When most people think of branding, they picture the surface... a logo, some colours, maybe a slick website. However, a brand starts long before any of that. It starts in the messy conversations. The probing questions. The moments where you realise the answer isn’t as simple as picking a font.

I’ve been working in brand and design for over 15 years. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: the unseen work is often the most important. Every project looks different, but the rhythm is familiar.

Here’s how it usually unfolds.

‍

1. Discovery: Asking the Right Questions

This is the listening stage. And not to the “do you prefer dark blue or light blue?” kind of stuff.

The questions are deeper.

• Who are your customers, really?
• What frustrates them?
• Why would they choose you over someone else?

Sometimes I’ll throw in things that feel disarmingly simple, almost childish:

• If your brand was a person, how would they speak?
• If someone described your business in a single sentence, what would you want them to say?

I’ve seen clients hesitate, laugh awkwardly, even get a bit uncomfortable. But once the answers start flowing, you can feel the project click into place.

These aren’t just warm up questions. They set the direction more than any design brief ever could.

‍

2. Strategy: Building the Foundation

Before a logo is drawn or a colour picked, strategy takes shape.

This is where we define positioning, tone, and values. We dig into competitors. We ask the tough “so what makes you different?” questions.

Sometimes this looks like a deck of slides. Sometimes it’s sticky notes covering every part of my desk. Sometimes it’s just me, a whiteboard, and too much coffee.

It’s not glamorous. But it’s the step that gives design its purpose. Without it, visuals risk being decoration instead of direction.

‍

3. Identity Design: Making It Visible

Now comes the fun part... making things visible.

Logos, typography, colour palettes, visual systems. These aren’t chosen because they “look cool”. They’re chosen because they express the story we’ve already defined.

Early drafts are exploratory, even messy. We narrow down through conversation and context. Sometimes a concept lands straight away. More often, it takes iteration, seeing the identity on a business card, a homepage, or even mocked up on a shopfront before it feels real.

Good design isn’t about the “big reveal” moment. It’s about building confidence in a direction step by step, until everyone can see it clearly.

‍

4. Application: Turning Identity into Experience

A brand only proves itself once it leaves the presentation deck.

That means consistency across touchpoints:

• Marketing campaigns
• Packaging
• Social media
• Websites.

Web design often plays a big role here. I use Webflow because it lets brands move quickly without getting trapped in technical bottlenecks. But a website is just one piece of a bigger puzzle.

The real goal is coherence. Someone should feel the same sense of who you are whether they’re scrolling your Instagram, opening an email, or walking into your office.

‍

5. Launch and Adoption

Launch isn’t the finish line. It’s the starting line.

This is where adoption matters just as much as design. Brand guidelines, toolkits, and team training make sure the work doesn’t unravel the moment it leaves my hands.

I don’t just deliver the final files. I aim to leave the client equipped to carry the brand forward confidently.

‍

6. Why It Matters

At its core, branding isn’t about pretty visuals.

It’s about clarity. It’s about giving people a reason to care, and making sure they remember why.

The best brands don’t just look good. They feel inevitable. Like they couldn’t have been built any other way.