Since I decided to write a comic book I have been thinking more and more about branding. While designing my Front cover , I started thinking about logos and branding. Maybe all I create is this one comic book or maybe it leads to something bigger, who knows? – What I do know is that I want to build my comic book on a solid branding foundation.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, says that “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” – This quote got me thinking about what I want people to think about my comic book and therefore what people think about me. Off the top of my head, the first 3 things I want my comic to project are:
- Professional – Well made, well thought out and something you can see that a great deal of effort went in to
- Solid Artwork – I pride myself in the quality of my artwork and this project will be no exception
- Creative – Above all else, I want the creativity of this project to really shine through
Once again I took to google…This time to find out about building brands. I found an interesting article which provides 11 simple tips on building a successful brand. The 11 things are listed below with some of my thoughts on how I will incorporate them in to my brand.
1. Determine your brand’s target audience.
I work for a fortune 500 organization in a business ownership role. I know how important it is to understand your target audience and create products specifically designed to solve the problems and ease the pain points for that audience. That being said, I do not want to be to specific at this point. I think the important thing is to create an umbrella brand which can target any demographic. For example, Marvel is a top level brand but they can dip in to multiple demographics. Thor, Captain America, Captain Marvel and Black Widow are all Marvel characters but each one will resonate with a slightly different demographic. I do not know what my main target audience will be just yet but I do know that I do not want to close any doors. Having the umbrella brand will allow me to do this
2. Establish a brand mission statement.
This one is pretty simple. I created The Digital Art World to allow me to combine my 2 passions for digital art and creativity. The mission statement for my comic book is exactly the same:
Using Digital Art to innovate, create & inspire
3. Research brands within your industry niche.
When I think Comic books I think of Marvel, DC Comics and a comic book I remember from the UK called The Beano. All 3 (even The Beano) were founded in the 1930’s – The longevity of these organizations is something to truly admire. The blueprint for success in the comic book industry is out there and clear for all to see. It goes without saying that copying is off limits but studying just these 3 organizations could provide some insight on how to model my efforts
4. Outline the key qualities & benefits your brand offers.
As mentioned above, I want my comic book to have the following qualities:
- Professionalism – Well made, well thought out and something you can see that a great deal of effort went in to
- Solid Artwork – I pride myself in the quality of my artwork and this project will be no exception
- Creativity – Above all else, I want the creativity of this project to really shine through
I believe that sticking to the 3 principles will work for me
5. Create a brand logo & tagline.
I wanted a logo which does not stretch too far away from my website while still allowing me to create the important umbrella brand. I landed on the design above. “TDAW Comics” is my umbrella brand – No prizes for guessing that the “TDAW” stands for The Digital Art World. The coloring is the same as my website design. Orange is my favorite color so wanted to continue with that theme. The three circles at the bottom is a new addition. I started this project because my 3 sons wanted me to design a comic book. One circle for each son seems like a fitting dedication to the reason why I started this whole thing in the first place.
To show how the umbrella brand will work I have also created another logo for my comic series. My first comic book will be centered around Norse mythology so I wanted to create a logo for this theme
It is a pretty simple logo. It is the word Norse with a substitution for the letter O. The tree represents Yggdrasil, the tree of life at the center of Norse cosmology which connects the 9 worlds (hence the 9 connected circles around the outside. Each logo was created in Adobe Illustrator and I will create a video to show this in the future
The tagline again is pretty simple, I end pretty much every post or video with “Go Create Something” – This is my tagline
6. Form your brand voice.
Professional, friendly and respectful – That’s how I try operate in business and in my personal life…This project is no exception
7. Build a brand message and elevator pitch.
The logo, the mission statement and the brand voice will all come together over time to form my brand message. Saying it is one thing but showing it is another and I need time and consistency for that. I want to share this journey and show how my brand message grows over time. Every journey starts with a first step and this for me, is that first step in my brand journey
8. Let your brand personality shine.
Check – I will try
9. Integrate your brand into every aspect of your business.
Goes without saying…
10. Stay true to your brand building.
Naturally…
11. Be your brand’s biggest advocate.
Always…
I did not get bored of typing for the last 4 points (Honest) but I think they kind of go without saying…Again, typing is easy but showing it over time is the important part. That takes time and I am determined to show this
My next post is going to be where I show off my front cover design. There is so much work to get through but I can now see how this will come together and it is very exciting. The drawing part is still a little bit daunting but still, very enjoyable.
Thanks for reading this and of course…
Go Create Something!