5 Steps to Define Your Brand Aesthetic
As a student of rhetoric and a lover of language, I’ve always been drawn to the transformative power of words and images to shape our collective consciousness and inspire change. And I’ve been on the brand-wagon for quite some time (past, present, future). I hope these five steps will help anyone looking for a guide to defining your brand aesthetic.
Jumping on the Brand-Wagon
Crafting a distinctive and compelling aesthetic is essential to capturing your audience’s hearts and minds. But where do you start? How do you distill the essence of your brand into a cohesive visual language?
Step 1. Symbolic: What’s Your Brand Metaphor?
Every great brand tells a story, and every great story starts with a metaphor. What are the symbolic associations that your brand evokes? What feelings does it tap into?
Step 2. Literal: What’s in a Name?
The words you choose to represent your brand are more than just labels. They’re the building blocks of your brand story. Take a closer look at the etymology and connotations of your brand name and key terms. What associations do they conjure up? By breaking down the literal components of your brand language, you can start to uncover deeper layers of meaning.
Step 3. Narrative: Who’s the Hero of Your Story?
Every brand needs a hero—a central character or idea that embodies its core values and drives its narrative forward. If your brand was a person, who would they be? What would they stand for? What would be their origin story?
Step 4. Inspiration: What’s Your Muse?
To give your brand aesthetic depth and authenticity, it helps to draw inspiration from the world around you. What are the art movements, design styles, or cultural touchstones that resonate with your brand story?
Step 5. Interpretation: What’s Your Twist?
Here’s where you take all the elements you’ve gathered and put your own unique spin on them. How can you combine and reinterpret your symbolic, literal, narrative, and inspirational ingredients to create something original and unexpected?
We All Need Heroes
Defining your brand aesthetic is a journey of exploration and experimentation. By starting with the right words and stories, and letting your imagination run wild, you can create a visual language that is distinctly yours.
