Episode 121
Brand Identity Secrets: How to Create a Powerful Visual Brand That Connects | Tracey Hayim
In this episode of Biz Bites, host Anthony interviews artist and brand identity expert Tracey Hayim on the secrets of creating a powerful visual brand. Tracey explains key aspects such as understanding your target audience, the significance of color and design choices, and the strategic importance of brand consistency.
She shares practical tips for both new brands and rebranding efforts, citing examples from her experience, including a memorable story about a lawyer who wanted to use orange polka dots for their brand.
Tracey also discusses the intersection of graphic design, art, and how creativity plays a crucial role in brand development.
The conversation emphasises the importance of aligning brand identity with audience evolution and the need for businesses to periodically reassess their branding strategies to stay relevant..
Don't miss this informative episode of Biz Bites! Subscribe to our channel for more valuable insights and business tips.
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Connect with Tracey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-hayim-metamorphosis-design/
Check out her website - Metamorphosisdesign.com.au
Join Tracey’s Event Branding For Growth Event. How to build a strong brand that Furls Business Success.
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Subscribe to the Anthony Perl hosts channel and the Biz Bites playlist for more inspiring interviews and transformative insights.
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adperl/
https://www.commtogether.com.au/
Learn more: https://www.commtogether.com.au/biz-bites/
Interested in having your own podcast? You can even have Anthony as the anchor of your very show. Check out https://podcastsdoneforyou.com.au or the podcast on this channel @anthonyperl_hosts
#creativity #branding #business #businessstrategy #podcasting
Transcript
Brand Identity Secrets.
Speaker:How to create a powerful visual brand that connects.
Speaker:Do you wanna know why some brands instantly connect
Speaker:and while others fall flat?
Speaker:We've got an artist and brand identity expert, Tracey Hayim, who's
Speaker:gonna reveal some secrets behind creating memorable visual brands
Speaker:that resonate with your audience.
Speaker:You'll discover why choosing your f. Favorite color might be killing
Speaker:your brand instead of giving it the success that it deserves.
Speaker:We're gonna hear lots of stories about even a lawyer who wanted
Speaker:to choose orange polka dots.
Speaker:You'll love that story and a few others, including a brand that is revolutionizing
Speaker:the way we go about looking at brand identity at the moment, an Australian
Speaker:based brand and is one to watch.
Speaker:You're also gonna get some practical tips through this episode, creating
Speaker:a brand that speaks directly to your audience, avoiding.
Speaker:Common mistakes when refreshing your visual identity and understanding
Speaker:when it's time to play safe versus when to be bold, adapting your
Speaker:brand as the audience evolves.
Speaker:So whether you're starting fresh or just considering a rebrand,
Speaker:this is a conversation you don't want to miss of Biz Bites.
Speaker:Stay tuned for this brand identity special.
Speaker:Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Biz Bites, and we are gonna
Speaker:talk all things brand identity today.
Speaker:And the person behind that is Tracey.
Speaker:And our parts have crossed a fair bit over the years, but we've never actually
Speaker:sat down and had a conversation.
Speaker:So welcome to Biz Bites.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Thanks Anthony.
Speaker:Thanks for having me here.
Speaker:I'm very excited to be here.
Speaker:Sharing insights today.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:So let's kick things off by getting you to do a bit of an introduction
Speaker:as to who you are and all the various things that you cover, because people
Speaker:will notice some things going on in the background if you're watching on YouTube.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So my name is Tracey Hayim, and I you can see my background is
Speaker:I'm a creative, I'm an artist.
Speaker:But I'm also a brand and graphic designer.
Speaker:My background is I always started from the back as an artist and then went
Speaker:into art school and then eventually studied graphic design and went into
Speaker:brand design and brand identity.
Speaker:And a little bit of a secret is that I was actually one of the
Speaker:first graphic designers to ever work on Adobe Illustrator version one
Speaker:on an Apple Mac in South Africa.
Speaker:So that is really my background from painting by hand to drawing and designing
Speaker:on Adobe Illustrator and other platforms.
Speaker:And a lot of it is done.
Speaker:A lot of my work is actually working with brand identity and developing a
Speaker:brand identity and then implementing it across all your platforms so that you
Speaker:will leave a legacy that actually helps your business grow and have continuity.
Speaker:Let's start at that high level, I think for everyone.
Speaker:Tell me about the importance of.
Speaker:Brand identity, not just because I think there's two takes to this.
Speaker:There is the take that is the standard one that we know about consistency in things.
Speaker:But I think even more interesting I think is in this current age,
Speaker:particularly of AI driven things.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And that need to stand out and demonstrate some level of
Speaker:creativity and something unique.
Speaker:I think brand identity is becoming more and more important.
Speaker:It's interesting and I think it's because people don't understand.
Speaker:I think for me, Anthony, what is the actual essential difference between
Speaker:in marketing, between a brand identity and then your marketing strategy
Speaker:and implementing your SEO and things like that to grow your business?
Speaker:Brand identity is a qualitative experience.
Speaker:It's how do you evoke the right emotion in your target audience, understanding
Speaker:psychologically who your target audience is and giving them that story.
Speaker:It's like giving, I always say it's like giving a person a plate of food.
Speaker:And if that plate of food looks magnificent and it ignites all the
Speaker:senses you are delivering a great.
Speaker:Meal.
Speaker:And for me that is what your brand identity is.
Speaker:It actually takes you out into who you are as a person or a
Speaker:product and your individuality.
Speaker:And our role is to actually extrapolate that from a brand strategy meeting
Speaker:with who, what's your vision?
Speaker:Who's your target audience?
Speaker:And what is the message you wanna send?
Speaker:What is the.
Speaker:Afterthought, what is the legacy that you wanna send to your customer?
Speaker:That's where we start because it has to evoke.
Speaker:That emotion on a visual perspective amongst all the
Speaker:other brand brand experiences.
Speaker:Your site, your I work on site, but your sound and your reading is what you
Speaker:read and what should also be aligned.
Speaker:And I do think it actually makes a big difference to your product or services,
Speaker:whether it's to a client or to a business.
Speaker:Yeah, it is so critical and I love the comparison to food in
Speaker:particular because it is such an invoking of all of your senses.
Speaker:But when you stop and think about brand identity, even the, whether you're
Speaker:going the fast food brand identity and McDonald's, which has been so carefully
Speaker:crafted over the years, or whether you're going to the fine dining experience.
Speaker:The brand identity is very much there and front and center and
Speaker:business needs to do the same thing.
Speaker:They need to have that same emotional thing and that same evocative story.
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:And I think yes, we see it in restaurants, but if you see us today,
Speaker:people almost expect it because it.
Speaker:Even if we look at all the software that's out there today, say for example,
Speaker:Canva, it's so easy to create something fun and gorgeous and the tools are
Speaker:there, but it's not actually that.
Speaker:It's understanding your client and the story, and it needs to be intentional.
Speaker:So often we go on our own and sign of.
Speaker:Create something, but is the intention, and that's part of that strategy is the
Speaker:intention around the design speaking to the right customer or client.
Speaker:And my favorite actual brand, to be honest, Australian
Speaker:brand is who gives a crap?
Speaker:Because I look at.
Speaker:Absolutely every piece of their brand identity.
Speaker:And I go, it talks to me, it makes me laugh.
Speaker:It it speaks in a psychological perspective to me, and it's fun and it's
Speaker:colorful and they've literally changed.
Speaker:The landscape.
Speaker:So there was something clever.
Speaker:And I think that is our goal as a brand identity specialist, is to say
Speaker:where do you fit into the landscape?
Speaker:Or the brand scape of your particular brand and service.
Speaker:And I suppose it's very important for us to identify that.
Speaker:In the brand identity journey is where do you wanna sit?
Speaker:Like even now, look at the background.
Speaker:You've got books, where do you slot in and how will you stand out on that in,
Speaker:in that whole bcap or in the supermarket?
Speaker:And it makes a big difference with the colors and the fonts
Speaker:that you choose and the logo.
Speaker:It absolutely is.
Speaker:There's a story that we are telling with our brand identity,
Speaker:whether you realize it or not.
Speaker:Whenever you meet someone new, whether you're meeting them in person or whether
Speaker:you're meeting them virtually, you are telling a story and it's your willingness.
Speaker:To be able to be consistent with how you tell that story to keep it on brand.
Speaker:For example, if I were to show up today in wearing a, cutoff shirt that would
Speaker:tell a very different brand story to me wearing a business style shirt.
Speaker:And if indeed, if I was wearing a tie and a jacket, it would tell
Speaker:a different story because I'm.
Speaker:More of a creative person, so that doesn't really fit that mold as well.
Speaker:So every little thing subconsciously tells a little bit of a story for people to
Speaker:pick up on even if you don't talk to it.
Speaker:Absolutely, and I think when you say that, most people are visual learners,
Speaker:60% I think of people are visual learners before they other information.
Speaker:They see what they see, then they're gonna read and it's what they hear.
Speaker:So actually, that's why to me, it's so impactful.
Speaker:If you wanna create a fun product and you are using grays and pinks,
Speaker:and there's somebody serious on the screen or miserable talking to
Speaker:you, you'd go, it's not aligning.
Speaker:So absolutely that intention with the colors and the what people see
Speaker:will definitely affect your market.
Speaker:So they say that if you don't define your market, the market will define you.
Speaker:And so you really are the person, as the brand owner is to seek advice on
Speaker:how do I want to present myself in the world today on every single level.
Speaker:And I think starting at visual, it's like a baby's born.
Speaker:The first thing they do is open their eyes.
Speaker:What do they see?
Speaker:Is they see the world.
Speaker:They hear the noises, and I think that's why you want to entertain
Speaker:that because it does tell the story.
Speaker:And a great example is McDonald's.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And they do.
Speaker:They tell the story of who they are and what they're about and what
Speaker:they're trying to achieve really.
Speaker:It's not it doesn't mean that you have to copy that.
Speaker:And I think that's one of the interesting things too.
Speaker:So Yes, and I'm sure you get that.
Speaker:I know I have in the past.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And I've, I may have recalled this conversation on Biz Bites once
Speaker:before, but this was a few years ago where I was sitting down in a cafe.
Speaker:In the city, in Sydney and with a client who was talking about, oh, we
Speaker:need to update our brand identity.
Speaker:And he said, I want it to look like this.
Speaker:And he pointed to a bank, I won't say which one.
Speaker:He pointed to a bank that was in the building behind with its logo.
Speaker:And I looked at him and I said.
Speaker:There is nothing about that brand identity that has anything to do with your brand.
Speaker:It is the wrong color, it is the wrong font.
Speaker:It is talking to the wrong kind of people at the wrong time of of
Speaker:life compared to where you are at.
Speaker:Just the fact that you like that.
Speaker:Has nothing to do with your audience, and I think that is one
Speaker:of the hardest parts, isn't it?
Speaker:Because you mentioned it at the beginning.
Speaker:It's about understanding your audience and then understanding
Speaker:where you want to position yourself in relation to your audience.
Speaker:It's not about just going, this is what I like, so therefore
Speaker:everybody else is going to like it.
Speaker:You've hit the nail on the head.
Speaker:And in fact, I was speaking to somebody the other day in one of my courses and
Speaker:they were saying, how do you feel when the client comes to you and says, my
Speaker:favorite color is orange and I'm going to be a, I'm a lawyer, I'm a lawyer and
Speaker:most of my clients are, I work, I'm a barrister and they solicitors, and I
Speaker:want orange, like funky polka orange.
Speaker:And you'd go, do you think that's going to evoke?
Speaker:The right feeling orange.
Speaker:Maybe you need something that's more established, and yes, the color might be
Speaker:your favorite color, but it most certainly might not speak to your customer.
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Speaker:And you'd go, do you think that's gonna evoke.
Speaker:The right feeling orange.
Speaker:Maybe you need something that's more established, and yes, the color might
Speaker:be your favorite color, but it most certainly might not speak to your customer
Speaker:and give them the evoke a serious, professional, established relationship
Speaker:and the font, like you, behind you, you've got being the voice of brilliance.
Speaker:It's fun, it's a script.
Speaker:That might not work if you are working in a government department.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:So it's very intentional is choosing those fonts and understanding them as being
Speaker:part of your brand experience and how you communicate it really is important.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And being consistent is part of that process as well is that the
Speaker:document that I think in business that you should refer back to the
Speaker:most is around your brand identity.
Speaker:And yet, so few people do, right?
Speaker:They get it.
Speaker:They might have a one page or a multiple page document, and the amount of times
Speaker:they actually go back and refer to it is probably once a year, if you're lucky.
Speaker:And yet, it's a thing that's so intrinsic to what you're doing and
Speaker:how you are presenting yourself.
Speaker:Each and every day, and it's amazing how quickly it goes off the rails.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And I suppose because it's an aspect of your business strategy as well, and.
Speaker:If you wanna keep people in line as your team putting it out there as I was at
Speaker:my husband's office and their vision, their identity, their mission, all of
Speaker:that, and the language and the tone is written actually within the walls and
Speaker:the halls so that people are living it.
Speaker:And that goes back to actually your visual identity is, it becomes part of it.
Speaker:Where are you gonna place this information?
Speaker:Where are you gonna access it?
Speaker:Is it in your office?
Speaker:Base is it on your screens?
Speaker:Where, and that's actually what I love to focus on, is that in our world
Speaker:today, we've got so many touch points.
Speaker:You might be in a podcast, you might click on your podcast in a website, and then it
Speaker:leads you to an external software site.
Speaker:Everything needs to be made clear that we are in the same.
Speaker:Office, if you wanna call it that your brand is there when you're
Speaker:going to LinkedIn, that you hit on your profile, your brand is there.
Speaker:So that same photo, people think, oh, I'll use a photo for example,
Speaker:of myself, one from 30 years ago and one from 10 years ago.
Speaker:Your client, if it's personal, branding goes, who is that person?
Speaker:Is that the person I just saw?
Speaker:I'm confused.
Speaker:Those are, to me very important Parts of the visual identity is being
Speaker:very clear and very consistent with the same visuals so that it helps
Speaker:your client move along and have a easy experience within your brand.
Speaker:Yeah, it's, and it is something that I. You have to review, don't you?
Speaker:It's not 'cause you, 'cause your audience changes, and I think
Speaker:that's one of the things that escapes people as well, is that.
Speaker:It's change because of circumstances and things that are changing around you.
Speaker:Not change for the sake of change, but also don't not change just because
Speaker:you can't be bothered all because it's a because you can be saying a lot by
Speaker:having a brand that just feels dated.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:It's interesting you talk about that you have to reassess and realign.
Speaker:That is part of my.
Speaker:Product, process or system is that, you define it, you then.
Speaker:Align it and then you create your mood boards and then you design it.
Speaker:But then my next one is realign or transform it.
Speaker:But you still have to go back and realign it to define it.
Speaker:And it's true, you could have a business, people think, my business is doing
Speaker:well, I've been going for 20 years.
Speaker:But you actually, in that 20 years, if you're a retail store, you could
Speaker:be selling a product that actually is.
Speaker:Your target audience has changed, or the target audience that you had is
Speaker:you defined in those 30 year olds.
Speaker:They're now 60 year olds.
Speaker:And actually, you know what, you need to start re bringing in new target audience.
Speaker:You might be looking at 20 year olds.
Speaker:That means your brand needs to change the identity because the photo usage and the
Speaker:styling and the logo might just not speak.
Speaker:To a younger person, so that is why you absolutely do need to realign it.
Speaker:Yeah and I think, again I see too often the realignment, I. Of just
Speaker:trying to make it fresh for the sake of making it fresh is also not right.
Speaker:It is about, it is realigning with who your audience is and where
Speaker:they're at, and understanding those changes and those things.
Speaker:I've seen a brand redone recently.
Speaker:I won't say which one.
Speaker:And, I went back to the CEO and I said I wasn't involved in the
Speaker:branding process, but I went to the CEO, who I know reasonably well
Speaker:and said, you are making a mistake.
Speaker:The color that you have chosen will not resonate with your audience.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:It also looks terrible online.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:It's quite often and I've seen it happen, and I think this is why, I wanted to
Speaker:speak to you because I know that you spent a lot of time working on understanding
Speaker:audiences because there are a lot of.
Speaker:Designers out there.
Speaker:'cause it's relatively easy to set yourself up as a designer and not
Speaker:have that background and simply go in and do what they think looks good.
Speaker:And I think there's a, I've seen it done over the years.
Speaker:I'm sure you'd be equally frustrated by people who'd go onto the
Speaker:likes of Upwork and they simply put in going, I am a lawyer.
Speaker:Please create.
Speaker:A new brand identity for me.
Speaker:And I literally had this a couple of years ago with one of my
Speaker:friends who said, I've done this.
Speaker:He had a hundred different responses come back of ideas and I said look,
Speaker:I'll help you sort through them and work out which is the right one.
Speaker:Only one of them was even close to being.
Speaker:Where he should be.
Speaker:99 of them were just horrible and had no relationship whatsoever to his audience.
Speaker:And the one that did was more a fluke than it was because it was, there was not
Speaker:a proper brief, there was not a proper consideration of who the audience is.
Speaker:And I think all of those things don't underestimate the time and effort
Speaker:that you need to put into doing that.
Speaker:Because it also helps in your communication process in other
Speaker:aspects when you actually understand your audience.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Gosh, I. You, so on my page, I can't even tell you.
Speaker:And it's almost like a frustrating thing to be out in the world and
Speaker:see that people wanna be a designer.
Speaker:I suppose it's the same as going, you can't be a brand designer if you are.
Speaker:A copywriter, copywriter's focused on the writing.
Speaker:A visual person is somebody who really has an eye for.
Speaker:In the background you see a painting, you're seeing on the that
Speaker:side, you're seeing the orchid.
Speaker:That's the start of an abstract painting of an orchid.
Speaker:You realize that.
Speaker:It takes a visual intelligence and a buildup of intelligence to absolutely
Speaker:help you identify your brand logo.
Speaker:It means that you not only have to respect your client and their
Speaker:requirements, but you also have to deliver something that is going to grow
Speaker:their business, and that can only be done when you've done the research.
Speaker:And so research is so important.
Speaker:I just redid a whole brand website and a brand experience for a
Speaker:swimwear cost swimwear brand.
Speaker:And the research I did was far more valuable than anything else because it
Speaker:gave us insight to what clients wanted.
Speaker:Her target audience.
Speaker:I went straight to her specific target audience.
Speaker:And the feedback we got actually helped us build something that was
Speaker:successful, visually appealing, functional within her budget.
Speaker:But the funny thing was, is that she designed, she gave me her logo.
Speaker:My the, it was already designed, so it's already, this is a important
Speaker:thing to remember is go and get it done at the foundations and the start
Speaker:of your business instead of investing in something that might not be right,
Speaker:because what she did is she designed her.
Speaker:Swimwear and she invested in having all the labels printed with her logo.
Speaker:But the feedback was, we don't like that.
Speaker:We don't even can't even read it.
Speaker:But it was too late to change it.
Speaker:So for me, the important thing is start I have a brand starter kit.
Speaker:Start with that.
Speaker:Invest with that.
Speaker:Have the strategy, have the research done.
Speaker:And at least it's like a baby being born.
Speaker:You give it a proper name with intention, give your business that.
Speaker:Start a good start.
Speaker:Yeah, it's it because it is often done on a whim and that then carries
Speaker:forward for many years to come.
Speaker:And then suddenly you've got what was never really spot on in the first place.
Speaker:The accumulation of that is taking you further and further
Speaker:away from your audience.
Speaker:And so if you feel like you've done that, now is the right
Speaker:time to absolutely stop and go.
Speaker:Let's re-look at this because the further you wait and the further
Speaker:you get down the track Yes.
Speaker:The more territory that you have to reclaim.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:Anthony, it's actually really a so wonderful speaking to
Speaker:someone who's experienced this.
Speaker:You, in the marketing world, you understand that a logo is not
Speaker:just a pretty face, it's actually something that you're gonna live with.
Speaker:For a long time.
Speaker:You want it to be that you might and when we do look at let's look at CommBank and
Speaker:we look at some of even Amazon or which is a favorite band brand in the world,
Speaker:or Google, it could be that it looks the same and you change it subtly over
Speaker:time accordingly, which happens a lot, but the essence of it is still there.
Speaker:The logo is the one thing, but it's still the story.
Speaker:And how do you connect visually to your customer?
Speaker:And yes, realigning because your customer might change, the environment might
Speaker:change, and you do really need to reassess those things, but it's always about the
Speaker:questions, asking the right questions.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And I think I, I wanna know where you stand on this as well, because one of the
Speaker:things that I've always said to people around brand is that when you first get
Speaker:something back to have a look at, you should feel a little bit uncomfortable
Speaker:because if you're too comfortable with the brand that you've got in front of you, the
Speaker:likelihood is that you're making a very.
Speaker:Conservative choice, that's going to get boring very quickly.
Speaker:I love that and that your audience is not necessarily going to love, so that
Speaker:if you feel a little bit of discomfort, it's probably the right way to go.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:It's actually really interesting because you say that, and maybe
Speaker:as a designer if I receive that, it's quite a hard thing to say.
Speaker:If a client goes, oh, you give two options and I often do for feedback,
Speaker:you are saying like, the more risky one could be actually the better one
Speaker:because it's gonna make you stand out.
Speaker:I did it for some builders and I chose, I wanted to do, um.
Speaker:What's it Fluro Pink.
Speaker:And I wanted them to wear those top hats, the hard hats in fluoro pink,
Speaker:because I said nobody does that.
Speaker:Like everybody's wearing the same standard.
Speaker:But if you came onto site with these fluoro pink hats, you dealing
Speaker:with the, if you're building homes with the woman, she'd love it.
Speaker:She think it's so cool.
Speaker:So just, you'd be connecting with her rather than the people you work with.
Speaker:You'll actually be talking to your customer and you'd
Speaker:look a little bit different.
Speaker:But actually it was very risky for them.
Speaker:They didn't take the idea, they went for the safe color.
Speaker:And 'cause I've, again, I've, we are telling stories and I think this is,
Speaker:and the reason I wanted to share lots of these stories with the audiences,
Speaker:I think this is where you learn.
Speaker:I worked with an organization a few years ago now.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And I'll, the short version of the story is.
Speaker:The organization.
Speaker:Ended up taking it through a process internally with, without
Speaker:allowing the external experts to be part of that process.
Speaker:What happened was they chose the brand.
Speaker:That was almost the furphy that was in there.
Speaker:Often when you, I'm sure when you present brands and you present them with a few
Speaker:options, there's usually one choice that you go, this is, look, we wanted
Speaker:to show you where we started from, but it's not really the right choice.
Speaker:What happened was that was the choice they made, and it was the
Speaker:wrong it was the wrong tagline.
Speaker:It was the wrong logo.
Speaker:It was just everything was wrong about the choice that they made.
Speaker:But because, yes, they just allowed themselves to float into the comfort zone.
Speaker:So what they chose was something that was not gonna make them stand out,
Speaker:which is part of the process, right?
Speaker:There's no point building a visual identity that makes you sit.
Speaker:Basically amongst the crowd.
Speaker:This is not a school uniform that you are creating so that
Speaker:every student looks the same.
Speaker:You're trying to create something that enables you to express who you
Speaker:are as a business, how you, as we said at the beginning, evoke emotions
Speaker:with people and stand out for the right reasons in the right way.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:I'm learning a lot from you.
Speaker:I have to say thank you Anthony.
Speaker:It's you.
Speaker:A hundred percent correct.
Speaker:It's really, I. Almost to detach yourself and then trust.
Speaker:The experts.
Speaker:I think as an expert, I definitely respect my client and I want to
Speaker:deliver something that they love.
Speaker:I always say love your brand.
Speaker:However it comes with that difficult process is that you've
Speaker:gotta go through the research, the asking, and externalizing it.
Speaker:Instead of internalizing it, ask people, who are your potential customers?
Speaker:How do they receive it?
Speaker:How do they feel about it?
Speaker:And don't rely on your own self to make those decisions.
Speaker:And also don't ask your, don't ask family and friends.
Speaker:That's the other big tip I give people.
Speaker:Please don't ask your family and friends what they think because the chances
Speaker:are they are not your core audience.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:And that's, and that.
Speaker:And so they're as, as lovely as they are, as much as we love our family and friends.
Speaker:Opinion does not matter unless they are a hundred percent in your core Yes.
Speaker:For your brand.
Speaker:Agreed.
Speaker:And so we coming back to the beginning and the part of the brand
Speaker:strategy to develop and design.
Speaker:Is definitely to research the BrainScape, your vision, your pillars
Speaker:your purpose, and research it with those particular, that target audience.
Speaker:Do it, ask those questions.
Speaker:Get the research done because that will help define with your story.
Speaker:And the researcher will define your end product and your
Speaker:end goal as a brand identity.
Speaker:I know how important it is.
Speaker:I've, my couple of my most recent clients that we are doing podcasts
Speaker:done for you for, and they've come with very strong brand identities.
Speaker:And so when we are creating the graphics for the podcast itself, I. It's this is
Speaker:the guidelines, this is where we are.
Speaker:No, don't, we, that, that image doesn't really quite fit.
Speaker:And we make these little tweaks and things and That's right.
Speaker:That's ab I love working with that.
Speaker:I love working within those parameters because it's very
Speaker:clear as to who they are.
Speaker:And we are not just trying to create something with no knowledge.
Speaker:I wanted to ask you a little bit differently 'cause you've got we touched
Speaker:on a little bit and you've got this beautiful piece of art that's behind you.
Speaker:Tell me about the journey.
Speaker:Is it because the balance between graphic design is quite different
Speaker:to to art in terms of painting and that, and working in that way, but.
Speaker:They have an influence of one another and they're great creative outlets and
Speaker:they too have a, even though that is not necessarily for business, the art
Speaker:that you display in business can have an impact on on your brand identity as well.
Speaker:So I love how you find the blend between working in those two quite
Speaker:different spaces, yet can have some relationship, it's interest.
Speaker:A great question for me actually.
Speaker:10 years old, wanted to be a graphic designer, had no idea what graphic
Speaker:design was, except that at that time it was a commercial artist.
Speaker:I think for me it was like I could make money with being creative
Speaker:and have a purpose because graphic design, when you look at actually,
Speaker:where does graphic design come from?
Speaker:The history of it.
Speaker:It actually.
Speaker:Within the art world, when we look at Bauhaus and Kandinsky
Speaker:and all these artists, they were, Kandinsky was the most profound.
Speaker:He had the most profound influence on graphic design and color.
Speaker:Because he literally utilized it.
Speaker:His background, he was a lawyer, and I think as a designer you need to
Speaker:have the fundamental understanding of drawing shape, form, color, light.
Speaker:And def definition, all of those techniques are very important
Speaker:foundational skills for a designer.
Speaker:You can't just be a designer.
Speaker:In fact, you have to have a good eye.
Speaker:You can be a, even a photographer, you can get a photographer and
Speaker:you can get an unbelievable.
Speaker:Photographer and you, and how do I define that?
Speaker:It's somebody who's got a great eye.
Speaker:They actually see, I've worked with and taught a lot of
Speaker:children, art and creativity.
Speaker:Everyone can be creative, everyone, but have you got a great eye for it?
Speaker:It's almost have you got a great eye to compose music?
Speaker:The understanding comes.
Speaker:From color is the subtleties of color.
Speaker:If you are going to be designing, you've gotta understand the color
Speaker:palette and it, and the other thing is that what you sing behind me
Speaker:is paint it some, it's a pigment.
Speaker:It's like the history of color paint was invented long before
Speaker:a color screen was invented.
Speaker:Color has changed over time as a designer and an artist that actually integrated.
Speaker:My learnings with art are that it's my own self-expression.
Speaker:However, you can be an illustrator, and an illustrator needs to know
Speaker:how you're commercializing it, and you're creating a story, but you
Speaker:still need to understand how to draw.
Speaker:So there is that connection, and it's also about expression.
Speaker:The one can be more freely expressed.
Speaker:Your brand identity, what the commonality are, all the learnings
Speaker:around color and shape and form and composition and scaling, for example.
Speaker:Those are all the things you need to understand, but you're not talking.
Speaker:To a technology and you're selling it.
Speaker:So it has to be able to be scalable, easily used easily, but pattern making and
Speaker:ideas will come from the creative process.
Speaker:So the research is the, I would say then going back as a quantitative,
Speaker:you're gonna need to do the quantitative because you're going to
Speaker:need to know who you are actually.
Speaker:Doing the work for, and the qualitative is the art.
Speaker:It's the creative space is then where once you understand that, you bring it
Speaker:together and you use your creativity.
Speaker:So it's like a child and a parent.
Speaker:You need both.
Speaker:In order for a child to grow strong and be well rooted, they need the guidelines.
Speaker:Design has the guidelines.
Speaker:Graphic design is a guideline.
Speaker:There are key elements for great design.
Speaker:That you learn within it.
Speaker:And then you step back to Kandinsky.
Speaker:Kandinsky was first an artist.
Speaker:He then worked for Bauhaus.
Speaker:He had a massive influence on color theory, but it came from him working
Speaker:and mixing with color paints all in history, all the posters for impression
Speaker:of come to the to theater in France with the artist designing the posters.
Speaker:That is the history of graphic design.
Speaker:Art Deco.
Speaker:Art Novo, they all came from the arts, but then it was the craft and the art
Speaker:that influenced it, and then it led it into the history of graphic design.
Speaker:So graphic design is a way of communicating effectively with the
Speaker:expression to your right target audience.
Speaker:You can't be designing it for yourself.
Speaker:You are designing it for somebody else.
Speaker:Your audience.
Speaker:And I think that's there are those similarities, right?
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:I love all of that and it's such a it's that woven story, which is an
Speaker:important aspect and it's something for businesses to understand that it is a.
Speaker:It is a process and it does say so much, and I think even talking, even the artwork
Speaker:itself that you might have hanging in an office says a lot about who you are
Speaker:as a brand and tells its own story, just for example, tell me about the story of
Speaker:the painting that you've got behind you.
Speaker:Okay, actually, so interesting.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:If you've got a brand and you are in a specific office, say technology, you would
Speaker:probably wanna think about what type of artwork you're gonna put into your office.
Speaker:In my office, which is my studio.
Speaker:What you're seeing now is actually, I have actually just completed the
Speaker:Archibald that did a self-portrait.
Speaker:Sitting behind me was a self-portrait of myself.
Speaker:This painting is, I like to.
Speaker:In the moment, spur of the moment, that is where I get my inspiration.
Speaker:And I like to start extracted just to loosen up because the
Speaker:creative process even if it was.
Speaker:In design is you need to loosen up and open up to brainstorming.
Speaker:When I create here to start, what inspired me is behind me that, it's funny, I put
Speaker:this in the background, but the orchids were sitting in my studio, which I
Speaker:recently bought her a photo shoot, and I thought that, oh one, I love flowers.
Speaker:They just bring me a lot of joy.
Speaker:Joy is one of my highest values.
Speaker:And so I started painting this.
Speaker:Yellow is also, so here, talk about yellow's joy.
Speaker:It's a low chakra.
Speaker:Your earthly chakra, it's grounds you, it's emotional and I wanted something
Speaker:that was joyful and I think I was celebrating so psychologically color.
Speaker:Definitely connects us, and we might not even know it if you're not aware
Speaker:of it, but you might actually, if you wanted to open up your awareness to the
Speaker:intention of why you're choosing colors, if you are low in energy, you might have
Speaker:tomatoes and for creativity, orange is.
Speaker:Fun.
Speaker:You start eating it.
Speaker:These are ways of healing your body with color, and I'm passionate
Speaker:about it, and so I put it into this.
Speaker:You can see in this canvas is that it's yellow and they're purples and pinks.
Speaker:They're opposite colors on the color wheel.
Speaker:And so that's what it is about understanding color and tone.
Speaker:These are a little bit more opaque colors.
Speaker:They tone down colors and that's what actually happens with people
Speaker:who don't understand color.
Speaker:They might choose purple and they choose a very bright purple, but
Speaker:you might want to tone down purple.
Speaker:And how do you create that?
Speaker:So that is what I'm painting in my studio.
Speaker:It's spur of the moment.
Speaker:It's going to, this is the beginning of it.
Speaker:I might leave it for a few months.
Speaker:It's not like a deadline for a brand.
Speaker:When there's a deadline you deliver.
Speaker:This might stay like this for about six months until I finish it.
Speaker:It's never finished.
Speaker:If you're a true artist, it's never finished.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:There's always something that you're gonna work on.
Speaker:I. It's true, it's the connection of art and why I thought it was so important
Speaker:to have a chat with you today is that peop in the day of a AI is starting to
Speaker:dominate the headlines, if you like.
Speaker:And I think the one thing that is going to continue to.
Speaker:Be promoted is actually a resurgence of the arts, a resurgence of
Speaker:creativity because as much as there are tools out there like Canva that
Speaker:can do a lot of things, and even you can use your various ais and can
Speaker:create graphics it's not the same.
Speaker:They can only operate within the parameters of which they've been fed.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Whereas the creative human brain has the opportunity.
Speaker:To develop something that has never been seen before, and that I
Speaker:think is where it's so important to understand that is going to continue
Speaker:to differentiate you and where.
Speaker:You tapping into these resources is important and I indeed, I think the part
Speaker:of this, which I just wanted to touch on finally, which perhaps goes into some
Speaker:other spaces that you are in as well, it's opening up people to creativity
Speaker:because it's not necessarily about.
Speaker:Not all of us are gonna become artists.
Speaker:I know I'm terrible at at painting and drawing.
Speaker:That's not my skillset.
Speaker:It's more in, in verbalizing things or in written form.
Speaker:But the point is to open up creativity in whatever space you
Speaker:are in, allows you to create new opportunities for your business to grow.
Speaker:And I think that kind of ability to inspire people, whether it is.
Speaker:Through your brand identity, through a painting or through actual
Speaker:some sorts of classes and things that you can do together is so
Speaker:invaluable, I think, for business.
Speaker:Yeah I agree.
Speaker:I think, you know what I say, there's human intelligence.
Speaker:Human intelligence created mechanical intelligence and artificial intelligence.
Speaker:It took a human being.
Speaker:To imagine the worldwide web, it took a human being to
Speaker:create artificial intelligence.
Speaker:They have created an unbelievable world for human beings, but we are the
Speaker:creators and we must not forget that.
Speaker:I think it is.
Speaker:I'm going to just starting to wrap things up, but I'm gonna reference
Speaker:back to a a Biz Bites episode recently.
Speaker:And Igor, if you're listening in, I appreciated this because he
Speaker:said when we were discussing ai.
Speaker:He doesn't believe that the I should stand for intelligence because the
Speaker:thing about it is all it is a set of data that it's reconfiguring.
Speaker:So it's not necessarily intelligence in the human way that we think about it.
Speaker:And I think that's a really interesting.
Speaker:Idea and one that I think is important in the discussions that we've had today.
Speaker:Just to wrap things up, I wanted to ask you the one question that I like to ask
Speaker:all of my guests, what is the ah heart moment that people have when they start
Speaker:working with you that you wish more people knew they were going to have in
Speaker:advance so they come flocking towards you?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:It's inter That's a great question, and thank you for asking.
Speaker:I, it's interesting for me, what brings me joy in what I do is when my client
Speaker:goes, oh, you you've got it for us.
Speaker:You've delivered.
Speaker:It's what?
Speaker:It's right.
Speaker:It's great.
Speaker:Because for me, I'm almost the facilitator, so when they go.
Speaker:Ah, yes.
Speaker:It's what we want.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Let's tick it off.
Speaker:It's done.
Speaker:It's great because the creative process is about what you like and what your
Speaker:clients your audience is going to like, the client and the audience when
Speaker:that comes together and you get that I feel like I've won the jackpot is
Speaker:that they go, oh, I, I love it because.
Speaker:It is about me expressing I'm a facilitator for the other,
Speaker:for your, for my client.
Speaker:So when they say you hit the brief, you've got it right.
Speaker:That's really important.
Speaker:Hopefully they will value more the brand strategy because
Speaker:for me that is actually where.
Speaker:The creativity comes from, and that's the research and the
Speaker:really honing down on the detail.
Speaker:But yes, aha moment is when you say you've got it, you've got
Speaker:what I'm thinking in my head.
Speaker:You've put it out there.
Speaker:Fantastic.
Speaker:Tracey, thank you so much for being part of Biz Bites.
Speaker:I there's so many things that we've covered today and I hope it's given
Speaker:people listening in today, lots of insights and tips on how to think
Speaker:about their and value, I should say.
Speaker:Their brand identity and the consistency for that and how much it says about
Speaker:what you are and and where you are going, I think is so important.
Speaker:So thank you so much for all of your insights.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Thanks for having me on your show, Anthony.
Speaker:It's been wonderful, really wonderful.
Speaker:I appreciate it.
Speaker:Absolute pleasure.
Speaker:And of course to everyone listening in cha a look at the show notes,
Speaker:we'll have lots of information about how to get in contact with Tracey.
Speaker:And of course, don't forget to stay tuned.
Speaker:Subscribe and keep listen in for the next episode of Biz Bites.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Hey, thanks for listening to Biz Bites.
Speaker:We hope you enjoyed the program.
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