How I Developed my Brand Elements

The idea of cultivating a personal brand was a task that seemed almost insurmountable to me when I took IMC in the fall. I knew that I wanted to be a marketer but had no idea the amount of work that went into developing a brand. As the quarter progressed and I began to work on my personal creative strategy, I was forced to sit down and think about how I wanted my brand to reflect who I am. I’m writing this blog with the purpose of helping you gain some ideas as to how you may want to develop your brand! Before the actual inception of your brand elements can be made, there are a few questions that you should ask yourself to aid in the ideation process.  

1. What is unique about me that can help me differentiate my brand?  

• I struggled with this idea at the initial stages of my brand development. It is easy to simply want to create a brand that blends in with today’s norms in marketing, but your brand should also reflect what makes you… you. The first thing that came to mind for me was my heritage. Half of my family descends from Norway, and I grew up practicing many aspects of the culture. I knew that I wanted my personal brand to reflect my heritage and in turn my family.  

Apart from my heritage, trying to answer this questions really made me delve deep and ask myself, “who am I?” This can relate to your personality, morals or even the things that you enjoy.  

2. Once you have established what can help set you apart, you should then ask yourself: How can this translate into my brand?  

• Thankfully this question may not seem as vague as you might think. Your brand elements include:  

• Colors: These should reflect your own personal identity and the way that people associate your brand. For me, I wanted colors that reflected my Norwegian heritage and incorporate my favorite base colors of gray and blue. I decided on these as a combination of the ocean and frigid climate of Scandinavia.  

• Fonts: This was the brand element that I had the hardest time with. Fonts may seem unimportant, but they will act as a medium to how people perceive and identify your brand on paper. I chose my fonts as a combination of simplicity and professionalism to reflect my brand tagline of making marketing “sleek”.  

• A Logo: This is arguably the most important aspect of your brand. This is what people will associate your name with, akin to the Nike ‘Swoosh’. (I made a blog about how I developed my logo, feel free to check it out!) 

• Tagline: The tagline of your brand can take some time to cultivate. At first, my tagline was “The Viking Spirit” in an effort to honor my Norwegian heritage. I realized that this has nothing to do with a brand let alone marketing. I then ideated for a while and asked myself, “what is a tagline that will exemplify my brand along with being repeatable?” I then landed on, “Marketing Made Sleek” as it reflected the minimalist design of my logo and website. Your tagline should be compliment to the rest of your brand and offer people a cursory idea of what you’re all about, akin to your logo.  

• Tone: Your brand tone can be a bit more personal compared to the rest of your brand elements. How do you want to come across when people examine your brand? Abrasive? Bold? Calm? Stern? These are all examples of how tone can reflect your brand, it is simply up to us to decide how we want to come across. 

• The Five Senses: We all know what the five senses are: Look, Smell, Sound, Taste, and Feel. How to turn these into brand elements takes some ideation. Think about the senses and how each one can be related to you. For example, my brand look sense reflects my tagline of being “Sleek”.  

Here are the brand elements that I developed courtesy of my Creative Brief: