Branding has always been vital to business, but it may be more so now than ever. With social media, consumers are exposed to new brands every day. New brands can be great for consumers with plenty of options, making it harder for businesses to stand out.

Your brand is essential to building good relationships and connecting with customers. If they feel you share the same values, they’ll be attracted to your brand and will likely feel comfortable choosing you over the competition.

A robust and curated brand identity takes time. It requires deep thinking and an intimate understanding of who you are, what you do, and how you want to present your brand to the world. Crafting a brand identity is extraordinarily subjective and time-consuming (in a good way!). Let Pope Joan help you explore, gather inspiration, and work together on discovering your originality. 

Please review Pope Joan’s process, timeline, and pricing, which are listed below.

Brand Strategy and Brand Identity are closely related concepts in branding, but they serve different purposes in shaping how a company or product is perceived by its audience. Here’s a breakdown of both:

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1:1 1-Hour Onboarding / Q&A

We will get rolling as soon as you get your spot on the studio calendar. 

Brand Strategy

• Purpose and Mission: Why the brand exists and what it aims to achieve.

• Target Audience: Defining the ideal customer's key demographics, psychographics, and behaviors.

• Brand Values: The principles that the brand stands for and that resonate with the audience.

• Market Positioning: How the brand differentiates itself from competitors and occupies a unique space in the market.

• Brand Promise: The core benefit or value that the brand consistently delivers to its customers.

• Brand Voice and Personality: The tone and style of communication used to engage with the audience (e.g., formal, playful, professional).

• Competitive Analysis: Understanding the brand's landscape, including competitors' strengths and weaknesses.

We will begin by understanding the four Vs—vision, values, voice, and visuals. These are essential to form the building blocks of a brand, ensuring that your story, style, and strategy are aligned and that every brand touchpoint communicates the right message, regardless of what form a piece of content might take.

Comprehensive Workbook

Most people can easily understand the importance of branding and recognizing their need for it. Creating a brand, however, is a whole different ball of wax.

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Visual Discovery

Pinterest Homework

Afterward, Pope Joan will create a Pinterest board and invite you to join in the fun to get an idea of what you like out there related to your inspirations, memories, and passions and if you have seen particular branding that speaks to you.

The board will help me understand your perspective even faster without needing to explain everything.

Inspiration & Exploration

In this process, we will discover all the components of what gets you out of bed in the morning, not just how you got to this place of entrepreneurship. It might be the colors of the Northern Lights you saw on your life-changing trip to the Faroe Islands or the font from an engraving on an heirloom from your late grandfather’s desk.

Whatever it may be, your life should be reflected in your brand and its voice.

Mood Boards

Once we have completed our research, Pope Joan will review all the exploration and inspiration you have provided. Pope Joan will find the correlation between them, bucket them, determine how they associate with one another, and then create up to three mood boards sent to you with commentary and what I have noticed as an outsider looking in.

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Design

Color Palette

A color palette includes a set of colors that will represent your brand identity and personality, evoke a mood, and cultivate emotion.

Pope Joan initially provides three color palettes after reviewing your mood board(s) and works on two collaborative refinement rounds, ending up with a final palette consisting of two primary colors & up to eight secondary colors.

Pantone, CMYK, RGB, and hexadecimal codes of each color will be provided. The first two are for print, and the last two are for digital.

Typography System

Choosing brand fonts is as crucial as choosing brand colors. They establish a visual hierarchy, create harmony, and set a comprehensive style for your brand.

Pope Joan provides ten font choices with up to two collaborative refinement rounds, and we will end up with three fonts custom-selected for your brand.

Primary Logo

The primary logo is the main identifying graphic representing your business and is used most often.

Pope Joan provides multiple initial brand concepts with up to two collaborative refinement rounds, and we will end up with your primary logo.

Secondary Logo

The secondary logo is also commonly referred to as an alternate logo and uses the elements of the primary logo arranged in a different composition. The other composition will give you more flexibility when using your logo in different design settings. 

For example, a secondary logo is often either a simplified version of the primary logo or another arrangement may be in a square composition. 

The secondary logo is ideal for use in square social media profile images, social media graphics, and other places where a more compact version of your logo is needed. 

Pope Joan provides multiple initial brand concepts with up to four collaborative refinement rounds, and we will end up with your secondary logo.

Lettermark, Wordmark, or Brandmark

- A lettermark is generally a combination of a company’s initials. Think VW for Volkswagen.

- A wordmark or logotype combines the typographic treatment of a company's letters, which must be legible and straightforward. It is used for branding and identification. Think Google.

- A brandmark or logomark is a design element, such as a unique graphical shape or symbol. The Nike swoosh, Apple, and the Rolling Stones’ tongue are famous examples.

We will determine which is best for you depending on your company's name and the final design of your primary and secondary logos.

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Brand Suite

Pope Joan will deliver all digital, comprehensive, high-quality, production-ready, downloadable files via Dropbox.

• The studio will send vector and raster files.

• Vector files (.ai and .eps) can be scaled up and down drastically without losing the integrity of the image, and they are used for print.

• Raster files (.jpg and .png ) are typically used more often for detailed graphics and photographs digitally and are measured in DPI (dots per inch). Because these files are on a pixel grid, they can look wonky when changing the image size.

• The files will be in color, black, and white.

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Timeline

The timeline for the Brand Strategy & Identity Design Package takes four weeks.

Brand photography is a powerful tool for making your business stand out by visually communicating your unique identity, values, and personality. Here’s how it can help:

Showcase Authenticity

Personalized Imagery

Brand photography captures real moments, people, and products associated with your business. Using custom images rather than stock photos fosters a sense of authenticity.

Behind-the-Scenes Content

Showcasing day-to-day operations or candid team moments builds trust and makes your brand more relatable.

Tell Your Brand Story

Visual Storytelling

Photography can illustrate your brand’s story, highlighting your mission, vision, and the emotions you want to evoke. Whether it’s a founder’s portrait, product journey, or community involvement, these images bring your narrative to life.

Consistent Style

Brand photography reinforces your message across different platforms by creating a cohesive visual language, including consistent color schemes, lighting, and mood.

Highlight Your Differentiators

Unique Selling Points

Use images to focus on what makes your business different—your craftsmanship, attention to detail, customer service, or innovation. Strong visuals can highlight these key aspects better than words alone.

Visual Identity

A unique and professional look tailored to your brand helps you stand out in a crowded market. These images should align with your brand identity, from website design to social media presence.

Enhance Brand Recognition

Memorability

High-quality, consistent photography makes your business recognizable across different marketing channels. A solid visual identity leaves a lasting impression on potential customers.

Consistency

Using a consistent visual style, across your website, social media, and marketing materials, creates a unified brand experience, making it easier for customers to connect with your brand.

Increase Engagement and Conversions

Emotional Connection

People are likelier to engage with brands that evoke emotion. Brand photography helps create emotional appeal by showcasing the human side of your business, which can lead to higher engagement.

Product and Service Focus

Quality photos of your products or services in real-world settings give customers a better understanding of what they’re buying, helping to build confidence and increase conversions.

Incorporating professional brand photography tailored to your business can elevate your visual communication and differentiate your business in a competitive market. It tells your story, enhances credibility, and builds a personal connection with your audience.

Q “How much does a website cost?”

A That's a little bit like asking "How much does it cost to build a house?" There are so many factors - how big is it, what special features does it have, what tools are necessary to build it, etc.

To understand why Pope Joan does to prepare a blueprint and architecture of the site, along with designing and developing it, please see below.

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1:1 1-Hour Onboarding / Website Planning, Strategy, Information Architecture & Sitemap

Website Planning & Strategy

A website strategy is simply a strategic plan for your website. That’s it—just a plan for what you want, what customers want, and how you will satisfy those expectations. It goes beyond the design you choose for your website—it helps inform the content you create, your marketing efforts, and more.

Information Architecture

Information Architecture can be thought of as creating the "blueprints" for a website--planning the scope, organization, and navigation of the site. The two main deliverables out of this process are a navigation map (also known as a "sitemap" or "flowchart"). The navigation map is "tree" diagram that shows the hierarchical structure of the site - what the main content divisions are and how "deep" the site is.

Sitemap 

A sitemap is a bird’s-eye view of your site that determines the list of pages, their placement, and their relationship to each other on the website. It includes both user-facing elements and those intended for web crawlers (such as Google). A sitemap helps define and organize your web content, allowing you and Pope Joan Design Studio to plan each page's look, feel, and function. 

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Design

User Experience Design

User experience (UX) is how users interact with a product, service, or system and how they feel about the interaction on your website. It's a broad term that includes a user's perceptions of ease of use, utility, and efficiency. 

User Interface Design

User interface (UI) design is likely the first thing you encounter when you use an application or visit a website. User interface design is responsible for a product's appearance, interactivity, usability, behavior, and overall feel.

Branding

Define each branding element, from your color palette, logo, and iconography to the images and videos you’ll use.

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Development

Website Domain Set Up & Purchase

Setting up a domain involves purchasing and registering a domain name and associating it with a server and hosting provider (Squarespace). This allows a website to be accessible through a web address. 

Website Hosting Set Up & Purchase 

Setting up with a hosting provider (Squarespace) allocates space “to rent” on a web server for a website to store its files and host the website. The client will purchase the correct plan they need here.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is short for search engine optimization. It is about helping search engines understand your content and help users find your website to decide whether they should visit your site through a search engine.

Domain Connection & Launch

This connects a domain to the website through the hosting account (Squarespace).

Social Media Integration

 Social media integration extends your marketing by redirecting your social media followers to your website and making your social platforms accessible to your target audience and customers via your website.

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1:1 1-Hour Offboarding Walk-Through / Q&A / Google Meet Tutorial

Squarespace Platform & Google Meet Tutorial

Squarespace is an all-in-one website-building and e-commerce platform that enables millions to build brands and transact with their customers through an impactful and beautiful online presence. 

A Google Meet tutorial will be provided and recorded so the client can utilize it as a knowledge base for their particular site.

Squarespace Discount: 20%*

When you work with Pope Joan Design Studio, a Squarespace Circle Gold Partner, you receive 20% off your first year on the platform.