Designing a Brand Identity In 8 HOURS. How did I do? 😅

Summary

In this video, the designer takes on the challenge of creating a full brand identity, including a logo, guidelines, business cards, and mock-ups, for a company called 'folio' in under a day. The process involves mood boarding, mind mapping, sketching, refining in Illustrator, and using tools like Gen C and Assets 4D to streamline the workflow. The video demonstrates the intense effort and creative strategies employed to achieve a high-quality brand identity within a tight deadline.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The challenge is to design a full brand identity, including logo, guidelines, business cards, and mock-ups, in less than a day, a process that typically takes around a month.
• 📝 The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the client's needs and the target audience, which in this case is a portfolio website called 'folio' aimed at creative professionals.
• 🎨 The design process begins with mood boarding using Miller note to gather visual inspiration and establish a color scheme and brand atmosphere.
• 💭 Mind mapping is highlighted as a crucial step often overlooked, which helps in connecting different ideas and creating unexpected connections for new design concepts.
• ✍️ Sketching on an iPad using Procreate is preferred for speed, allowing for quick iteration of ideas and refinement of the 'folio' wordmark.
• 🔍 Attention to detail in typography is critical, with adjustments to letter spacing, line thickness, and optical balancing to ensure the logo is consistent and visually appealing.
• 🌟 The inclusion of a star in the logo design serves as a unique brand visual, blending vintage and modern elements, and potentially doubling as an icon when combined with the letter 'F'.
• 🎨 A color scheme is developed with a focus on a distinctive purple hue, chosen for its historical significance and association with creativity and superiority.
• 📐 The use of a brand guidelines template in Figma expedites the creation of brand guidelines, incorporating the finalized logo, colors, fonts, and usage do's and don'ts.
• 📇 Business cards are designed using a template and personalized with the brand's elements, demonstrating how the logo and colors translate to physical materials.
• 🔗 The project is managed and tracked using Gen Z, a tool that streamlines client communication, project proposals, and payments, which sponsored the video.

Q & A

What is the main challenge the speaker is undertaking in the video?

The speaker is attempting to design a complete brand identity, including a logo, brand guidelines, business cards, and mock-ups, all within a single day, a task that typically takes around a month.

What tool does the speaker mention for managing freelance design projects?

The speaker mentions 'gen C' as a tool that helps freelance designers work with their clients, including customizable project proposals, a client briefing system, project communication, and payments all in one place.

What is the name of the company for which the brand identity is being designed?

The company's name is 'folio', which is a portfolio website designed to be a professional platform that does not use generative AI to scan the website for data modeling.

What is the unique aspect of the 'folio' brand that the speaker emphasizes?

The unique aspect of 'folio' is that it does not use generative AI to scan the website and does not allow generative AI to use the images uploaded by users for data modeling.

What is the purpose of mind mapping in the brand identity design process according to the speaker?

Mind mapping is used to connect different imagery in word form to create new ideas. It allows the speaker to create unexpected connections and transform verbal connections into imagery.

What tool does the speaker use for creating mood boards?

The speaker uses 'Milanote' for creating mood boards, which allows taking images from the web and organizing them into boards to establish a color scheme and vibe for the brand.

What is the significance of the color purple in the brand identity design?

The color purple is chosen for the brand identity because it represents creativity and a superior type of Instagram. Historically, purple was difficult to create and was associated with royalty, adding a sense of exclusivity and prestige.

What is the importance of creating 'do's and don'ts' in brand guidelines?

The 'do's and don'ts' in brand guidelines are crucial to ensure that the client does not misuse or misrepresent the brand's design. It serves as a 'Bible' for maintaining the integrity of the brand's visual identity.

How does the speaker plan to create the business card design?

The speaker plans to use a template downloaded from Envato or the InDesign store, and then bring it into Canva to make it editable for the client, ensuring it aligns with the brand identity.

What is the speaker's final step in the brand identity design process?

The final step is to go back to 'gen C' to show the client the completed work, create a cover image, upload it, wait for approval, and once approved, upload the final files to complete the project.

What does the speaker conclude about the quality of work produced under time constraints?

The speaker concludes that while it is possible to complete a brand identity design in one day, the quality of work could be significantly better if given more time, such as a week or a month.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Rapid Brand Identity Design Challenge

The speaker embarks on a challenge to design a comprehensive brand identity, including guidelines, business cards, and mock-ups, for a company called 'folio' within a single day. This is a stark contrast to the usual month-long process due to the absence of client meetings and back-and-forth communication. The company 'folio' is described as a portfolio website that differentiates itself by not utilizing generative AI and protecting user-uploaded images from data modeling. The speaker introduces 'gen C', a tool aimed at assisting freelance designers with project management and payments, and uses it to receive the design brief for the challenge.

05:01

🎨 Creative Process and Initial Sketching

The video script details the initial steps of the design process, which include mood boarding using Miller note to gather inspiration and establish a color scheme and vibe for the brand. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the target audience and the brand's unique selling points. Sketching begins on an iPad using a specific brush in Procreate, focusing on creating a unique typographic aesthetic for the logo. The design process involves iterative refinement, with the speaker highlighting the importance of consistency in typography and making design decisions based on the brand's target audience.

10:02

🔍 Refining the Logo and Color Scheme Development

The speaker describes the refinement process of the logo, which includes adjusting the thickness of lines and the counters within the letterforms for optical balance. A color scheme is developed using a unique purple, inspired by its historical significance and association with creativity and superiority. The process involves using a color generator to create a cohesive palette that aligns with the brand's desired Instagram-like yet professional image. The speaker also discusses the importance of creating an icon that can be used across various platforms and maintaining the integrity of the design through brand guidelines.

15:04

📘 Finalizing Brand Guidelines and Deliverables

The final stages of the brand identity design are outlined, including the creation of brand guidelines using a template from assets 4D, which expedites the process. The speaker discusses the importance of 'do's and don'ts' in brand guidelines to protect the integrity of the design. The creation of a business card is also detailed, using a template and customizing it within Canva for client editing capabilities. The project concludes with the submission of the work to the client via gen C, emphasizing the efficiency of the tool in securing payments and approvals. The speaker reflects on the challenge, noting the potential for higher quality work with more time, and promotes gen C as a valuable resource for freelance designers.

Keywords

💡Brand Identity

Brand identity refers to the visual elements and overall impression that a brand conveys to its audience. It includes the logo, typography, colors, and other design elements that make up the brand's visual appearance. In the video's context, the creator is attempting to design a complete brand identity for a company called 'folio' within a day, which is a challenge given that such tasks typically take weeks or months of strategy and refinement.

💡Logo

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem used by brands to identify themselves and create a visual connection with their audience. It is a crucial part of brand identity. In the script, the design of the logo for 'folio' is a central task, with the designer focusing on creating a unique and memorable logo that represents the company's values and services.

💡Mood Board

A mood board is a collection of images, colors, and materials that communicate a certain atmosphere or 'mood' for a design project. It helps to set the tone and direction for the creative process. The video mentions using Miller note to create a mood board for 'folio', which included images that inspired the color scheme and the overall vibe of the brand.

💡Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a brainstorming technique that visually organizes information, allowing for the generation of new ideas and connections. It is used in the video to connect different concepts related to the brand 'folio', helping the designer to generate creative ideas for the brand identity.

💡Typography

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible and appealing. In the video, typography plays a significant role in the logo design process, with the designer focusing on the unique arrangement and style of the letters in the word 'folio' to create a distinctive brand mark.

💡Refinement

Refinement in design refers to the process of adjusting and perfecting a design to achieve the desired outcome. The script describes the refinement process as time-consuming but essential, where the designer makes minute adjustments to the logo to ensure consistency and visual appeal.

💡Brand Guidelines

Brand guidelines are a set of rules and standards that ensure consistent use of a brand's visual identity across various media. In the video, the designer discusses creating brand guidelines for 'folio' to ensure that the brand's visual elements are used correctly and consistently, preventing misuse of the logo and other brand assets.

💡Mock-ups

Mock-ups are visual representations of how a design will look in its final form or in a specific context. They are used to demonstrate the application of a brand identity in real-world scenarios. The script mentions creating mock-ups for 'folio' as part of the brand identity package to show how the logo and other design elements would appear on various materials.

💡Business Card

A business card is a small card used to convey an individual's or company's contact information. In the video, the designer creates a business card for 'folio', using a template and customizing it with the brand's typography, colors, and logo to ensure consistency with the overall brand identity.

💡Gen Z

Gen Z refers to the generation born between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s, known for their use of technology and social media. In the context of the video, the designer mentions considering the preferences of Gen Z when creating the brand identity for 'folio', indicating an awareness of the target audience's characteristics and trends.

💡Gensy

Gensy, as mentioned in the script, is a platform that helps freelance designers manage their projects, including client briefings, project proposals, and payments. The designer uses Gensy to streamline the process of creating and presenting the brand identity for 'folio', highlighting its utility in the workflow of a freelance designer.

Highlights

The challenge of designing a complete brand identity, including logo, guidelines, business cards, and mock-ups, in less than a day is presented.

The usual process for brand identity takes around a month with multiple stakeholders and back-and-forth communication.

The client's brief involves creating a logo for 'Folio', a portfolio website with a unique selling point of not utilizing generative AI for data modeling.

Introduction of Gen C, a tool designed to assist freelance designers with project management, client briefing, and payment.

The use of MURAL for creating mood boards to establish a color scheme and vibe for the brand identity.

Mind mapping as a crucial step in connecting different ideas to generate new concepts for the brand identity.

The importance of researching and gathering information as the foundation for a strong brand identity design.

Utilizing an iPad for sketching and lettering the word 'folio' to explore typography and unique aesthetic combinations.

The iterative process of refining the logo design, focusing on consistency and optical balancing in typography.

Incorporating a star element in the logo to represent a blend of vintage and modern branding, and its potential as an icon.

The use of purple in the color scheme to convey creativity and a sense of superiority, aligning with the brand's Instagram-like appeal.

Creating brand guidelines using a Figma template from Assets 4D to expedite the process and maintain consistency.

The necessity of including 'do's and don'ts' in brand guidelines to preserve the integrity of the brand identity.

Mock-up creation to visualize how the brand identity will appear in real-world applications, despite time constraints.

Designing a business card using a template and Canva for client editability, showcasing adaptability in the design process.

The reflection on the quality of work produced under time pressure versus the potential with more time for refinement.

Jency's role in streamlining the freelance design process, offering an invite for those interested in improving their workflow.

A call to action for viewers to subscribe, share, and comment on the video, emphasizing community engagement.

Transcripts

I've got a question can you design a

brand identity a whole one in less than

a day and we'll just talk about the logo

I'm talking about the full thing the

full shebang brand guidelines business

cards mock-ups can you do that in less

than a day for context I normally spend

around a month that's about as much time

as I spend normally it can go a bit

further along than that on one client

identity and it's not only me that's

working on them the reason why it takes

so long is because normally we're

meeting with them which we're not doing

today we're strategizing with their

brand so we don't just design branding

and then just give it to them there's

normally a lot of back and forth maybe

they like the design maybe they don't

maybe the direction is correct maybe

it's not maybe we have difference of

opinion well today I'm going to take on

a whole brand identity in one day that's

consolidating hours and hours into one

day which is eight hours of work I

better get cracking

so first of all I had to find a client I

couldn't reuse a real client as I it

would be a nightmare it would just make

me too stressed you guys today are my

clients and this is the brief that you

gave me you wanted me to design a logo

for a company called folio which is a

portfolio website this is where I sort

of Instagram meets professional

portfolios uniqueness of folio comes

from the fact that it doesn't use

generative Ai and it will not allow

generative AI to scan the website and to

use the images that you upload for data

modeling so I use the sponsor of today's

videos app gen C to do this genci is a

new free tool that helps freelance

designers work with their own clients

and get paid on time including fully

customizable project proposals a

built-in client briefing System project

communication files and payments all in

one place I can send new project

proposals choose to use Pavements to

make sure I get paid pick the briefing

option to get a proper brief from the

client and set up all the details from

Project price timings and deliverables I

can even add a project I'm already

working on with a client it's pretty

great it's invite only and I've got the

invite code to get you in so Naomi went

ahead and put the Jency brief up I saw

it and I got cracking the first thing I

do is move body

because this was a portfolio website

designed around creative professionals

it has to cater towards creative

professionals and not the mass Market

that's the first thing in my head who is

this for from there I knew that I could

go a bit crazy with the design I could

go a little bit pretentious as well for

move body I use Miller note and it was

fun I felt the pressure though I only

had eight hours to do this Miller note

is a great tool it allows you to take

images from the web put them in give

yourself a mood board you can create

boards within boards to have board

section A lot of these images were put

in there to give me sort of a color

scheme but also to give me a certain

Vibe I hate the word but it's a Vibe

it's like an atmosphere around the brand

what what's the tone of it so what I'm

doing is I'm trying to find images that

really speak towards it but you got the

figma logo there I'm going to shove that

in because I don't mind having a few

logos in my mood board the color scheme

of the airpods pro here is nice I can

just shove these straight into Miller

note right here

I can add many others if I so desire

I've got this idea in my head already of

having folio in a wide type oh now this

is the one I like the fact that it's all

kind of different so it feels like

diverse I like this too it's got Amazon

Vibes too but it's quite friendly I

don't know if I want to be too friendly

with this though it doesn't really make

sense I want it to kind of be modern but

I also like this Hutch Hutch is pretty

cool the what I'm doing is I'm taking

inspiration from other folk who've done

this everything's like a remix for

instance here I don't care about the

color scheme too much but the way that

the letters work you know you've got the

H as just the letter it's kind of like

the medium logo oh that's an idea medium

where is that now the medium logo is

pretty cool I'll take a screenshot of

this bring that in like folio is kind of

folded what if we had this idea where it

was folded this whole process took about

an hour just researching getting all of

this information in the second step

after mood boarding is mind mapping this

is the biggest step that people forget

now obviously I had to be quick I'm on

the clock here

I have a skillshare original class all

about this but mind mapping is

essentially a way of you connecting

different imagery that's in word form

together to create new ideas mind

mapping allows me to create connections

with things that you wouldn't expect and

that's the beauty of it you can create

verbal connections and make them into

imagery so for instance folio

like we've got the social media aspect

to it so it's like Instagram like

licensing for images maybe something I'm

gonna write is it's like

old school

before AI or like before computers like

if it is safe it's a safe place

ownership is a big one essentially I'm

going to just go in and out of the move

board and my node and see where we come

up to and hopefully I'll have something

that I really like you might be

surprised there's like only eight hours

to go in the Working Day and I'm

actually spending a lot of time doing

all the research stuff but this is what

I needed to do this is what gives me the

foundation I always look at it like a

pyramid you've got the foundation of

what you need which is all the

information at the top is the smallest

part which is the design the end result

very concise but a lot of work goes into

it from this pyramid once I feel like

I've got enough fuel inspiration gas in

the tank enough information to go ahead

I very quickly just brought out my iPad

normally I would do sketching on paper

recently I've been doing it more and

more in just normal paper and using

tracing paper to refine but because

we're on the clock using the iPad

I just start lettering out the word

folio a lot in a certain brush which I'm

going to link down below which you can

get for procreate I'm looking at the way

the letters communicate with each other

and see what we can do to create a more

unique aesthetic I find it's always

easier to create a unique aesthetic with

typography than in icons because there's

a lot more shapes happening in

typography that'll make a lot more sense

and you can connect them in Crazy

different ways so I had this one idea

where the letter O is quite wide and I

really like the look of it but I also

had different ones with the letter F I

had to make sure that it didn't look

like Fender I didn't want anything to

look like the fender logo although it is

a nice noodle logo

during this point I don't really care

how bad the logos look normally no one

sees these but because I'm recording I

get a little bit nervous of people

seeing them you don't ever have to show

your clients these in most cases this is

for your own benefit and for me doing

this it helps see what works and doesn't

work so I just carry on creating shape

after shape feeling the pressure though

I could do this all day I need to stop I

need to actually make a decision this is

what Bob Ross would say the decision

time I like to write on my work a lot so

I was in red pen just scripping out bits

that I didn't like and I was

highlighting things that I did like but

it's not just personal preference it's

just what I thought would work well for

the brand and for the age group for the

target audience of it I ended up on that

first idea that I really liked though

the why tractor I love the combination

of having the arm of the F at the top

come across with folio to flowed really

well and I also like the wide tracked

O's but there was something still off on

it so I decided to take it out and do

some refinement which is where where I

said you copy it upscale it Trace over

it and get rid of any mistakes this

process normally takes me the longest

amount of time because I'm having to go

through all these my new details that I

know about typography which I'm going to

make a video on soon there's a lot of

illusions that are happening so from

overshooting to how thick certain

crossbars should be even looking at the

counters of the O there was something

wrong but I kept going and I really like

this idea of where it was going but

there was one little thing in the design

that I think really solidified it for me

which was the star and I don't know why

I put it in there it doesn't really make

much sense branding wise because it

seemed vintage and it also seemed modern

it was kind of like an amalgamation

between like the NASA logo and something

old the star really just jumped out with

me as being one of the brand visuals in

my mind I also knew that the F could be

Consolidated down with the star to

create an icon which was one of the big

things of this we didn't want to just

have the Stars icon although we could do

we could just blow up the stuff and put

the F inside it there's so many

different ways of doing it I wanted to

have this way of keeping the F around

when it was in a fave con or when it was

in an app icon so I kept going I kept

noodling around with it refining it down

and the time is ticking and I'm getting

a bit worried at this point

the next step is the choice and make

another choice and say yes I'm going to

put this into illustrator this is the

refinement stage I bring the logo into

illustrator for my iPad this is why I

start to refine it a bit more normally

this takes a lot longer especially with

type so if you can spot some mistakes in

the end logo let me know I start

gridding it up by that I'm bringing

guides on the X height the Ascender

height the descender height and

everything else and I start lining

things up if you want to know more about

how I do this essentially I'm just

reusing elements of the design I've got

the stem of the F which is the big thick

part and I'm just copying that over in

fact I start with the L that's right the

L I reuse that thickness all over

because if the thickness of that album

is any thinner in any other parts where

it shouldn't be it's going to look a bit

crazy and not look good great logo

design is all about consistency when I

get to the f I notice there's some

problems the bar at the top the arm

looks a bit too thick but it's the exact

same thickness even though I've shoved

it down so I have to do some Optical

balancing to make it look good A lot of

the time when you sketch a logo and then

you bring it in to refine it it looks

terrible because you haven't refined it

enough refining is all about the minute

details and make that crossbar a little

bit thinner and I like the design it's

going well but there is still a few

issues with the oh the o doesn't look

crazy so I do some balancing with them

if I draw some perfect O's on perfect

circles or ellipses then it's not going

to look like a it's going to look like a

perfect circle kind of strange isn't it

I know isn't really A Perfect Circle at

all so although it's wide I go ahead and

I play with the counter the counter is

the bit that's missing inside of the O

that's the typographic tip it looks cool

it's got a serif Vibe and it works so

well it's kind of like a mashup between

serif and really clean modern typography

that's tracked widely it looks like

something that would be on a spaceship

which if you don't know my goal is to

design something that will be in space

so I'm stoked about this at this point

I'm checking Jency because jensy allows

me to see what the client needs it gives

me the deliverables and also I'm looking

at the time frame I haven't got long

left so we've gone to gen Z I can see

what the client has asked for in this

case it's near me so the client has

picked out these images here which have

a sort of taste that I'm going for

within this design so when I first

started the project this is what I got

and this is very much in line with what

I'm looking for here the tiger audience

I'm seeing that I need to also refine

this create an icon and do brand

guideline time is running out

so I first need to go ahead and create a

color scheme now there's one color that

I really liked that sort of sparked the

idea of creativity but also a superior

type of Instagram that's what I was

going for and that is purple or purple

if you don't know purple was a very hard

color to create back in the medieval

times

[Music]

they had to do it in a crazy way I think

it was dead things that they did it or

like seashells certain type of seashell

I don't know

[Music]

but only royalty could get purple so

purple's a great Color Purple is even

better though so I use this purple

really like it and I wanted to come up

with a different color scheme so I

brought that hex code of the electric

Indigo into coolers to generate some

real quick colors normally I would just

spend more time in Adobe Illustrator

because I wouldn't be sweating like I am

trying to get this finished so there's

me creating some color schemes and I

really like this sort of yellow it's a

very dark saturated yellow and I put

that in as well I could start to see

this thing happening now this thing

started to look really good

now with only a few hours on the clock

I've got to do one of the most longest

and tedious parts of the process I have

to also create the brand guidelines that

takes forever normally however I've got

a little trick up my sleeve for this I

have this website called assets 4D where

we upload amazing design resources

premium design resources made by us to

help you and I've got this template

called the brand guidelines template

this is a figma template with loads of

components I've decided instead of

creating folio's brand guidelines by

scratch I'm going to do it within this

template sort of start going in to figma

and I start editing I bring in the logo

the cool thing about the brand allies

template is it's super easy to put in

your logos and it will apply it

everywhere double click delete paste in

found this on the web it's not what I

wanted same with the global colors I

added the global colors the global fonts

as well all the way through now I

thought I could be a little bit Sleazy

and finish this even earlier by using

chat GPT to create some of the

copywriting within the guidelines

however I haven't subscribed to it so I

don't have access because it was busy so

with not much time for me to start

messing around I start putting in the

work I bring in the logo I start to

bring in some imagery I delete a few

boards too because some of those boards

don't need to be in there this is more

of a mini one I don't know if that's a

cop out but that's just

the biggest one was the do's and don'ts

these are huge and I'm surprised not

many people do them when you're

designing a logo it's not good enough

for you to design it the client can ruin

it and you are the one to stop them from

doing that by giving them this Bible

which is the brand guidelines this is

what's going to stop them from messing

around with your design especially

because that company's owner probably

doesn't do design himself they need

someone else to know what not to do good

design is about what knowing what not to

do rather than what to do so I added in

the do's and don'ts or just the Downs

really the dudes are pretty

self-explanatory don't stretch don't add

a stroke don't manipulate it don't

rotate it don't kiss it don't sit on it

things like that with all that done I

needed to start writing some text in

chat GPT wasn't helping me out today for

a real client project obviously I would

not use chat GPT because there's a lot

of information that I would put in let

me know in the comments if you want to

see more about that so I started adding

in some information it seemed a bit Bare

Bones but that's what I could do The

Next Step was to create some mock-ups

sometimes you would put the mock-ups

into the brand guidelines I kind of did

it a bit backwards but I wanted to do it

like this it seems like the best choice

but before mock-ups I had to create a

business card now there's a cool

template that I downloaded from envato

or I got it from the InDesign store

there's no need for me to create a new

template for a business card as it's

very self-explanatory business cards are

kind of just standardized so I use this

template and my plan was to bring it

into canva afterwards save it as a PDF

bring it into canva because a lot of

designers don't know that you can just

essentially bring in a PDF to canva

decide what's editable set it as a

template and then the client can then

edit it it's great for social media

posts but canva didn't like it because I

couldn't upload the main font which is

Rock grotesque I've been using this font

for everywhere recently it's great from

here I added all the information to the

markups really quickly and easily I

could see the Finish Line it was so

close and before you know it I am

essentially complete all that's left is

for me to go back to gentsy and to

essentially show them what I've done I

created a cover image very basic of just

the business cards uploaded it I waited

for approval and I got approved I don't

think they were biased maybe they were

after that I got the invitation to

upload the files I did so I got paid not

really now the great thing about this

whole project is that it showed me that

I can do something in one day if I

really put my mind to it but it's never

going to be as good the saying goes you

can have it done right or done right now

I can't help but feel how different and

how good this brand concept could have

been if I gave myself I don't know a

week or even the month now with Jency

sponsoring this video they're great if

you want to go and get an invite click

the link down below it's invite only and

if you're a freelance designer who

struggles to get paid get contract

signed get NDA signed and it just takes

way too much of your time then jensy is

for you honestly it's a lifesaver if you

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