What’s Your Personal Brand?

I recently designed a program for my friend and former boss’ memorial service. The program was supposed to reflect him and his style. It got me thinking about everything that goes into a personal style or brand. How do we determine what someone else’s style is?

Maybe it’s in the clothes we wear, be it all black and grey or bright orange and red. Many friends reminisced about my boss’ bright pink shirts and bold purple ties. It could be reflected in the patterns we love – soft feminine florals, bold stripes or textured neutrals. Some choose to make a personal statement through how they decorate their houses or offices. I love sleek and modern interior décor but usually surround myself with a mix of modern and traditional pieces since all modern can be stark and cold.

All of us have a personal style, but not everyone is deliberate about translating that to our personal brand. I designed and digitally printed personalized thank you notes with hot pink, purple and spring green graphics on a softwhite paper for my daughter after she was born. Everyone said how cute they were and that they are “so her”. Did I start creating her brand already as an infant by the typeface, color and paper choices? I wonder if she’ll choose a completely different style and brand as she gets older – no doubt!

I designed an identity for a colleague a while ago who has bold, curly red hair. I created a twisty curly red graphic element that tied into the letters in her name. She continues to use this for her personal stationery and claims it “fits her perfectly”. This red curly-q is now part of her personal brand, a trademark of sorts.

In branding and design, we are taught to be consistent. It’s almost driven down our throats and in turn we teach our clients to be consistent. Use your logo in the same way every time, stick to the brand manual and use the same colors and fonts, pick a standard paper – all these choices create your brand.

Maybe our personal brand is just ingrained in who we are. It’s how we sign our name, the words we use, our speaking style and the colors we prefer. And while consistency can be a good thing, sometimes we all can become a bit stale even in our personal brand. Always wearing all black and white and pinstriped? Shake it up a bit – it’s a new year. Add a dash of citrus yellow or a pop of red, splurge on a new striped lunch bag, change your default email font to a serif instead of Arial, or spec a colored envelope for your next identity project instead of white. Come on, even corporate brands need a bit of refreshing now and then.