Work in Process

The Swail Studio Blog about Branding,
visual identity, magic, and the void.

the brand designer needs a rebrand
Sharon Wagner Sharon Wagner

the brand designer needs a rebrand

I pieced together this brand for my past self: a strategic designer exhausted with freelancing for agencies that wouldn’t let me present my own work. 

Now, after years of refining exactly what I’m best at and with new goals on the horizon, I’ve become something more: a psychic brand director for rebels and innovators who need their wild visions translated into luxury visuals. 

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To the rebrand-curious but not sure if it’s THE move right now:
Sharon Wagner Sharon Wagner

To the rebrand-curious but not sure if it’s THE move right now:

Playing around with your brand can be fun, revitalizing, and re-introduce a little joy back into your work. 

But if you’re holding back on making overdue changes — or, on the other hand, changing it over and over — you risk losing trust. Which, imo, is likely THE most important piece of your marketing this year. 

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making shit work today, because it has to
Sharon Wagner Sharon Wagner

making shit work today, because it has to

This is when your brand has to be SO CLEAR that it cuts through the noise, cuts through the fears, and lodges itself deep in someone’s heart, where it could change their life.

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sorry not sorry
Sharon Wagner Sharon Wagner

sorry not sorry

This post, my first in five weeks, had THE HIGHEST reach of any post I have made in the last 2 years. 

Feel free to use any of my excuses for your own disappearances.

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No, you don’t have to post photos of yourself.
Sharon Wagner Sharon Wagner

No, you don’t have to post photos of yourself.

You don’t need a huge professional photoshoot in order to create a fully “branded” website or post. Do professional photoshoots help? Absolutely. Do these methods perfectly replace them? No. But can you keep up a consistent brand aesthetic without fancy photos? Yes.

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Would you still wear retail when you can afford couture?
Sharon Wagner Sharon Wagner

Would you still wear retail when you can afford couture?

A question for the coaches and other kinda weird business owners who “didn’t need pretty branding” to succeed:

If you’ve already mastered marketing, sales, strategy, content, copy, energetics all the way to ~$1M… 

Why would you NOT want to bring the aesthetics of your business up to match them for like $10-20k?

If you can afford couture, you wouldn’t show up to a red carpet in the same thing you wore to your first ever networking event years ago. So why is sticking with your old make-do branding ok with you???

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WARM SOPHISTICATED SIMPLICITY 🏠🪴🖍️🛋️
Sharon Wagner Sharon Wagner

WARM SOPHISTICATED SIMPLICITY 🏠🪴🖍️🛋️

Meet the new visual identity and website for Brooklyn Speech Therapy

Taylor is the founder, and her unconventional approach hinges on working with clients in their own homes — so her brand needed to feel just as inviting, cozy, and clean as the home of a Brooklyn professional (given that there will always be coffee mugs out, stickers on walls, and art on the fridge). 

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