Opinions on brand identity.

Smyth

Doing a bit of research on behalf of a friend of mine who's identity I'm coming up with. After a bit of chat they've come back to me with a a few names and have taken one of mine as a possibility. Could you vote on which one you like best. They don't want to take my word for it and would like to see some form of survey.

*edit* They are only interested in the following options (what the client wants...)

Thanks for your time

R.L.B - Holistic therapy (the persons initials)

Bale - Health and beauty (the 'b' in the name)

Freya - Health and beauty (the norse goddess for beauty)

p

What type of business do they want to create. What type of image do their want to present to their clients. How expensive will their services be?

This is branding 101, and answer all those types of questions and you'll know which name to pick.

mood

Is Freya not already the name of a beauty product???

Smyth

p wrote: »

What type of business do they want to create. What type of image do their want to present to their clients. How expensive will their services be?

This is branding 101, and answer all those types of questions and you'll know which name to pick.

My friend isn't a graphic designer, has never worked with branding, and tbh doesn't know what she's talking about. I was sitting in a room full of people trying to explain this to them (friends and family who also know nothing about branding or identities). The poll (i was hoping) would have shown them that in order to create an identity of femininity, health and well being, my idea for a brand name (freya) would be superior. I wanted to show them that their 2 other suggestions (out of a lot of others) don't convey this message or feeling at all. It's not that we're settling on this name (as it's already taken), but I wanted to show them that professionals in this field would agree with me...and see it as the smarter option.

mood wrote: »

Is Freya not already the name of a beauty product???

Yup. This isn't a proper client - It's all free, but I don't want it done half assed. I was throwing ideas around with my friend and her family.
I want to use this poll to show them that they should follow my route instead of their own.

There was many a facepalms that evening.

Hope I've made myself clear?

p

Doing stuff for free is never a good idea, as it makes people undervalue your time. I've always wanted to try an idea I had awhile back. Give someone a 'voucher' for you. E.g. I'll give you €1000 worth of work, or I'll give you 5 days of work or something like that.

Back to the original post. It's ok that the person isn't a graphic designer, none of your clients normally would be. My suggestion is to try keep this setup as professional as possible. Don't let you cousin, mother, sister, brother voice an opinion on a name as they walk through the room. Try shape the discussion, and focus on end goals as you have done here. Ideally, what you should do is agree on those goals first with your client, and then the suggestions will naturally follow.

There is a good discussion on this on creative ireland at the moment, i'd highly recommend reading it. Though these things are always tricky with friends & family.
http://www.creativeireland.com/forums/showthread.php?p=275150

also, this is worth a read too:
http://bakerbots.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-i-learned-from-hillman-curtis.html


Good luck with the project!

eas

another thing that could be pointed out here is the difference between a company/business name and a brand identity. Two separate things, not necessarily linked at conception.

Out of curiosity - why would you put forward a name they can't use? Seems like a waste of time to me. If I was trying to convince a client of my pov I'd come up with 2-3 names they can use and explain your reasons behind them.

good luck, sounds as if you've already been undervalued, undermined and overruled.