masterclass, Podcasts, YouTube!
Take your dog for a walk and listen to a podcast, Masterclass, or even YouTube on the topics you’re passionate about. Whenever you can, take notes. Keep quotes. Outline steps. Stand on the shoulders of giants by absorbing all this free information! If you know of a local mastermind or professional group where you can dive into your community of fellow business owners, try to make an event at least once a quarter to help you stay lifted and connected to others who share your passion.
Why not give one or two a try? Follow your intuition of what you’re seeking, what you’re looking for, but make space (seriously, only 15 minutes could change your path!) to feel INSPIRED, every day.
xooooo
—Court
