The state of our current economy has been a good push for those thinking of becoming self reliant. A friend to the small business owner, one of my jobs is to get them up and going - at least visually, and to help get their brand set, as well as think about how they will fit in and stand out in their specific market.
Most recently, I've been working with Ambert Dunsmore, a massage therapist who has gone rogue and decided to open his own business. Ambert describes his massage technique as a "gentle strength" and anyone who knows Ambert, knows his heart can be described in the same way. In coming up with his brand, he knew he wanted his name in the title, and he knew he wanted an image that was original only to him. Something noticeable in a moment and Amberto-y.
Step 1 IDENTIFY. First thing was to have him fill out an Identity Questionnaire. Partly to get him thinking about how he can be unique in a sea of 10,000 licensed Oregonian therapists, and partly so that I had a place to start.
Step 2 IMAGE . "A dragon, or bamboo, or an elephant - I love elephants!" were all images he identified with. But he had also sketched out for me some letters he had been thinking about. He does a lot of Thai massage and a beautiful Indian carved wooden screen sat in the corner of his massage space. Okay - a good place to start.
Step 3 COLOR. This is so important. People often forget about color being the first feeling one might get when they view something. A proper Identity Questionnaire can help identity the words which describe what your colors can be. Ambert was pretty set on his colors and I loved that he will stand out from all the boring sage green therapists out there. His colors will identify to both men and women and also happen to be a hot trend right now: dark brown and light purple.
Step 4 SIMPLIFY. Ambert loved it all. He wanted to incorporate two elephants, a fancy handwritten font, and a unique temple/letter A design. It was getting too busy and chaotic and not at all calming and stress relieving. I suggested we keep it simple.
In the end, Ambert went with his initial first idea of type, a letter A and M conjoined and manipulated into a Thai temple like design. Unique only to Ambert! The website is still in progress (thanks Mauricio), but do check back for one of the BEST massages ever: ambertsmassage.com until then...971.998.2470