Choosing the person to create your brand is as important as choosing the person to buy your first house or going on a first date. This is your baby, a passion project (however you refer to it). It means so much to you but you know nothing about what you are going to possibly see or who you’re going to meet. You’re nervous but excited. You have reservations but you’re hopeful.

All of these thoughts are normal and my advice is always go into this new relationship being true to you and your business. Keep reminding yourself through the process:

Why did I start this?

What does it mean to me?

and, how much does it mean to me?

You need to understand your business and what you want to create before you can even think to invite anyone else into this world to try to understand it like you do.

You are briefing someone and introducing them to something that means so much to you, you need them to feel and understand the importance of that. There are so many talented creatives and branding specialists out there you want to find the one that’s right for you.

My advice is all down to the brief you give them, the initial consultation and getting a sense of their understanding of your business. Any creative worth their salt will provide case studies and examples of work alongside an initial proposal based on your brief. This relationship is important, you want to trust them and allow them to get under the skin of your business.

I chose to work with Sarah at Hallmarked Design because of all of these factors.

Sarah takes a very personal approach and genuinely wanted to understand my proposition, who I was targeting and what impact my brand could make in this local market. I certainly knew I was in good hands looking at her back catalogue of work, rave reviews and social media prowess. But for me it really came down to her knowing me and wanting to get to grips with my business like it was her own and that’s what matters. It is a relationship and can be a long one with the right branding team.

I asked Sarah to give me an insight from her perspective of the brand journey for The Plattform…

When Penny asked me to create her new branding I could not wait to get started!

Then when we went through her brief to understand more about the business, realising her focus on aspiring entrepreneurs to level up – I realised the match made in heaven! That, along with ‘Penny’ style is what I’m all about.

We needed something elegant and timeless, an absolute statement that worked across all formats.

We explored the connotation of the platform and the brand’s purpose, elevating these awesome businesses, then moved to a spotlight focus on name highlight with the ‘M’. The play on this connection and bridging of these two elements felt magnetic to it’s core and with the forming of Penny’s two initials within taking a natural form to create the perfect mark.

This mark in its full form and standalone as a submark give the standout we set to achieve, with a bold purpose to match Penny’s values.

It’s been such a pleasure to work on this project with Penny at such an exciting step of her fierce journey, and It’s so exciting to see the branding come together with some powerful female entrepreneurs working on all angles of it!

Wishing you the best of luck on your new venture Penny and thank you for letting me be a part of it.

Sarah @ Hallmarked’