In todays modern commercial society, branding is considered to play an ever increasing role in the success or failure of any business. You only have to walk down your local high street and you'll be bombarded with all manner of logos and identities from a wide spectrum of companies.
So what is a brand? Why is it important? Do we all need one? Well like it or not, you have a brand, and it is probably more important than you realise!
Before becoming a professional photographer, I was a graphic designer, I often worked on creating brand identities for a variety of companies, both large and small. During my 4 years of art college training, I learned about a lot of the things that are important to a brand, and what can make them successful. Upon finishing my degree, I went on to work as a designer, both in-house for large manufacturers, and as a freelancer at various agencies, where I was creating new identities for a range of companies.
So what is a brand? Why is it important? Do we all need one? Well like it or not, you have a brand, and it is probably more important than you realise!
Before becoming a professional photographer, I was a graphic designer, I often worked on creating brand identities for a variety of companies, both large and small. During my 4 years of art college training, I learned about a lot of the things that are important to a brand, and what can make them successful. Upon finishing my degree, I went on to work as a designer, both in-house for large manufacturers, and as a freelancer at various agencies, where I was creating new identities for a range of companies.
Brands are much more than just a logo. Your brand is your clients, or potential clients opinion of you as well. It's your reputation, and the public image you project. I've had loads of photographers ask my opinion on their logo, or how they watermark their images, and they spend weeks fiddling with it to make sure it's "right", well you know what? It's almost irrelevant!
When I first set up as a professional photographer, I did the same. I spent ages designing a logo. I based it on my initials, and made the "M" resemble a simplified camera. I wanted to use my initials, purely because "McLaughlin" is hard for people to spell, and because everyone bangs on about search engines etc, I wanted to make sure people could find me. Using my initials seemed like the easiest option.
Of course I could have branded myself under some cryptic and pretentious pseudonym, but I knew I wanted to be me. If I was setting up as a company, whereby I could send other photographers out to do my jobs, then sure, a company name is fine. But as a freelance photographer, people are hiring "me", and I've always wanted my brand to reflect that.
So why did I change from using my initials to using my full name? Aren't I worried people won't find me? - I changed for a simple reason. I'm me, and I want to be me. When I took on my own studio, I did a lot of self evaluation, both of my work, and the work I want to be doing. I was using my initials so that people could find me... well that never seemed to bother Patrick Demarchelier or a whole host of other famous photographers with names that are consistently spelt wrong. I want to work with people who want me, and what I do. In which case, they should be able to spell my name! Interestingly, when I check the search engine stats for my website, people are misspelling it, but Google is pointing them in my direction anyway, so clearly it's not a problem, and people are finding me.
Your logo isn't a logo, it's just your name, why don't you have something that stands out more? This is a sort of mini revelation I had. I suppose it comes back to what is a brand... I had loads of people telling me they could see a style in my work, and the could always spot one of my photos before seeing the logo on it. This made me realise that I don't want to be recognised for my logo. My logo isn't what I want people to be looking at, or the reason for someone to hire me. I create photographs, and it's those photographs that I want to be noticed. So on that basis, I just wrote my name in capital letters, in Helvetica. It's about as generic and non-logo as I could get. Given the choice, I wouldn't watermark images when I put them on the internet. I think it detracts from the image most of the time, but unfortunately, we live in an age of image theft and plagiarism. I've had my images pop up all over the place, and with issues like the digital economy and orphan works, it's a necessary evil.
I made these changes because I wanted my brand to be about my photography. For any business, it should always be the product that's at the heart of the brand. You can have the best designed logo in the world, and have fancy business cards, and look mega professional and expensive, but if the product sucks, the brand fails, and the business collapses.
My re-brand didn't just stop at my logo, stationery and website. As I said before, branding is more than that. I also re-branded myself. I was editing the behind the scenes video below, and I realised I needed to do something about the way I looked...
I'd got overweight, and would often wear baggy jeans and t-shirts with slogans or comic book characters on them. Not the best look for a professional who deals with commercial clients. So I went on a crash diet and lost 3 stone in 3 months. I also stepped up my wardrobe game, and smartened up my whole image. You're brand is only as strong as it's weakest element, and you are as much a part of your brand as your work. For illustrative purposes, here's a shot of me in June 2010, and another from October 2010...
Of course I could have branded myself under some cryptic and pretentious pseudonym, but I knew I wanted to be me. If I was setting up as a company, whereby I could send other photographers out to do my jobs, then sure, a company name is fine. But as a freelance photographer, people are hiring "me", and I've always wanted my brand to reflect that.
So why did I change from using my initials to using my full name? Aren't I worried people won't find me? - I changed for a simple reason. I'm me, and I want to be me. When I took on my own studio, I did a lot of self evaluation, both of my work, and the work I want to be doing. I was using my initials so that people could find me... well that never seemed to bother Patrick Demarchelier or a whole host of other famous photographers with names that are consistently spelt wrong. I want to work with people who want me, and what I do. In which case, they should be able to spell my name! Interestingly, when I check the search engine stats for my website, people are misspelling it, but Google is pointing them in my direction anyway, so clearly it's not a problem, and people are finding me.
Your logo isn't a logo, it's just your name, why don't you have something that stands out more? This is a sort of mini revelation I had. I suppose it comes back to what is a brand... I had loads of people telling me they could see a style in my work, and the could always spot one of my photos before seeing the logo on it. This made me realise that I don't want to be recognised for my logo. My logo isn't what I want people to be looking at, or the reason for someone to hire me. I create photographs, and it's those photographs that I want to be noticed. So on that basis, I just wrote my name in capital letters, in Helvetica. It's about as generic and non-logo as I could get. Given the choice, I wouldn't watermark images when I put them on the internet. I think it detracts from the image most of the time, but unfortunately, we live in an age of image theft and plagiarism. I've had my images pop up all over the place, and with issues like the digital economy and orphan works, it's a necessary evil.
I made these changes because I wanted my brand to be about my photography. For any business, it should always be the product that's at the heart of the brand. You can have the best designed logo in the world, and have fancy business cards, and look mega professional and expensive, but if the product sucks, the brand fails, and the business collapses.
My re-brand didn't just stop at my logo, stationery and website. As I said before, branding is more than that. I also re-branded myself. I was editing the behind the scenes video below, and I realised I needed to do something about the way I looked...
I'd got overweight, and would often wear baggy jeans and t-shirts with slogans or comic book characters on them. Not the best look for a professional who deals with commercial clients. So I went on a crash diet and lost 3 stone in 3 months. I also stepped up my wardrobe game, and smartened up my whole image. You're brand is only as strong as it's weakest element, and you are as much a part of your brand as your work. For illustrative purposes, here's a shot of me in June 2010, and another from October 2010...
The upshot of losing weight and giving more thought to how I look is that I now have more personal confidence, which obviously helps when talking to clients, and because I look like I care about myself, it instills more confidence in my clients that I'll care about the work I'm doing for them. We're in an industry based on images, so image is everything.
So what does this mean for you, and your brand? Think about who you're aiming at. EasyJet are a classic example. They're want to look cheap, so their brand reflects this. Compare that to the likes of Aston Martin, or Rolex who exude luxury. It's important to know your market and what your potential clients are looking for. Once you've done that, you need to embody everything about your brand in everything you do. If you use social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, think about how potential clients might view the sorts of things you say and do on them... it all becomes part of your overall reputation.
The thing about brands and logos, is that people can often get a false sense of security from them when buying a product or service. If someone looks professional, they must be right? Obviously it's important to look and act as professional as possible, but remember that it's always the product that's important. As photographers it's our images that people are paying for. Having a flashy website, a funky logo and the best camera in the world won't make your business successful... creating amazing photographs will!
So what does this mean for you, and your brand? Think about who you're aiming at. EasyJet are a classic example. They're want to look cheap, so their brand reflects this. Compare that to the likes of Aston Martin, or Rolex who exude luxury. It's important to know your market and what your potential clients are looking for. Once you've done that, you need to embody everything about your brand in everything you do. If you use social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, think about how potential clients might view the sorts of things you say and do on them... it all becomes part of your overall reputation.
The thing about brands and logos, is that people can often get a false sense of security from them when buying a product or service. If someone looks professional, they must be right? Obviously it's important to look and act as professional as possible, but remember that it's always the product that's important. As photographers it's our images that people are paying for. Having a flashy website, a funky logo and the best camera in the world won't make your business successful... creating amazing photographs will!
2 comments:
Another good blog Jay, interesting topic choice. I had noticed the recent change in your 'brand'. Well done on the diet too, I'm sure it would be a popular blog post for a lot of readers just to talk about how you did that!!! Much prefer the new look than the England shirt too!
Of course every business needs the help of brands to get penetrate into the market. by the ways nice blog
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