As Brilliant Ink embarked on its 10th year in business, we felt it was time to refresh our brand to better reflect our evolution as a company. While there were certainly aspects of our brand that we loved - our name! Our logo! The bold colors! - there were also components we felt we’d outgrown. We’ve expanded significantly as a team in recent years, and have also adopted a more sophisticated marketing approach. To support our needs, we needed a brand identity that is more flexible, and is a better reflection of our brilliance.

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Thanks to a well-organized (yet flexible!) effort, we are ready to share our new branding with the world! Our journey has been energizing and productive, and while it’s not always easy to prioritize an internal effort like this, we followed 5 key principles that kept us on track and led us to a brilliant outcome:

1. Clarify the brand vision

Before diving in to any discussions about colors, icons or templates, we began by digging into how we view ourselves as a company, and how we wish for clients and prospects to view us. We honed in on specific words that describe the company we are today and our vision for the future, like “experts,” “energetic” and of course, “brilliant.”. Those qualities became the guiding light for all of our decision-making.  

2. Consider both form AND function

One of the biggest challenges with our previous brand was the way it functioned in practice. While brilliant and bold, it lacked the flexibility we needed to use it in the various materials we create - from workshops to blog posts to presentations. Throughout our brand journey, our amazing designer Claire kept this top of mind, always applying new design directions to sample materials so we could consider each option in practice.

3. Plan. Plan. Plan.

Lucky for us, Claire is not only a brilliant designer, but also an incredible project manager. She helped us plan and prioritize how we’d bring the new brand to life, considering when and how we’d update everything from our website to our business cards. And when business priorities threatened to throw us off schedule, she kept us focused and on task!

4. Avoid working in a vacuum

We know all too well that the company’s brand is a vital part of employees’ experience, and it also influences how a company is perceived externally. That’s why we knew it was critical to gather feedback from our people, as well as some key clients and “friends of Brilliant Ink,” which led to some fantastic insights and inspiration for our final approach.

5. Streamline decision-making

While we wanted our team to feel invested and involved in the rebrand process, we also knew we had to keep things moving. So, we convened a smaller committee to enable ongoing discussion and debate, while still ensuring nimble decision-making throughout the process.

Trust your instincts and stay true to yourself

While we value and appreciate feedback from others, we ultimately chose a design direction that felt true to us. It’s clean and sharp, bold and colorful, and all around, well, brilliant!

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