Is your brand ready to be seen?
At Alchemy Branding Studio, our team of specialists blends art and science to craft brands that evoke emotion, leaving a lasting impression on your audience. We believe that a great brand is more than just a logo; it’s the feeling you leave people with.
We call it magic but promise it’s not just smoke and mirrors.
That’s why we’re committed to helping you create a brand that magnetises audiences and draws the crowds.
The age of the faceless, corporate organisation is over. Consumers want to know the faces behind their favourite brands.
They want to hear their origin stories.
They want to FEEL something emotionally.
People buy from people. They buy even more from people that they like and connect with. People that they believe in.
We pay close attention to every detail and communicate with you every step of the process to ensure that we deliver exactly what you need, on time, on budget, and on vision.
Each step is as important as the next and leads to a brand identity that is powerful, potent, and full of personality.
Here’s how the Alchemy Branding process empowers brands with the tools they need to market their products and services to generate real results.
Here’s our 6-step process for developing your brand identity.
01 Discovery workshop
Before we can start creating magic, we need to truly understand your brand; its storied past, its present challenges, and its ambitions for the future.
When we ask about your brand, we don’t want the Sparknotes version.
We want to know the real story behind what you’ve created.
Tell us how you’re out there changing lives. And how it all started when your founder received a toy stethoscope for their seventh birthday.
We want to know how you see your brand and what you value, as well as how your consumers see you and what drives them.
There’s nothing like a workshop to get the mind-bustling and the creative juices flowing, so for the first part of the process, we’ll host a brand strategy workshop so we can take a deep dive into your vision.
We love a workshop, our session with Cardiff Metropolitan University to kick-start their Sport Cardiff branding project, was our biggest yet, with over 20 stakeholders in attendance. Our more intimate sessions, like the brand workshop with Black Mountain College, are just as productive and insightful, with a team of 5 joining us at the studio for a full day of discovery.
02 VISION BOARD
Just as there are different ways to tell the same story, there are several aesthetic possibilities for your brand to consider when developing its visual identity.
So before we start crafting your logo and building your identity, we need to take a moment to explore these possibilities and collaboratively decide in which creative direction we want to go.
For the second part of the process, you’ll receive a series of magical vision boards, showcasing different approaches. From illustrative identities to iconography, to type-based logos, we’ll leave no stone unturned.
It’ll be an opportunity to tell us what you like, what makes you chunder (it happens), what you’d like to explore in more detail, and most importantly why.
03 CREATION
Now, the magic really begins with the creation of logo concepts.
As these are born out of the information and insights uncovered in the discovery stage, and then inspired and guided by the aesthetic developed in the vision board stage, they will expressly reflect the unique personality of your brand and be rooted in your values.
But don’t worry, we’re not expecting you to choose a favourite or settle on a final design at this stage.
This is an evolving process and we need to know, just as we did in the vision board stage, what’s driving you wild with passion, what’s giving you the ick factor, what’s worth experimenting with further, and why.
04 DEVELOPMENT
If the logo is the face of your brand, then the identity is how it lives in the world.
It’s the visual language that speaks to connect with consumers and adapt to different environments.
As important as the logo is, it is actually the identity that unites the brand across touch-points, driving recognition and memorability.
During the development process, we’ll explore colour and how that colour should be used. We’ll explore accompanying icons or marks, we’ll explore how your future sales and marketing collateral could look with your fresh new identity.
It’s the perfect chance to get a glimpse into the future once your brand is launched into the world.
05 BRAND GUIDELINES
In step 5 of the process, we create robust guidelines explaining every detail of how your new logo and identity work.
An empowering tool to be used across your organisation, clearly explaining what to do and what not to do when creating brand communications.
With this brand bible in hand, you and your team will have all you need to create a powerful brand impact through compelling consistency.
How in-depth we go at this stage, depends on your budget. We can keep it simple and stick to colour, type and logo use.
Or, if you’re thinking big and have big plans, we can provide you with guidance on how your brand should look and feel across print marketing, digital marketing, and social media and even provide the starting blocks for launches, such as sales brochures, social media covers and profile images.
06 WE NEVER DELIVER AND DITCH
We don’t. It’s actually one of our culture points.
Before we say a fond farewell, we’ll guide your through your deliverables, offering advice on how to activate your brand for launch and even share some ideas for future marketing plans. We’ll answer any and all questions you have and make sure you have everything you need to set the stage for your success.
With Alchemy Branding by your side, you’ll have a hard time blending in and your audience will have an even harder time ignoring you.
So, your identity is impressive, your collateral is consistently compelling and your sales tools are spellbinding. What’s next?
If you’re thinking even bigger, we can support you with your launch, with spellbinding animated videos and digital and print materials.
Check out our work with Gwent Police and Sales Made Easy, to see how we worked with them to develop their brand, and support them with further spellbinding visual communications, across all platforms.
What you get
Talent: A team of talented creatives, by your side, to help you transform your brand.
Unlimited rounds of amends: We never cap on amends, because our mission is to build the best. So, if we need to change things up, we will. Instead, we’ll work on each stage until it’s perfect before you sign off and we can move on to the next one. No backsies.
Expert advice and guidance: expect to be asked ‘why’ a lot! We’re not here to massage your ego.
A toolkit to be proud of: We won’t hold back any assets we create for your brand, it’s yours at the end of the day. We’ll supply all the original files for any and all artwork we create, including icons, illustrations, and documents.
Brand Guardians for Life: We never deliver and ditch. We’ll know your business so well that we’ll be around when you need us to help create content and help you grow.
The joy and ease of working with a specialist team.
Show off your excellence & stand out in the sea of sameness.
If you’re at the stage where you’re considering what’s next for your business and are looking to discuss branding, book a free discovery call with our Alchemists today.
