My project for DIY Branding for Creatives: Your Brand Style Guide is my own style guide which I created as I created this class. I hope you enjoy it.

 

The Foundation

Worksheet 1

On this worksheet I started with I love that I get to do what I love to do, after asking "why" six times my answer was: "I want to live the life we choose, not the life society dictates." So this is my personal shy, or as I like to call it, my "selfish why". 

Worksheet 2

The mission I came to was this:

"I teach people different creative skills to empower, encourage and inspire them to do what they love, and to open their minds to the world of possibilities. I share my knowledge, experiences and art to spread beauty, love and joy.

Worksheet 3

What I do?

I teach courses about business branding and design.

I teach creative courses like calligraphy and illustration, in person and online.

I sell my patterns and designs on products on Print on Demand sites.

I sell design assets and other digital creative products online.

People who might be interested?

New/Existing small business owners.

People wanting to learn new design and/or creative skills.

People who aren't sure how to follow their dreams or where to start.

People who shop on POD sites online.

Designers looking for design assets.

People looking for downloadable digital products to make their life easier (planning/parties, etc.)

Worksheet 4

Ideal Customer Profile

Goals and Values:

Build their own (creative) business/brand. Learn new creative skills. Find products they like (hopefully mine) online. Easily create/organize their lives/parties, etc.

Information Sources:

Design blogs, Course websites - Skillshare, Udemy, Craft and Creative websites like Craftsy and Creative Bug. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Etsy.

Potential Objections:

Money (still starting/learning), Time (working, moms, other commitments), Fear...

Challenges and Pain-points:

Knowing where to start and/or how. Not knowing what they want is a possibility. Feeling it's too late. Not finding designs or courses they love.

Demographics:

25 years and up (probably), Female, probably has a family - is or have been married, children, anywhere in the world, probably lives in a suburb, mid-level income, education doesn't really matter, definitely has a dream.

Worksheet 5 

How do you help your ideal customer?

What goals can you help them reach?

Teach them how to build a brand/business with step-by-step instructions. Show them it is possible, be there for them. Put new designs online often. Write how-to articles. Create lots of digital assets.

What challenges can you help them overcome?

Show them what is possible and that they can do it. Teach them new skills. Share my designs. Share my experiences. Teach them. Encourage and inspire them. 

***Show them how to start.

What is unique about your product?

I still learn everyday, I don't have it all figured out but I'm sharing as I go. I don't give up. My story is the same as theirs.

What makes you different?

I love to learn, I love to do research and I love to teach. I desperately want to help myself and others.

What is your product?

I teach courses in person and online. I sell my designs on POD sites and assets on design sites. I write articles. I teach as I learn.

Worksheet 6

Values: learn, teach, share, open, honest, transparent, warm, friendly, helpful

 

Brainstorm keywords and create a Mood Board

Keywords

 

Mood Board

 

Color Your Brand

I tried a few different ways and a few different color palettes, but eventually settled on this one:

I ended up choosing more than six colors because I realized I would like a few more options for my courses as well. I want my course images to match my brand as well. This is a really good example of how you can break the rules once you know them, because then you know the reason for breaking the rule and it makes more sense to do something different.

Font Your Brand

I had a pretty good idea what I wanted from the start although I wasn't sure about which fonts exactly I would choose, after a bit of searching and going through the process on wordmark.it I finally settled on these:

 

Images and Graphics

I will be mock ups for my images for my website, social media and other courses I create. I needed to remind myself constantly to keep it simple.

Logos

I started out with templates and trying a few different things like adding graphics, but I realized I need to stick to a font logo, it's simple and it won't take away from my designs and illustrations.

 

I've uploaded my final Style Guide in the project section.

Have fun, I hope you enjoy creating your style guide.