“Oh Okay, I See What That Looks Like Now”
Annabelle
One of my recent branding projects still sticks with me, not because of anything complicated, but because of one moment during the mood boarding stage.
The project was a brand identity delivery, logo, colour palette, typography system, a few assets like custom icons, imagery choices and sub-logos. We did the initial mood boards after reflecting on the brand questionnaire and our first conversation, and she was really excited already, just seeing them.
She could very clearly see that I’d understood her vision and reflected it back to her, in a more graphic way. She was already so clear on how she spoke about her branding, her messaging, her tone. What she didn’t have was a graphic visual to show and reflect that.
The Light Bulb Moment
So when I reflected that back to her, in terms of her words, her phrasing, her general messaging that she already had sorted, and then how it actually looks graphically, in shapes and form and typography, she was really pleased to see it was all incorporated.
It was a light bulb moment. She said, “oh okay, I see what that looks like now.”
That’s what genuinely made me feel ready to move into the next stage, the actual logo design. And when I delivered the logo, it really did hit — she was thrilled, because it was exactly what she’d been looking for.
I think every client gets some version of that moment, if I’m doing my job properly. The best part is when the symbolism is woven in so subtly you almost can’t tell it’s there.
If you’ve got the words for your brand but not the picture yet, that’s exactly the gap a brand workshop closes — take a look at the work.