Re-branding my Interior Design business
I’ve spent a large amount of my corporate career styling, designing and promoting different brands and their products; the psychology of branding, what appeals to different audiences, subliminal messages and how to convey value and quality have always fascinated me. I’ve trained many Visual Merchandisers to think about the story they are trying to tell and the audience they are appealing to when designing shop windows and in store displays.
When I started Hiltingbury Interiors a few years ago I very quickly came up with the name for the business, my logo and, a little later, my website. This meant I had a business!
My business has grown from strength to strength and I love being my own boss. However as the business develops it is out growing my original branding.
I’ve been told it's not unusual for a business to rebrand after a couple of years, and I take comfort that I am not alone. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of really digging deep into what my business is about, what I want it to represent and how I convey that message to my customers (potential, new and existing) through all the touch points they have with me and Hiltingbury Interiors.
My rebranding journey started with reading a couple of great books 'Brand Brilliance' and 'How to Style your Brand' both by Fiona Humberstone. I attended a training day and more recently worked through an online course run by The Brandologist, Cat Archer Underwood. She has really challenged me to clearly define my customer and the vision for my business. I've loved this process and really enjoyed working through the steps to identify what I want to carve out as my business after so many years of understanding and promoting other people’s.
When it came to actually creating the visuals for my brand I pulled together many Pinterest boards full of logo inspiration, colour combinations, photography styles, typefaces and fonts. These helped me to explain my vision to the team of experts I’ve had the pleasure to work with in creating the new look Hiltingbury Interiors.
As part of my re-branding exercise I commissioned Stu @ Cooper Photography for a photo shoot. I spent a couple of weeks prior to the shoot collecting props. Victoria Cumberlege from “Eternal Blooms by Victoria” kindly leant me a selection of her beautiful preserved plants. When I visited her studio I was overwhelmed by the array of beautiful roses and plants she surrounds herself with on a daily basis. I’ve definitely fallen in love which her selection of succulents!
The artist Anna Dora was also kind enough to let me borrow a few of her cushions. They are exquisite and each feature one of her works of art printed on silk or velvet. Thank you ladies.
Stu @ Cooper Photography was amazing at making me comfortable in front of the camera. I have a long standing aversion to posing for photographs (painful memories of what seemed like endless requests in childhood to smile for the camera!) but Stu was great at enabling me to relax and our day long photoshoot produced many fantastic pictures.
When it came to logo design inspiration I found I was very drawn to the art work and illustration of an old school friend of mine, Eloise Renouf. I love the style of her work, along with other retro designers like Orla Kiely, and my Pinterest board had a very clear design style emerging as it evolved. It’s many years since Eloise and I studied Art together at school and college, thanks to the internet, we are in touch again and I asked if she would be happy for me to use some of her work as inspiration and a starting point for developing my logo. Fortunately she agreed and it’s been great having her input.
Tam Goldsmith has helped turn my logo ideas into a reality. The process has been really fun and her patience for my ‘tweaking' of designs has been commendable. Tam has equipped me with a comprehensive set of icons and patterns to work alongside my logo which can be seen on my new stationery and website. As a by product of the process we’ve also created a little catalogue of images and designs which could be used for products in the future…watch this space!
Kelly West @Clean Slate Websites has created my new website. Anyone who knows me will be aware that technology and I have a very limited relationship. Kelly has made the process very simple and spent time training me on how to update and manage the site myself, so that is now an aim and aspiration for me in the coming year.
I’ve loved working through the re-branding process, meeting and working with some really fantastic people and having completed the project it’s now great to share the new look with my customers, friends and family.
