You have ever wondered how designers present their work to clients. The struggle is real with nailing that brand presentation so that the client falls in love with the proposed brand. After a lot of trial and error, I have finally got a solid brand presentation that gets me comments from my clients just like this.So I’m going to be revealing exactly how I present my brand presentations to clients and how you can do exactly the same.
So I used to be that type of designer that would send a JPEG of the logo to my client for their feedback, hoping that they would love it. I don’t think I ever got a logo signed off first time. This was a huge, huge mistake that made me look really unprofessional and something that I have truly learned from. The reason that it was unsuccessful was because there was no presentation and no explanation about the design and the brand and therefore me not selling it in the best possible way.
A brand presentation is a way that you can present your final designs to your client in the best possible way. It can help your client really understand the direction of the branding, envision how the brand could look and really get a feel for the proposed brand. So if you are a designer right now and you do not put together a detailed brand presentation to really sell your designs, this is your time to start. Around 90% of the brand presentations that I now send over to my clients get signed off first time with no amends.
A designer’s dream. So before we take a peek inside a brand presentation, I want to talk about the one concept method that I use.
When I first entered the industry, the norm for designers was to present three logo concepts.
The client would then pick their favorite and then that concept would get refined. This was very time consuming me and a waste of my time putting effort into two other whole concepts when in my head I’d usually prefer one concept anyway.
So I started to refine my design process and put all my efforts into one clear strategic design concept and this really helped streamline my design process. So with all this in mind, let’s find out exactly what should be included within a brand presentation.
One, information about the business: It’s really good to include a backstory about the current business you’re designing for and some brand words to summarize the brand’s direction. You really want to start telling the business’s story here.
Two, mood board and direction: So the direction and mood board would have been agreed previously with you and your client but it’s really good to include this stage as a reminder of the direction of the brand identity and where the original inspiration was gathered from.
Three, logos and their variations: When showcasing the logos, I found the most important thing to include is your design decisions. So really explain why you have designed the logo or design in a specific way, making it super clear to your client. Showcase all of the variations and make it clear to your client what the variations can be used for.
Four, typography: A consistent set of fonts should be used across a brand so it’s really important to include these. Showcase these and what they should be used for. I like to give a visual of the fonts being used with one another so that the client has a clear visual of exactly how their fonts could be used across their brand.
Five, color palette: The brand you have designed should have a complementary color palette that is distinct to your client. Here’s where you can showcase the beautiful colors and why each color has been strategically chosen for the brand. Once again, writing out your design decisions creates less confusion for the client.
Six, brand pattern and elements: If you have used a pattern or element across the branding, it needs to be showcased. Make sure you’re writing about each part of the pattern, whether this includes shapes, symbols, lines, etc. and explain why they have been specifically designed for this brand.
Seven, photography style and direction: Including images that fit in with the style of brand will be really beneficial for the client as it can set the tone. Showing a direction that they can follow shows that you’re the professional and making decisions on your own based on the brand. This can also help your client really get a feel for the brand and gives them a direction in the future to follow when having their own brand photo shoot.
Eight, a social media feed example: If your client is predominantly on social media and uses this to target their specific audience, it’s a great way to show them some examples of what their feed could look like with the implemented branding. This builds excitement for the client of what could be.
Nine, mock-ups: I like to leave this one to the very end because it leaves a lasting impression on my client. Now it’s time to really sell the brand and create that wow factor. Mock-ups are going to give your client an insight into the possibilities of what the brand could be in a real life situation. You guys should know by now that Envato Elements is my favorite place to get mock-ups and they are today’s sponsor of the video. You can find some incredible mock-ups just like these that I use when presenting my work to clients and they have honestly been such an incredible help when showcasing my designs.
So if you want to check them out, make sure you click the link in my description. A really useful tip for when you use mock-ups is to make sure that you are actually making them relevant to the brand. For example, if it’s a clothing brand, use mock-ups like swing tags, embroidered shirts, label tags, etc. This makes it more real for the client and allows your client to visualize what the brand could be.
Ten,giving feedback successfully:State here how they should give feedback and how many days they have to keep on track with your timeline. You can also write something really nice here at the end about the project and how excited you are to hear from them.
Thanks for reading!
