Photo (C) Fiona Humberstone
The book is sub titled “everything you need to know to create a distinctive brand identity” and is designed to help you find a focus and vision for your brand, and bring it to life through visual elements that will knock the socks off your audience.
I love this kind of stuff anyway, so Fiona was pushing against an open door with me, and I devoured through the first 3 chapters in my first sitting. But since then I have also been relentlessly dipping in and out of the book as a reference source for client projects including a boutique B&B and a homemade food company. What has really struck me is just how practical the advice in the book is. Some books give you the feeling that the author is guarding their trade secrets, but Fiona has shared such top advice in a really open and workable way, that I defy anyone to come away feeling that they haven’t got some really valuable new tools in their brand kit.
Highlights for me include “Colour psychology: Your secret weapon”; “The anatomy of a distinctive logo”, and the whole section on pulling together your brand elements. This book will appeal to anyone who knows that their visual brand is not quite as good as it could be, whether you know how to fix that or not. If you have the creative skills to work on your brand yourself, you’ll find all the insider knowledge you need; and if you are working with a designer or an agency, you’ll learn how to keep them on (your) track.
I could go into lots more detail about the content because there is so much more that is worthy of a mention, but instead I’m going to recommend that you go grab your own copy and start working through it as soon as possible. And keep your fingers crossed that your competitors don’t find out about it.
