8 ways to "fake" a high-end brand

Mar 20

Chances are, your business isn’t Porsche or Hermes or Rolex. But that doesn’t mean you can’t portray your brand with style and sophistication. Here’s how to look high-end, even if your bottom line is a bit more modest.

1) Hire a professional to create not just your logo, but your brand.

Your brand includes your logo, your color and font palettes, your design elements, and your photography style, all of which come together in a way that helps you and your team keep a consistent look.

Yes, your cousin or your friend’s spouse might know photoshop or own a Mac, but unless branding is their primary focus, they might not be the best choice for your business.

Spending a little more up front will save you many headaches down the road.

Once you’ve established your brand professionally, you can always re-brand and change it up down the road. But do you really want to spend thousands just to replace an exterior sign?

2) Articulate your positioning statement.

Purposefully delineate the unique methods, distinctive values, and brand promise that together define your marketplace category of one.

Anytime you need to explain your brand, write web copy, or create an ad or promotion, your positioning statement is right there to offer consistent and compelling language.

Want to learn more about how positioning roots your business? Check out our post Your Brand as a Tree.

3) Keep your brand simple.

Simple colors, fonts, and icons look more sophisticated. Don’t junk up a brand with too many textures and colors. They compete, confuse, and connote cheapness.

4) Be consistent.

Once you’ve landed on a concept, stick to it always and everywhere. Your brand should be boring to you (Do you think Phil Knight wakes up and gets excited when he sees the Nike swoosh?) Your audience sees your brand far less frequently than you, and you need them to remember it. Consistency makes you look professional.

He has some valid points, here.

5) Let your business card be a luxury item.

As a rule, don’t blow your budget on expensive printing when you can save by ordering items online. However, there is one exception: your business card. Besides your website (getting to that next), your business card is the second most important piece of brand collateral. Opt for a thicker paper and keep it simple and professional. A business card should be tactiley and visually memorable (and it doesn’t need to tell the entire story of your business).

6) Don’t skimp on the website.

Your website is your curb appeal. Your image. The way the vast majority of your audiences will find you, learn about you, and engage with you. In short, it’s your brand. If your website is inconsistent with your offerings, doesn’t convey your ethos, or simply underwhelms or confuses visitors, you’re likely to fail. Like your brand, keep it simple.

7) Hire a professional photographer.

Again, your friend might take nice Instagram photos, but that doesn’t mean they are equipped to take professional product and environmental photos, not to mention headshots. Professional photographers are professional for a reason—they know more about their craft than non-professionals, and they will make your brand shine.

8) Don’t let anyone on your team express themselves through your brand.

Your brand is about your brand, not about individuals. In our age of rampant social media, poor personal decision making can all too easily become bad for your brand (if your brand happens to be involved). Teach this lesson in early and often, especially with new hires.

Not sure where to start?

Treebird Branding has you covered. We cultivate ideas from root to flight.

Jaci Lund

Jaci Lund partner, creative director, designer Jaci’s quick wit and native intelligence comes across as soon as you meet her—and carries over to her design, where she fuses fun and sophistication in just the right doses. With a dual focus on creating original branding for new concepts and revitalizing the look and feel of even the most-established brands, Jaci approaches each project with a fresh and thoughtful perspective. While she recognizes the relevance of current trends, she’s hyper-conscious of the fine line that separates “trend” from “fad,” and tends toward more timeless and classic looks for her clients. Before founding Treebird, Jaci was instrumental in growing the design department at Atlanta’s The Reynolds Group, Inc. Through a five-year tenure that saw her quickly ascend to senior designer and then become the company’s first creative director, Jaci worked on design and branding projects with visionaries, entrepreneurs, and business leaders whom she admires greatly and whose own passion elevates her sense of what’s possible through new design, branding, and communication. Jaci has won nine ADDY Awards (and counting) for her design and branding work and has twice been featured in the national design blog “Art of the Menu.” She holds a B.A. in communications from Michigan State University and completed the graphic design program at The Creative Circus, where she also teaches a quarterly course called “Introduction to Creative Thinking.” To see Jaci's previous work please visit jacilund.com.

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