Prior to becoming an artist, I was/still am a graphic designer. After working on many different brands with many different clients, I’ve decided to use all the knowledge and experience I’ve assimilated to build my brand as an artist. Thus, in this blog, I will be explaining what art branding really is, the importance of branding in the success of your art career, and how to start building your brand.
What is an Artist Brand?
Before diving in on the subject, take a moment and ask yourself, how would people describe your art? How would you want them to describe it as? Peaceful? Erotic? Quirky? Whichever direction you go in; this sets the tone of your brand.
To begin with, it all starts with your mindset. I always remind myself that I am not only an artist, but also an entrepreneur, and so are you and every other artist. Your art is your business, meaning your art is your brand. Branding is how people feel about your art; how they are influenced by your art, and in return, how they associate it as. Thus, the first step is defining who you are!
Moreover, your identity goes deeper than just your logo slapped on everything you create; it’s how people perceive you as and what they say about you. Your brand is your reputation! Defining who you are is the first and most important thing, since this is the aspect that your potential customers would assess before deciding whether or not they want to purchase your art.
So, what does branding really do anyway? And is it that important?
Well, the goal of branding is people recognizing your art as yours; it is what you’re known for. So, consistency is a key player for creating a successful brand. I can not stress how important consistency is in branding; it gives people a sense of trust and credibility in you. I will explain a bit more what I mean by that. For example, you listen to Nirvana; you like their style and appreciate an alternative rock genre; maybe you resonate with their lyrics or maybe you like their punk aesthetic. However, if they changed all the things you like about them, will you still buy/listen to their music?
So, what we can conclude is that your brand is what makes you stand out from the crowd and your consistency is what will keep your customers coming back to buy again!
How to build your brand?
To simplify the process, I’ve broken down branding into 3 main phases, which are:
- Brand Strategy
- Brand Identity
- Brand Marketing
Think about your brand as an experience. For example, let’s say you want to go on a vacation and blog about your trip, a snap of a finger won’t miraculously take you there! Firstly, you would need to plan your trip in advance, at this stage, everything is still abstract and intangible; likewise, building your brand constitutes of creating a plan or blueprint of what your work is all about (Brand Strategy). Secondly, you would need to physically show up to your flight and actually travel to your destination, at this stage you’re executing your planned trip, by carrying yourself, your luggage, everything you are and everything you need, your whole identity basically; likewise, the second phase of brand building is Brand Identity, which is how you present your brand to the world using visuals, content writing and experience, this phase is the execution of the planned Brand Strategy. Lastly, you would need to choose the right channels and social media platforms to share your content and images with your viewers and readers; likewise, Brand Marketing is how you’ll communicate your art using the right channels and platforms, reaching your ideal customers.