Branding & Working with Aviary Creative

“Let excellence be your brand”.

Sure, it’s great to be a photographer when the sky’s the limit with creative freedom and making pretty pictures.  But there’s more to it than that.  We’re also business owners who are responsible for creating a brand and an exceptional experience for our clients.  A brand to me is not only the first impression, but the taste of the experience after the shooting is done.  It’s also the tangible pieces that find their way into other people’s purses, in their mailboxes and on their doorsteps.  And since I am 100% referral based, this is where I put a lot of my energy into. And I want it to be so much more than just making pretty pictures.

I want it to be a remarkable experience for my clients.

But I have to be honest, I’ve struggled over my branding almost the entire time since I launched in 2007.  I think my branding has been every color in the rainbow and I’ve used countless symbols, icons and marketing pieces to go along with it.  But I’m ok with that because it has been a pretty incredible journey discovering who I am on paper and on the web.  I knew pretty quickly who I was behind the camera and have worked hard been busting my butt defining and refining my shooting style.  But this whole branding thing … whew.

Last year, I made the daunting switch from Bliss Photography over to Mishelle Lamarand Photography.  Oh sure why not, have a new baby and launch an entirely new brand in the same year?  Yeah, piece of cake. As hectic as it was, it was the most enjoyable experience for me.  I owe it all to a designer that did what no other designer had done for me before … she got me.  Her name is Katherine Adams and she is Aviary Creative.  She’s located in Australia, but I found her on Etsy.  The minute I saw her work, I knew she was right for me.  She was such a joy to work with and (with the time difference) I looked forward to waking up each morning to a new e-mail, simple hello or revision from her.  I’m excited that I finally have some time to share with you what it was like working with her and how my current brand came to be.

Since my initial launch I’ve added a few elements like arrows and phrases to really give it that extra umph.  A brand is much like your style, it’s constantly evolving and shaping into something is most representative of who you really are.  I mean there’s a reason we’re not all walking around with giant permed hair and pegged pants.  And thank God for that.  But here’s a peek at where my branding is today, and a few collateral pieces that I use in my every day business.

Starting off with custom usb’s which are a must for today’s photographer.  Even the newest notebooks and desktops are no longer coming with a DVD player.  I love my new white leather usb’s from Flashbay.  Their customer service is out of this world and who doesn’t love a company that delivers a full week ahead of schedule.  I attach my usb’s to a 5×7 card that I designed.  Some striped gray baker’s twine and washi tape makes it complete!  All of my wedding clients receive hi-resolution files for both their love shoots and wedding day.  My seniors have the option of purchasing individual, grouped or the entire catalogue of images from their shoot along with Printing Permissions.  Most of my goodies like my custom heart stamp from Besotted Brand and muslin bags can be found on Etsy as well.

I love my business card that Katherine designed.  With my custom pattern printed lightly behind my logo, rounded edges and printed on creamy bamboo paper gives it a high quality texture feel.  I secretly love when I hand it to people and they start rubbing it to see what it’s made of.  She created a press printed file for me as well, and I hope to get some press printed business cards soon (after I get over the initial sticker shock).  I no longer use images on my business cards because there are few images that look amazing printed on a 3×4.5 piece of paper.  Instead, I simply have my website listed so that they can go home and view them on their big, beautiful monitors instead (wink wink).

My seniors receive a custom tote along with a Welcome Letter, a usb of ordering guides, an inspiration gallery for displaying prints and a small gift from me on the day of their shoot.  I’ve also revamped my “Happy to Have You” package for my wedding clients that they receive as soon as they book.  I include a personal thank you note as well as a welcome letter, a stack of business cards to share with referrals, a usb that contains helpful timelines and checklists and a little something special just for the two of them.  Vintage spoons hand stamped with a heart and “My Ice Cream” & “Your Ice Cream” along with a Gift Card to Cold Stone is sure to let them know just how happy I am to have them as new clients! C’mon who doesn’t love ice cream?  And who doesn’t love having their own spoon so they don’t have to share with a greedy sweetheart sitting next to you on the couch watching Idol?  Um, not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.  Spoons from Etsy, of course. For delivering final wedding images and their usb’s, I package up a handful of First Edition Proofs, business cards and … oh, you didn’t think I’d really spoil their surprise, did you?

  All of my clients receive their digital files with Printing Permissions and a release printed on a 4×8 card.

And of course, when I launched For the Love of Learning Mentoring Sessions, I reached out again to Katherine for a custom logo.  She delivered another amazing logo that fits right in with my brand.  I use that logo on my journals for people that I mentor along with custom totes that I give to them as well.

And now for the design process with Katherine.  After starting an inspiration board on Pinterest, we narrowed down that my main color would be orange.  We eventually came to a creamsicle color, and one of Pantone’s hottest colors for 2012.  Since I shoot not only weddings, seniors and commercial work, I needed a logo and brand that reflected all of those genres.  It needed to be feminine, but also not too childish or quirky.  I also wanted my collateral pieces to have a somewhat industrial and edgy feel, and I think we hit the nail on the head.  I do often find myself shooting hard lines in the city and gritty alleys in Detroit so my brand needed to lean into that as well.

Here’s what the design process looked like, starting with Round 1…

When this process started, I never imagined that my brand would have a little heart in it.  She told me she really dug into our communications and I kept repeating “I shoot from the heart” and “I love what I do” and  “shooting seniors and wedding sis where my heart is” and it just made sense to her to throw it at me and see if it stuck. It was very me, yet I didn’t even realize it.  And that is a sign of a great designer.  Round 2…

A few nips and tucks …

And the final version.

She also provided me with watermarks and an entire set of collateral such as stationary, postcards and mailing labels to go along with my brand.

I have poured my heart and soul into creating a remarkable experience for my clients from start to finish.  And the process of refining and defining who I am as a photographer and business owner has been amazing.  Thanks for stopping by.