Brand DecisionFiles

Before you start

This isn't a manual. It's my field notebook: what I do and what I ask myself when a business tells me it wants to change its image. I think, research and apply, but I don't hand down verdicts. Neither does this guide, so you won't find closed answers here. You'll find questions, the ones worth asking before touching a logo, a website or a sign.

Because a rebrand isn't only about visuals. It's about how your business connects with people, and whether it's connecting with the right ones. And we live in a world of constant change where connecting with people gets harder every day, ironically because of social media and all that information overload.

And so there are no surprises: this guide doesn't design anything or give you visual proposals. It doesn't tell you whether you need a rebrand either; it helps you ask the questions so you can decide. And it doesn't replace research with your real customers, but it shows you when you need it.

How I use it

• With a notebook. It's how I usually work, and the best way I know to pin ideas down.
• On your own or as a team. If you do it with other people, even better: questions will come up that you wouldn't ask yourself.
• No rush. About 45 minutes. Thinking, researching and, above all, caring about what you do takes time.
• Write down every question that comes up, the guide's and the ones that come out of your own head.

The idea that ties it all together: your business-person

It's about talking about your business as if it were a person: the person you care about most in the world.

And you choose to look after that person. You're their best advisor. You don't talk about yourself; you talk about them. You adapt to them, not the other way round.

What you think you need

The first thing I do with a client is look at where their brand stands right now, what they think they need, and what I see is missing or could add something. Let's start with what you think. Open your notebook.

Write it down exactly as you think it, without polishing it. You'll come back to this page at the end.

The usual worry is looking outdated. If that's you, write it down. And write down why you think so, too.

Today's snapshot

What I'd look at is everything together: what you have and what's missing. Not piece by piece, all of it at once.

Why people usually want to change their image

• Sometimes because they've had the same one for years.
• Other times because they want to use the logo in more formats and the one they have doesn't work.
• Other times because there's no usable file: the logo is low quality, they don't have the originals or it was made with AI.
• And also because there's no visual consistency, and no brand system or guidelines to help apply it.

Your logo

• Do you have a logo, or an image you use to identify your business?
• If so, is it a JPG, a PNG or something else?
• Do you think it could be enlarged without losing quality? Have you tried?
• Does it look good on social media?
• How many elements does it have?
• Is it recognisable?
• Do you identify with it?

Your colours and typefaces

• Have you tried combining the logo with the colours?
• Do you have the typefaces downloaded, or don't you know which ones they are?

Where your business shows up

If one doesn't apply to your business, skip it.

• Signage: is your logo on your shopfront?
• The website: do you have one?
• Social media: how do you use it?
• Emails: do they carry your logo and colours, or could they be from anyone?
• Packaging: is it custom or generic? If you don't sell products, skip this one.

The question that sums it all up

If you put all your pieces together, would they look like the same business?

The key word is CONSISTENCY across every element. You have to see it as a whole: everything following a clear visual and communication line. Every piece has to meet five conditions:

• Simplicity nothing it doesn't need.
• Structure everything, logo, colours and typefaces, is thought through and considered, works together, and there's a visually tested system.
• Clarity it can be recognised.
• Purpose it makes sense for your business-person.
• Usefulness it can be used wherever you need it.

The questions about your business

Now, five questions. Answer them without reading further down.

Was that hard? That's normal.

When a client can't answer questions about their own business, or had never even asked them, that's when I know the problem isn't only visual.

That's why, before changing the logo, it's worth understanding who you're changing it for. Let's translate them one by one.

The translator

Each concept in everyday language. And always with your business-person in front of you.

1 · Competitors

What it is

Your business-person has peers: people they share skills, thoughts, goals, ambitions, fears, connections and ways of communicating with… When we talk about competitors, we're talking about those peers.

What it's for

To know where we don't stand out, so we can make ourselves different. And to spot what already works and apply it to ourselves.

What I usually see

People only think about businesses in their own sector, and don't look into others that offer something similar and could give them ideas too.

Going further

What's the real core of what you offer? A bakery doesn't sell bread: it sells breakfast, something to mop up the sauce, family meals, tradition, care.

2 · Avatars or target customers

What it is

All the people you connect with, cross paths with every day, and who pay attention to you, or don't. The ones we care about ask how we are and how life's going, want our attention and affection, or even come along out of self-interest. In other words, they have a need we can fill.

There are different kinds of people to connect with, and each will ask different things of us. That's how we fine-tune our services.

What I usually see

People usually think about the ones who already come in, the ones who want bread, to stick with the example. But they don't ask whether they could sell bread to a family with coeliac members, or what bread they could make for them.

Going further

Look for the contradictions: who would be hardest to sell bread to? That's where the difference lies.

3 · What sets you apart

What it is

Like everything in life, people change and leave, or come back, or stay. And that's down to what you give that the other people in their lives can't. When someone matters to you, standing out in their life is essential.

What I usually see

People usually can't answer this. They talk about their own qualities, not the business's. They talk about themselves, and you have to remember it's another person: you adapt to them, not the other way round.

Going further

• What would you like others to see in your business-person?
• What would make you proud?
• Your bread becoming a benchmark for innovative, traditional, fitness, inclusive or classic cooking?
• A premium or an affordable feel? For the neighbourhood or for big multinationals?

4 · Vision, mission and values

What it is

To stand out, you need to be clear about where you're heading (vision), your passion or root desire, the reason you do what you do (mission), and the qualities that help you get there (values).

What I usually see

People don't know what I mean. Relax, it happens to almost everyone.

Vision

How do you see them in 10 years? What's the biggest goal you have for your business-person? What would you like to see them become? Be specific, dream, and live it as if your business-person were about to make you rich.

Mission

The core: what's behind the bread?

"My mission is to make my bread safe for people with coeliac disease, so they can enjoy a luxury nature has denied them."

Values

If your business-person walked into a room, how would people describe them?

"My business-person is considerate, empathetic, socially aware and eager to change people's lives."

5 · Weaknesses

What it is

Obviously, in life we also need to look inward and know where we fall short, to get a little better every day. Humility and resilience: we fix what doesn't work and take one more small step.

What I usually see

There's a reason they want to change the brand, but they haven't thought about what the fault is: they think about what's going wrong, which is different. The worry is a lack of customers, but they haven't noticed that their only channels are a website that doesn't work well and word of mouth.

Going further

What do you think other businesses would do if they had these same problems? Sometimes thinking from the outside helps broaden your horizons.

Your questions

Gather them

Now it's time to gather every question you've collected while reading, including the ones that came out of your own head. That's what all this was about: getting you to think.

Careful not to drift from the focus of your first question, because this can branch out far too much. And if it does, draw an idea tree: it's a good tool for seeing where each thought comes from and when it's drifting too far.

Sort them

Put each question in this table. Copy it into your notebook, or print the guide.

My question	I know	I assume	I don't know

What you assume and what you don't know is what's left to research.

Go back to the start

Reread what you wrote in step 1: why you're here and how you knew you needed to change something. Put it next to your new questions.

If you finish with more questions than you started with, it worked. I want questions that resolve, not answers that will change next week.