Building a Brand
TheSkapoos Workshop
Step 1: Creating a Logo Sketch
To begin the brand launch for TheSkapoos Workshop, a logo was needed. After communicating with the client, he provided me with a sketch of what he wanted the logo to look like, as well as what the aesthetic should be. Included in the sketch were the colors & the text that should be incorporated in the final logo.
Step 2: Beginning the Logo Design Process
Once I received the sketch and vision for the logo for TheSkapoos Workshop, I began creating the logo in Adobe Illustrator. I tried our two different logo concepts to begin with and presented them to the client. He wanted me to go in a more realistic, bold aesthetic than the concepts I had presented, so I did. I used the Bungee font and various shades of greens and greys to bring his logo to life.
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Step 3: Product Photography
The client had requested that the overall color palette and theme of the brand to consist of greens, browns, wooden textures, metallic textures and a bold tone. So, for the photography aspect I found a perfect piece of wooden texture to use as a backdrop for the necklaces. Due to the reflective nature of the stainless steel material, several bounce cards were necessary to reflect and deflect light from certain spots on the necklace. With some post-shoot editing in Adobe Photoshop, I was able to adjust some of the hue/saturation/contrast and shadow levels. I also cropped all of the photographs to be the same size so that there is continuity in the product shots.
Step 4: Creating Business Cards
After finalizing the logo, it was time to start designing the business card. The client wanted a split card design with weaponry pendant accents throughout the design. He also wanted people to be able to access the website from the business card, so rather than putting the website on it, I decided to put a QR code for ease of use. I also decided to keep the information as short and intriguing as possible to get people to want to visit the site to learn more.
Step 5: “Thank You!”
When it comes to receiving an order, a part of the experience and excitement of the product is opening it. Especially when it comes to handmade goods. I spoke with the client about this, and he agreed on having thank you cards as part of the business. At the moment, his business goal is to gain exposure, and we made sure this would happen by including an incentivized coupon code for ordering, and requesting that the purchaser shares their experience and findings with others who may enjoy the jewelry just as much as they do.
Step 6: Designing the Packaging
For packaging options, he wanted different options. First, there’s the typical cardboard box with TheSkapoos Workshop branding all over it, but then there’s a unique pendant pull out box that we found and branded to TheSkapoos Workshop. One option includes the coupon code and a wish for the purchaser to share the brand with their friends while the other option focuses on thanking the individual for their purchase.
Step 7: Building the Website
TheSkapoos Workshop is a business made to sell goods, so an e-commerce website was a necessity. With the assistance of the Woocommerce wordpress plugin, building this e-commerce website brought up minimal challenges. With the clients requested color & theme palette, I color picked colors & fonts from existing assets such as the logo and the thank you cards so that there was a connection between absolutely all of the pieces of this branding project.
Step 8: Building a Social Media Presence
As TheSkapoos’ Workshop creation and branding came to an end, it was time to push a social media presence for the brand. This was done by creating an instagram account called theskapooswrk and creating several posts to start up the account.
Step 9: Google Compliant
After creating the entire brand identity and social media presence for TheSkapoos Workshop, it came time to get the site registering on Google. I set up a wide range of platforms for the client to use to track their analytics use as tools such as:
- Google Ads
- Google Merchant Center
- Google Search Console
- Woocommerce
- Mailpoet
Reflection
Creating the brand identity for TheSkapoos Workshop was a pleasant experience. The client communicated well and was honest during the review processes so that I was able to design everything just how he wanted. This was the first real-life brand that I’ve helped go from completely nothing to maintaining an entirely stable brand identity and presence. This was also my first time setting up many of the backend features of an e-commerce website such as Google Merchant Center, Google Search Console and more. However, now that I have the knowledge on how to set up these factors, I now know how to do it even faster in the future.