Why it was time for a refresh of the Honest Folk brand
Even though you decide to rebrand because you’re thinking about the future, a rebrand or refresh always makes you look back at how far you’ve come. And it’s the change me and my business have been through over the last 4 years that led me to decide to refresh the identity.
Here are the 3 things that made me realise it was time for a change…
The business has evolved since I started it 4 years ago
It happens to every business. Even the ones that start life with a well-thought-out proposition and plan from the very beginning. I had neither of those things when I started Honest Folk 4 years ago. I’d been freelancing since July 2018 and incorporated the business in the September with only a vague sense of what it would become. I spent the first year finding my feet and working out what I wanted to focus on.
My second year in business brought Covid lockdowns and my work dried up for a couple of months. Ironically, this is when I really started to find my feet with Honest Folk. I focused my thinking and set out the plan for where I wanted to take the business… which has gradually been falling into place ever since.
I’d never properly thought the brand out in one go
Many people have commented on how they like the current Honest Folk identity but its development has very much been a piecemeal approach. I started out with a small visual identity and then worked on my positioning a year later… which made me evolve certain parts of the identity again to fit it. When I needed things like icons or imagery, I worked on them so it’s all been pieced together gradually.
You know what, there isn’t anything wrong with that approach because I believe it’s pointless spending a lot of time and money on a huge identity when your business is moving quickly. Only when you’ve found your feet and things feel a little firmer (less likely to change in the next 6 months) should you invest in an all-singing all-dancing visual identity.
I wanted to re-establish who I am and what I do
With so much evolution over the last few years, I’m pretty certain some of my audience might be a little confused about what I do. My messaging has been nailed for the last 12 months but I decided it was time for the visual part of my brand to catch up. Refreshing the brand has given me the opportunity to re-establish exactly what I do and who I do it for so that everybody is clear.
Getting some structure around my visuals is exactly what I need to get consistency in the Honest Folk brand, so I can grow in the areas I want to focus on. This consistency will also make Honest Folk more memorable and any new products or services that I develop (this will be happening) will nicely slot in and won’t need a huge amount of work on their visuals.
I’ve got to that place where Honest Folk has grown up and I’m feeling more established in what I do and what my services are. The core identity of the business has been fully rooted now.
This was the perfect time for a refresh of the brand because the business is now at a point where it won’t be evolving anywhere near as quickly as it has been doing for the last few years.
If you’re having a refresh there should always be a reason for it. Sharing those reasons not only gets you seen and heard but explains why you suddenly look a little different.
If you’re considering a refresh or a rebrand, and aren’t sure which is the best solution for you or want to discuss the best approach, book a virtual brew with me and we can discuss your way forward.