Work in Process
The Swail Studio Blog about Branding,
visual identity, magic, and the void.
why i stopped offering websites
My genius is branding — not website design, not website development, and definitely not project managing website design and development through contractors.
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.
have you ever had to decide who you want to be next?
I’m not talking about branding (how you are seen from the outside) — I’m talking about what’s underneath it.
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.
Looking like a leader ≠ looking "polished"
You own your bigness. Own your weirdness. Own your mastery. Own your legacy. Own your voice.
Looking like a leader doesn’t necessarily mean polish — it means looking different from what else is out there.
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.
I won’t convince you that you need to rebrand.
My clients already value branding, and already have a budget for it. Their big decision is choosing the right designer or agency to make it happen.
When they find me, they often tell me that they immediately knew I would get them, and they are ready to go.
Brand design emergencies don't exist.
Not only will rushing the process not help anything, but you'll get the best result by designing for the future — not right now.
So you’re done with the whole black-on-beige femme-script-font “soulpreneur” look... now what?
If you’re not a traditional business owner, the traditional “branding package” won’t necessarily be a great fit for you.
These are the specific needs I identified over 10+ years helping weirdos honor their truest selves in their visual brand.
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???