As brand identity and visual storytelling continue to shape consumer perceptions, organizations around the world are seeking innovative ways to set themselves apart. Here at Chloe Creative, we’ve adopted a highly effective approach to branding with our clients known as the “One Concept Method.” In this blog post, we’ll delve into the compelling reasons behind our choice to champion this revolutionary strategy for the best brand studio experience. From its role in streamlining creativity to its powerful impact on brand cohesiveness, the One Concept Method is more than just a trend; it’s a game-changer that’s propelling us to the forefront of the industry. Join us as we explore why this method is the key to our success.

The One Concept Method: What Is It and Why Does It Matter for our Brand Studio?

The one concept method is a creative strategy of brand studios to streamline the creative process when creating a cohesive brand strategy. This method involves showcasing one thoughtful concept and developing the entire brand suite out around it. Other brand studios may choose to present up to three semi-developed concepts to give their clients options, but we’ve found this process isn’t as effective in creating the best logo suite possible.

Why the one concept method matters for the brand studio:

1. Clarity and focus: By centering the creative process around one key concept, it ensures that the entire team is aligned and clear on the project’s core message and direction. This prevents the design team from getting sidetracked by too many ideas and maintains a sharp focus. This is also super helpful for the client to remain focused without too many options to choose from.
2. Consistency: It promotes consistency in design, messaging, and branding. All elements of the project, from logos to marketing materials, are designed to reinforce the chosen concept, creating a cohesive and memorable brand identity in it’s entirety. Showing one concept helps the client to grasp all that they are receiving.
3. Efficiency: The one concept method streamlines decision-making, making the creative process more efficient. It reduces the need for endless revisions and helps projects move forward faster. This is so key to our clients!
4. Cost-effective: Focusing on one concept reduces the risk of wasting resources on multiple ideas that may not resonate with the target audience. It can lead to cost savings by avoiding unnecessary revisions – we charge past two revisions for this reason!

In summary, the one concept method matters because it simplifies the creative process, fosters consistency, enhances memorability, and ultimately strengthens a brand’s ability to communicate its unique identity to its audience. It’s an approach that can be the key to a successful, cohesive, and compelling brand identity, which is why we’ve adopted it since 2018.

How does the one concept method benefit the client?

As outlined above, there are many reasons why the one concept method benefits us as a creative brand studio: clarity and focus as a team, efficiency, and cost-effective. But what about the client? Does this method necessarily “benefit” the client?

Our answer is yes. It benefits the client because nailing down a preferred design style is HARD. Ask any of our custom design clients: the hardest part of a brand design is actually seeing your preferences in action! Sometimes, you might actually hate the style that you just so thought you loved! Why is this the case?

Because design looks different based on our situations, our mood, interpretations and opinions around us – that’s why it’s so hard to nail down in the first place. However, our intake questionnaire is specifically structured so that we keep you on track to nail down your creative direction as easy as possible. Oftentimes, the one concept method benefits the client because of these reasons:

1. Cost saving! This is a big one when you are spending $3,000 on a brand design. By having less iterations and concepts designed, you are spending less money. At our studio, we charge for each additional revision beyond 2. Let’s just say we didn’t use the one concept method and instead presented you with three options. You liked 2 of those and wanted to see both developed – this is essentially 2 brand projects!
2. Compelling Storytelling: A central concept can be leveraged to create compelling brand narratives that resonate with customers. This storytelling can help clients connect with their audience on a deeper level.
3. Reduced Risk: Focusing on a single concept minimizes the risk of diluting the brand’s message or confusing the audience with too many ideas. Clients can be more confident in the effectiveness of their branding strategy.
4. Customized Solutions: The method allows for the development of highly tailored, client-specific solutions, ensuring that the brand’s unique needs and goals are met effectively.

The One Concept Method benefits clients by providing them with a clear and memorable brand identity, efficient decision-making processes, cost savings, and a stronger market position. It helps clients effectively communicate their brand’s message, improve brand loyalty, and ultimately achieve a higher ROI. This makes it a valuable approach for any client seeking to enhance their brand’s impact and success.

When might the one concept become a problem for a brand studio?

In our experiences, we don’t see any problem in using the one concept method for your brand studio. However, we do think there are times where it places a lot of pressure on the brand designer that can cause a lot of imposter syndrome.

How the one concept method causes imposter syndrome for our brand studio

Being in the design industry for nearly 8 years now, it has taken some time to get used to people not liking your designs. Design at times can feel very personal – usually designers are focused on ideal clients, but our own feelings and emotions (at the time) can sometimes trickle into our design without our awareness.

By using the one concept method, there’s a lot of pressure on the designer to nail the design on the first presentation.

• What if the client hates the one concept you selected?
• What if the client prefers another concept you didn’t develop instead?

I’m here to say that both of these things have happened to me and I’ve learned that it’s completely normal for this to happen. This does not mean you are a terrible designer if you cannot hit the nail on the head for the first round of presentations. Because of this, we tend to put a lot of pressure onto one design, when in reality, design with our clients is very collaborative.

How do I work with your brand studio?

There are lots of ways to work with us here at Chloe Creative! If you’re new here, let’s outline our main services:

Individual design services

Custom branding design:

This is for the client who is looking to solidify their brand identity. Think of this package as your “logo design” but much more than that. After working together you’ll leave with:

• Intake form
• Moodboard
• Primary and secondary logos
• Color palette
• Typography suite (your fonts for headings, subheadings and paragraph text)
• Alternate logos (thing about taglines or stamps!)
• Icons or illustrations (sometimes we design fun icons depending on your brand!)
• Patterns and/or textures

You can also add-on a marketing strategy to your branding so that you can leave with the following outlined:

• Brand values
• Brand tone
• Ideal audience psychographics
• Ideal audience demographics

Apply to be a client!

Custom website design:

This is for someone who wants a new website. Usually if you book a website only project, we require that you have an established branding already present (i.e. you have to send us all of your logos, color codes, fonts, etc). If you do not have this, we’d recommend our branding and website design bundle! This bundles the above package with this website package to save you money! This website only package includes:

• Up to 7 pages of website design & development
• Mobile, tablet and desktop optimization
• 2 rounds of revisions
• Website tutorials
• Launch graphics
• Blog integration
• Email opt-in automation
• Google Analytics / Search Console setup
• Data monitoring

Apply to be a client!

Bundled design services:

If you are someone who knows they want a branding AND website or the whole makeover like branding, website and copywriting, these services are just for you! These are bundled so that you can save money in total.

Branding with website design

This bundle is for someone who wants both the branding design portion and a new website! This is our most popular service offering because we believe it’s the minimum requirement for a makeover of your business. A website cannot function properly without a great branding and a great branding can have more reach with a functioning website! This includes:

• Intake form
• Moodboard
• Primary and secondary logos
• Color palette
• Typography suite (your fonts for headings, subheadings and paragraph text)
• Alternate logos (thing about taglines or stamps!)
• Icons or illustrations (sometimes we design fun icons depending on your brand!)
• Patterns and/or textures
• Up to 7 pages of website design & development
• Mobile, tablet and desktop optimization
• 2 rounds of revisions
• Website tutorials
• Launch graphics
• Blog integration
• Email opt-in automation
• Google Analytics / Search Console setup
• Data monitoring

Apply to be a client!

Branding with website design & copywriting

This bundle is our largest offering at the moment. That’s because it bundles our branding with website design AND done-for-you SEO copywriting by our in-house brand messaging specialist, Diana of Carter House Copy. This bundle would be the best for someone who wants everything to be taken off their plate and handled by professionals. The main component of this project is the done-for-you SEO copywriting, so you leave confident that your website is optimized for SEO.

Includes:

• Intake form
• Moodboard
• Primary and secondary logos
• Color palette
• Typography suite (your fonts for headings, subheadings and paragraph text)
• Alternate logos (thing about taglines or stamps!)
• Icons or illustrations (sometimes we design fun icons depending on your brand!)
• Patterns and/or textures
• Up to 7 pages of website design & development
• Mobile, tablet and desktop optimization
• 2 rounds of revisions
• Website tutorials
• Launch graphics
• Blog integration
• Email opt-in automation
• Google Analytics / Search Console setup
• Data monitoring
• Up to 7 pages of SEO-optimized website copy
• 2 rounds of revisions
• Intake call with Diana

Apply to be a client!

Inquire to work with our brand studio!

We are currently booking for our last 2 spots of 2023! It’s crazy how fast this year has flown by as we are approaching our studio’s close date on November 20,2023. At this time of year, we do not take any new clients given the holiday season and it gives us time to nurture current clients into the New Year.

That said, apply to work with us so you can get on our calendar for a discovery call. We’d love to chat with you!