If you do your due diligence and take the time to write out the answers to these 6 questions, and your brand will start in a better spot for a designer to work on things like your logo, fonts, colors, etc. Answering these questions also helps you make clearer, more strategic decisions in your business so that you can connect with the right people in the right ways.

A lot of business owners, especially new small-business owners gearing up to launch for the first time, understand that they need a logo. A logo is definitely essential to communicating your brand to your audience, but if you only have that one component of your identity, that can lead to your marketing, communication, and other branded materials falling short of what they can truly be capable of.

One of the best analogies I’ve seen is the iceberg: a small portion of it is visible above water, but the majority of it is submerged and invisible below the surface. Your visual identity and your brand are similar to the iceberg–you and your audience see a small part of the brand (the visual identity), but the majority of what your brand is about isn’t actually visible.

In the past 10 months as first a freelancer then as a studio owner, I've gained a roster of fantastic clients; worked on 7 brands, 3 websites, 1 presentation, and multiple marketing and advertising materials; launched my social media accounts, my website and my email newsletter. And squeezed in 3 personal projects here and there.

I'm not yet sure what word will define 2022 for Verve & Concord yet, but there are a few lessons I'm taking with me that I learned in 2021.

“People don’t by what you do, they buy why you do it.” — Simon Sinek

You’ve probably seen this quote before. You’ve probably also heard the big question: “What’s your Why?,” which is what many brand strategists and designers ascribe to when starting the process of creating a new brand.