While attending the Haven Conference in Atlanta a few weeks ago, I sat in on a branding workshop…which by the way was hugely popular. Forget about standing room only, there were folks standing and sitting on the floor in the back of the room. It was an incredibly informative session with 3 of the sweetest girls presenting and motivating us. I promise guys, the recap is coming soon. But the girls fired me up so much about the branding topic that I’ve jumped ahead of my recap and head-on into this. 😉

You’ll recall the other day I shared that Simply Organized is moving to WordPress and I’ll be developing a new site as well as branding. The creative process from start to finish is going to take a while…because I’m going to do it right. The first time. Because branding takes a while anyway, why not get started?

Also, I promised in that post to share my experience with you – the good, bad, ugly and true costs. The branding process is something I’ll share a lot about in here as a way to journal my ideas and feelings, keep track of what’s happening in real time, flush out thoughts about ideas my branding person presents me and more. Maybe do a little whining and crying too…oh yes. I’m sure there will be some of that. I’m not a perfectionist, but I can see myself really putting my heart and soul into this experience to get the perfect (for me) end result. I’d love to hear your feedback too!

Anyway, the ladies presenting mentioned a book and I jumped on it right away. It’s called How To Style Your Brand…

Just one chapter into the book and I’m already so inspired and geared up to get going. I’m anxious to dig in, but also anxious to take my time. Her questions are thought-provoking and I’m looking forward to getting a big journal to answer every last one. (That’s jargon for just another reason to head out to buy a pretty pad of paper – haha!).

But seriously, I’m grateful to have been recommended to this book. The author makes it clear that you should not only take your time but be totally honest with yourself and your designer. Your brand really should be true to who you are and represent exactly what you represent. While the idea of sitting down and writing down exactly what I am seems simple…we’re talking about taking those facts and turning them into simple things that say who you are in a couple words or an image / logo or a color or a typesetting. Talk about pressure to get it down right…the first time.

She is inspirational and am sure she is way out of my price range to do my branding…I’ll still be checking though. Thankfully, she was kind enough to literally write the book for us! 😉 Her name is Fiona Humberstone – The Brand Stylist. You can find out more about her cute little self right here on her site.

#girlcrush #notashamedtoadmit

In the preface, she shares a Brand Identity Manifesto as a free download and I immediately thought about sharing it here with you. It’s beautiful, simple and real…