How I build holistic brands
Maybe you’ve heard the term before; maybe you haven’t. Either way, holistic branding is one of the best methods out there for creating an intentional brand that stands out, gets you noticed and moves you towards your goals.
The word ‘holistic’ isn’t something you usually hear when it comes to branding, but it’s actually such an important (and underused) concept when it comes to design. Holistic means to treat the whole of something - not just a part. This is what sets it apart from other methods - that bird’s eye, big-picture vision that goes beyond the visual elements. It’s an all-encompassing approach that looks at where your business is now, where you want to be, and creates a plan to get you there.
Holistic branding goes far beyond what your eye can see (and what most people think branding typically is). It delves into strategy, emotion, connection, and perception. Colours, logos and typography are all important, but for a brand identity to truly create impact and lasting change in your biz, a superficial visual update is just not enough. A brand is intimately connected to your business, and together, they form a dynamic ecosystem. For an ecosystem to be healthy, every part of it needs to be in balance.
A holistic approach can be applied to so many things (parenting, health, education), but what it really boils down to is big-picture problem-solving. I like to compare it to holistic medicine, as that’s what most people are more familiar with. Think about it like this: a patient comes in with symptoms. An atomistic approach (only looking at the parts rather than the whole) would treat those symptoms and send the patient away. The problem? It’s highly likely the patient will come back with more symptoms in the next few months. It’s usually a band-aid fix that doesn’t solve the core issues. A holistic approach would look beyond those immediate symptoms. The practitioner would work through deeper problem solving to find the root cause. They’d look at the patient as a whole - body, mind and spirit - to treat the real problem. This way, the patient has a more intentional, individualised solution to their problems, and it’s much less likely they’ll be back with problems any time soon.
When I work through my holistic design process, I do it in a very similar way. A business owner usually comes to me with an initial problem - for example, they’re not attracting the right clients or customers to their business. That’s a great starting point, but usually there are some deeper issues, and a basic visual refresh isn’t going to be enough to solve the problem. It’s up to me, as the designer, to pinpoint the deeper issues at hand, find the root cause, and then create a holistic identity based on that.
When I work holistically, design doesn’t even come into the equation until halfway through the project. My signature process (take a look at my blog post on that here) starts with an extensive strategy and research phase, which lets me play detective and figure out what’s really going on with your business. It also gives us both time to delve into your goals and where you see yourself in the next 5-10 years (when done properly, a rebrand should last your business at least that long). After the strategy phase, I start figuring out how to tackle your root-cause issues in a way that’ll help you stand out from the crowd, get you to your future goals and allow your business to continue to evolve and grow. Like in holistic medicine, I look at these three key areas of your biz:
Body/visuals - how it looks
Mind/voice - how it acts
Spirit/values - how it makes people feel
To help your brand be the best it can be, and to solve any core issues you might have, your final identity will cover all three of the above areas. Through a combination of thorough brand strategy, emotive visual design, brand tone of voice and connective-driven messaging, holistic design can help cure the root of your concerns and get you on the path to hitting your big goals and dreams.
So when it comes to branding, a holistic approach is the way to go if you’re looking for lasting, big-picture change. It looks deeply at the function, the ‘why’, the purpose, the messaging, the experience and the story of your brand. Looking at your brand from every possible angle, unearthing the root cause of your concerns, and crafting a considered identity that connects with your people - this is what it means to build a holistic brand.
Keen to see how a holistic brand could help your biz? Let’s chat about it! Fill in my enquiry form and we can talk more about where you want to be and how holistic branding can get you there. Want to kickstart the process yourself? Click here to sign up for my free 5 part mini-course where I go through all the foundational steps to creating a stand-out brand!
