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Ronda Foster
CEO & FOUNDER
"Absolutely amazing experience working with Beth, it has been a long time since I actually found a designer that understood my passions coming out of the gate. She grasp the concept and delivered in an amazingly powerful way. Phenomenal designer and very professional a sheer delight to work with." - www.petalsinthewind.com
Project Deliverables:
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Full brand strategy and identity
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Web design, build, keyword research and SEO
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Social Media Graphic Content
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Product Photography
The business goal was to bring the energies of mother nature into the homes of families, to nurture, care, and protect them throughout every stage of their lives.
The design challenge was to create a brand that reflected the brand's commitment to sustainability and respect for nature. Also, to create a brand that would appeal to the whole family while also reflecting the client's own essence.
I solved these challenges by;
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Creating a colour pallet that is unbiased and inclusive.
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Using sustainable colours, chosen because they reduce the amount of ink required on prints.
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Creating a single-colour logo to reduce the ink required when printing.
Branding Strategy:
Prior to starting the project, I sent the client a brand strategy questionnaire that would allow me to have an innate understanding of the brand, along with a welcome document outlining the objectives and project timeline. Off the back of this initial stage, I was able to conduct market research. I then built out a brand strategy deck identifying the brand’s target audience, keywords, mission, core values, tone of voice, and slogan/tagline ideas. I also took into consideration the client's Capricorn sun sign when conducting this work to ensure the brand was aligned with the client themselves.
Art Direction Boards:
Once the brand strategy was approved by the client, I presented three different styles inspired by findings from the brand strategy process. At this stage, the client can either choose one style, or pick various elements from each to create something new.
Logo Concept:
I then start to build the brand identity guide in Adobe Illustrator, creating the front page, contents page, and all artboards. I start by sketching some rough concepts on an iPad before deciding on 2-3 refined logo mock-ups to present to the client. To the right is an early concept of a logo for Petals In the Wind, which was later used in creating the final primary logo. I included this early concept in the brand identity guide so as to provide an opportunity to justify the reasoning behind it. Based on the primary design, I proceeded to create an alternative, secondary logo that fits into a more compact, rectangular environment - unlike the primary logo which takes the shape of a square/circle.
Brand Identity:
Once the logo designs are established, we move onto tying them into all other key elements of the brand to work together as a cohesive whole. In creating the brand identity, we create a visual experience and overall brand personality that customers can interact with.
When we take a closer look at the colour palette, we see the brand colours split into primary and secondary colours with text explaining how each should be used and the colour theory behind them. During this stage, I explain how to use contrasting colours with those with visual impairments in mind as well as the emotions that the colours evoke and the kind of imagery that complements the brand colours.
Typography is featured next, and in this case, we have used three different typefaces with corresponding styles, i.e. heading, subheading, and body text, to ensure that all fonts are used consistently across the brand. At this stage, I also include an explanation of the brand’s tone of voice to reinforce the brand’s messaging at different touchpoints.
The brand repeat pattern features the brand’s signature petal seen in the logo as well as some foliage and was used in the product packaging design, including boxed packaging and tissue paper. I once again explained the importance of consistency and how this repeat pattern could be echoed throughout the brand. I went on to include additional packaging and label mock-ups that could be later adapted.
Social Media Imagery:
With the full brand identity approved by the client, I proposed two sets of social media content with the intention of enticing the user with stunning visuals and maintaining their attention with compelling quotes, facts, case studies, and reviews. In this case, the purpose of the brand’s social media channels is to engage the user and turn them into a customer. Social media content will be scheduled on a monthly basis using Hootsuite where I will be able to track analytics and growth.
*These mock-ups were restricted to stock imagery and intend to complement the product imagery and videography in due course upon the arrival of product samples from the client.*
Web Design & Build:
The Petals In the Wind website was created using Squarespace web builder. An SEO checklist and document outlining target keywords along with monthly searched volume and keyword difficulty were then sent to the client for approval before optimizing the website copy to rank for said keywords. Despite this not being my main area of expertise, I am able to collaborate with content and copywriter Laura Blackwell to deliver enriched, SEO content and ensure the brand’s messaging is consistent throughout the website and blog, and ultimately establish the brand’s online authority within their niche.
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Product Photography:
I completed two product photography shoots for this brand where I complimented each product with props and ingredients where possible. I then added a warm tone to the pictures when editing in order to best complement the brand aesthetic.
Social Media Kickstarter:
I then went on to create the Petals In The Wind Instagram account and grew the account to 100 organic and highly engaged (huge engagement rate of 25%) followers within two weeks with no discounts, giveaways, or other marketing tricks used, simply my own personal Instagram growth skills and strategy. After two weeks our first-ever post had gained 50 likes with a post likes average of 30 likes and our website traffic was booming. You can see in the third picture the two weeks where I applied my strategy had high spikes of reach compared to the week following when I was not actively working on the account. After hitting the 100 followers milestone at two weeks Instagram's full account insights were unlocked which allowed us to identify exactly who what and where our followers are which means we could target our Ad's more precisely and successfully.
