Pinterest is a rich source of inspiration and the perfect place to gather your ideas for your brand, but I do get a lot of questions about HOW exactly to approach this exercise.
Even though we're generally au fait with using Pinterest for wedding planning, kitchen refurbs, deciding on our next haircut or researching veganuary recipes, it seems we're less confident with using it to develop a visual style for our brand.
If we're working together on your brand identity, a beautiful new Wix website or your brand photography, then it's one of the first places I'll send you as part of your branding homework.
As a designer, Pinterest is how I see what's going on in your head. It's how I can tap directly into your visual influences to be able to translate your ideas from vision to reality.
Here's how to get those creative juices flowing!
How to create a brand vision board on Pinterest
Create a secret board on Pinterest
First up, get yourself an account for your brand if you haven't already got one because Pinterest is a brilliant place to market your business.
Then create a branding board but make it secret so that you can pin with WILD ABANDON. If we’re working together then I’ll ask that you add me so I can see how you’re getting on - my Pinterest handle is @freshleafcreative. Call it something sensible like Your Brand Name | Brand Vision so that you can always find it to tweak and refine.
Start to pin inspirations to your board
Initially, I’d encourage you to start to pin anything and everything that you’re drawn to - Don’t hold back at this stage!
Trust your intuitiion on this. You may not know what it is about the image that you’re attracted to, but you have to start somewhere and even though you may think that it looks like a random collection of pins with no cohesion, when we look at the board at a high level there will be several very distinct themes running through your Pins.
This is where I can step in to help identify and articulate what these themes are.
What should you Pin?
If you’re stuck with where to start, good things to search for are colour palettes, fonts, logos, textures and shapes.
For example, if you know that are called to and love the colour Teal, start generally with 'teal colour palettes'. But once you get into the flow you can get much more specific - think ‘tropic brights’ versus ‘muted desert tones’ - both will give very different results.
Go down the rabbit hole to explore your inspirations fully
When you find something you particularly like, click into the Pin itself and scroll down to the 'More Like This' section – you’ll see that Pinterest has helpfully selected lots of other images that are similar to your chosen Pin. It’s a brilliant feature and really helps to focus your inspirations.
Once you’ve exhausted everything in there you can back up and start again.
Rinse and repeat.
Upload any personal photos to your board
Don't forget that you don't just need to rely on other peoples pins for this exercise - you can also create your own!
What inspires you in your home? Have you got a sofa or a book on the shelf that is THE perfect colour of pink for you? Is there a font in a magazine that gives you all of the vibes? Do you have a special place or item in your home that exactly encapsulates the feeling that you want to create?
Take a look around and see what calls to you, because we do tend to fill our spaces with things that we love and this can give us clues for our brand.
Find these clues, then take a photo and create a Pin on your board.
A note on you versus your brand
It’s ok to separate the two.
But in my experience - and to call in the most flow and ease in your business - you would do well to create a brand that is built from the inside-out.
One that one that embodies your personal values and purpose.
By means of an example, if you are a loud, highly active, vibrant character, then creating a brand that exudes peace, serenity and calmness, might not be the best match.
You'll find it hard and exhausting to channel this vibe authentically in your communications if you're constantly fighting against your true nature.
Bring your signature energy to your brand - it's your main area of differentiation from your competition and embracing this will allow you to set yourself apart.
When to stop adding to your Pinterest board
When you look at your overarching board, it should excite and inspire you. You might not know how it will be further refined, and that's ok at this stage.
Ask yourself if it is a good reflection of what you want to encapsulate in your brand, or is something missing?
How many Pins are enough? This will differ for everyone. If you have great clarity over your brand inspirations then you might be able to nail it with 20-30, but I find that most clients tend to pin at least 75 inspirations.
It’s worth mentioning that some pins may now look out of place when you look at everything together – especially the ones at the beginning of your journey, so feel free to remove these.
If we're working together however, then please leave them there so we can have the discussion - it's useful for me to see how your thinking has evolved as you've pinned.
Refining your moodboard
If we're not working together, the next part in the process for you is to refine your inspirations into approx 10-15 pins which truly embody the brand that you want to create. You'll then want to save these images to your desktop and head on over to Canva to create your brand vision board. From there you can start to develop your colour palette.
If we are working together however, then all of this leads to the first stage in my process, which is to meet with you to talk through all of the gorgeousness on your board!
I LOVE this part!
Together we’ll unpick what it is about the images that you’re drawn to and identify your common themes. This is always best over coffee at an inspiring location but can be done remotely if distance doesn’t allow.
That's all for this post, I hope this has got your creative juices flowing!
If you’re interested in kick starting your brand this year then why not have a look around my website to find out more about what I do.
You can also subscribe to my newly refreshed mailing list so I can continue to help you in your brand building endeavours with actionable advice and quick wins for your business and marketing efforts!
With heart
Lucy
About Lucy:
I'm a brand designer, photographer and Wix website designer based in the UK. I help wellness & creative businesses build their brand and online presence through photography and web, brand & human design, so that they can create positive ripples in the world.
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