What Are You Like? How Branding Gives Art A Voice

Creative output is always good but when it enters the big world, we will begin creating a public narrative. Branding is about making sure this public narrative fits your genuine intentions. Our brand is a platform that our work sits on, and the more powerful this image the higher placed our new work will be. People see brands as symbolic. The things a brand represents build a mental picture of the product and the people who make it, and people identify with these concepts. When we have a strong brand we can already know which areas we want to work in, what messages we want to communicate, and what kind of person we are aiming to reach with our work. To be successful in creativity its important that other people like what we do. Working to please someone else other than you is where the professional is separated from everyone else. Art is always up for personal interpretation and any of our creative output can be seen any number of ways so by establishing a strong brand image we can ensure that other people are given the right idea as a foundation to build on in their own experience of your work.
 
Recommended read: Identity Designed: The Definitive Guide to Visual Branding
 
When we see some new art or listen to some new music, we can ask ourselves what it seems to be inspired by. We can ask ourselves what it reminds us of, and we can decide if the image fits in with our own. What else does this work make you think of? These answers can include your own work and your own brand if people have a strong idea about what you are. When people have a connection to your work that incorporates sensibilities and thought patterns, we can stand in good light to become the influence and become the similarity that causes others to think of us more often. Therefore, branding is important for artists and creators who want to establish themselves with customers and fire-spreaders in the communities they operate in.
 
Recommended read: Archetypes in Branding: A Toolkit for Creatives and Strategists
 
To establish a strong brand image and generate a healthy rapport with the customer or fan we must be able to fill in the blanks when building the big picture. With the following steps we can cross many bridges and establish lots of networks that all feed into our personal image.  It is this mental map of connection and influence that creates the holistic image that carries us forward.
 
Create Your Work
 
You will find your flavour and your flow when you begin creating. Before we design what we can be, we have to find out what the raw ingredients are. Our passions and interests can guide our talents through training and experience when we apply ourselves to producing things for other people. Identifying our strengths and weaknesses can provide us a pre-drawn destination that feels the most appropriate for us.
​
Decide On Placement
 
The possibility is endless, your work can fit into so many boxes and when you create without a specific direction in mind it might not be a perfect fit for any. We need to decide what our work is and how it should be presented. The presentation of art can be a big difference, do you remember the banana that sold for thousands of dollars? You can buy them in any grocery shop for pennies. The difference is that the expensive one was positioned just so and in doing this the artist won the heart of one lucky buyer. Where we place our work and who we place it with can say a lot about who we are and what we should think about our creativity.
 
Networking
 
In the effort of producing art and sharing it with the world with appropriate titles and placements we will meet other people with similar ideas. If you’re not confident in your talents and skills, then these people seem like competition but if you can own your ability, they are your ecosystem. Everyone around you is an opportunity to learn from and grow alongside. What matters is getting the right connections that improve your service and productivity as well as provide professional and useful avenues if you need them. We need to be friendly with everyone but nurture the connections that work for you, either on a personal level or a professional one.
 
Recommended article: Your Network Is Your Team — Here’s How To Play With And Not Against Them
 
Take Part In Wider Initiatives
 
The world is a big place and lots of people are doing things like you. Once we have made sufficient networks, we will find ourselves among wider initiatives and institutions. Various groups exist that have loose to rigid frameworks that support and promote specific ideas and activities. We can find the ones that we fit in with and start to take part. This helps us to get noticed more and it helps us to make more connections. We learn a lot when working as part of a wider group and when exposed to the processes they take and the methods they use we are provided with the tools that can further establish our own brand. We all learn from one another and it's probable that our presence will be influential to others in the groups we take part in, too.
 
Recommended article: A Force For Good — Fitting Your Business In The Bigger Picture
 
Discover What Makes You Unique
 
Your unique selling points are the things you do slightly differently or simply better than others. When we can define our uniqueness and work to make it a strong factor in what we do, the quality of our work will stand out more. The things that make you get up in the morning and the passions that drive your desire to create and speak messages are what makes your brand unique. If we can communicate our qualities and intentions in such a way that motivates people to pay attention, our brand will be memorable for the reasons we have given. We have to be able to follow through with our work, however, and if we say we are something and never produce the result then people quickly realise there’s no substance to what we say.
 
Recommended article: How Using Precise Communication Can Boost All Aspects Of Your Progress
​