chapter two find your - fuzzy &...

Brand PersonalityFind Your

Brand Personality

Chapter Two

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Fuzzy & BirchBLOG.FUZZYANDBIRCH.COM

by jenni waldrop

Want to create your own remarkable brand on Etsy? Not sure how to start? This chapter will help you create a shop identity, from start to finish!

brand identitycreate Your

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Finding Your brand identity

Whether you’re launching a new Etsy shop or re-branding your current one, creating a moodboard for your shop is always a good place to start. Get the ball rolling by looking for websites, shops, and products that you love.

Once you start looking for inspiring designs, you’ll need a place to put them.

Try creating a pinboard, like this one. You can begin collecting your designs by searching “web design” or “product photography” on pinterest. If you’d like to expand your search, try exploring places that sell website themes, like creative market.

When I first started my shop pinboard, I was only looking for websites. But you can pin other inspiring items like graphic design, packaging, and anything that you want to influence your shop’s look. Don’t forget to look for unique ele-ments that you like: does the website use a special font or unusual color com-bination that speaks to you?

If you’re like me, then you probably like lots of different styles. It can be diffi-cult to reconcile all your tastes into one shop. But putting them all together in one place means you start to see patterns. For example, when I created this board it became immediately obvious that I like super modern fonts. It also became clear that I like my designs a bit quirky: my board was filled with pops of muted colors and hand-drawn elements.

You may even find you are completely surprised by your board: I thought I hated pink but it was in almost every design I pinned!

Create a pinboard

Start collecting designs that inspire you. Look for colors, fonts, and layouts.

https://uk.pinterest.com/fuzzyandbirch/web-designspiration/

https://uk.pinterest.com/fuzzyandbirch/web-designspiration/

https://creativemarket.com/?u=jenwdortch

https://creativemarket.com/?u=jenwdortch


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Choosing a color palette

Your brand should have up to five colors. At least two of those colors should be neutrals. So for example, the color palette for this book looks like this:

You can see I have three neutral colors: light gray (almost white), medium gray, and black. These colors are complemented by two vivid colors for “pop”.

If you’re not sure how to create your palette, look at your pinterest inspiration board. Check for colors you’re seeing over and over again. For whatever reason, you’re drawn to those colors.

Just because you have to choose 5 colors doesn’t mean they’re the only colors you’ll ever use. These are just the 5 colors you’ll use the MOST. But don’t forget to give yourself a bit of leeway with neutrals: There’s no white in my palette above but there’s plenty of white in this document.

Your palette will be used to determine the elements on your shop that are con-sistently repeated. For example, many Etsy shop owners will use two colors for their logo, and all 5 colors in their headings. Then they’ll sprinkle all 5 colors throughout product photos to make everything feel like it “goes together”.

When you choose your 5 colors you will need something called a “hexadecimal code” (or a hex code). This is just a bunch of numbers that, when added to photoshop or a website, will output the exact same color you’re seeing on screen.

Adobe Kuler will give you the hex codes for all your colors. Or, if chose your colors elsewhere, you can upload an image of your color to a special website like this one to get your hexadecimal code. (Upload one color at a time).

Browse pre-made color palettes

There’s a large collection of pre-made palettes for you to browse on Adobe Kuler and Coolor.co.

https://color.adobe.com/

http://imagecolorpicker.com/


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find your signature font

You may not think fonts are that important, but people have a strong reaction to fonts. Your shop logo and any text you use should be visually pleasing and easy to read. This makes your shop feel clean, crisp and organized.

If you want readers to stick around, it’s important that your text be legible. Try and choose something classic and un-offensive. Here are some of the most popular fonts combinations:

MONTSERRAT+

Courier New

PROXIMA NOVA+

Georgia

RALEWAY+

Hoefler Text

Helvetica+

Garamond

Playfair display+

Museo Sans

LEAGUE GOTHIC+

PT Serif

find perfect font combinations

View the fonts on your computer in a collage to find beautiful font combinations...try it on WORDMARK.IT

http://wordmark.it


Brand Personality

Professional

Careful, planning

Classic + Timeless

Established

Serious

Upscale

Friendly

Energetic

Modern/High Tech

Cutting Edge

Fun + Happy

Accessible to all

The Brand Spectrumdraw dots where your brand falls on the spectrum

More On this side?You are contemporary and high energy

Color palette suggestion: vivid and trendy

Font suggestions: sans-serif, hand-drawn

Brand style: open, airy & asymmetrical

Tone of voice: friendly and approachable

Don’t Forget: Contemporary brands need to re-make their image more often

to appear modern and relevant. Your personal quirks are a big part of the brand. Your design should relfect this.

Brand InspirationIkea

Moo CardsEtsy

More On this side?You are traditional and established

Color palette suggestion: rich hues

Font suggestions: classic, widely used and recognizable fonts

Brand style: grounded and timeless

Tone of voice: formal and corporate

Don’t Forget: Your branding should rely on elements that have been in use for

decades. Aim for a style that will still look fresh five years from now.

Brand InspirationNew York Times

TargetStarbucks

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What is your brand’s motto or tagline?

What is your brand’s mission statement or main purpose?

How would you describe your brand’s core values?

If your brand had human personality traits, what would they be?

My brand evokes a feeling of...

If my brand were a season, it would be:

If my brand was a single word, it would be:

If my brand had a flavor, it would taste like:

When visitors come to my website, I want them to feel:


Brand Personality

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refining your message...

What are the FIVE most common questions you get about your brand, shop idea, or products? What are people most curious about? Think about emails you’ve received, social media conversations you’ve had, or questions that friends, family, potential customers, and acquaintances have asked.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Your Ideal Client...

Gender:Age:Location:Ethnicity:Education level:Interests:Hobbies:Passions:Personality:Income level:Industry/job:Types of blogs he/she is likely to read:Which social networks is this person likely to use?Which magazines does he/she read?What would make this person trust a new shop/brand?

ik on Etsyyour first

1k on etsy

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Did You like this chapter?

If you’re ready to leave your soul-sucking day gig for the chance to work from home and make your own schedule, you’re in the right place.

I created a successful Etsy shop in 6 short months… and you can too!

But I got started just like you, one step and a time. Some scrappy marketing here, some flying by the seat of my pants there…and a whole lot of hanging on

by a prayer.

But then something CHANGED. I made a few strategic moves and suddenly everything got easier. And before I knew it, I had a business that could stand

on its own. A business that made my corporate job look like a joke.

Check out my results:

get it all with your first 1K on Etsy

Learn the strategic moves you can use to make Your First 1k on Etsy & leave that icky day job in the dust!

http://blog.fuzzyandbirch.com/first-1k-etsy-2/

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