Wedding & portrait photographer, Sandy Harden's Brand Book.

1. brand standards

2. contents This brand standards document explores the
message, visuals, and expression of your brand.
Brand Message
Design & Visuals
Words & Content
Live Your Brand
BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL

3. Moodboard
The moodboard was
curated to express the
“mood” of the brand
and to inspire the visual
decisions. The images
chosen convey a sense
of fun, joy, and energy.
They are also creative
and unique.

4. brand message

5. position
Core Idea
As a portrait and wedding photographer, you
collaborate with your clients to create unique
images that are fun to make.
Our Goal
Encourage our clients to stop and celebrate this
moment in their life - whether it’s their wedding, high
school graduation, or just another year passing.
How you Are Different
Your focus on a fun experience will set you apart.
You’ll want to build in elements of a ‘party’ into your
sessions and booking/delivery processes. Think:
champagne popping (figuratively for the HS
seniors), confetti, invitations, and a killer playlist.
What We Deliver
You photograph clients to celebrate the happy times
in their lives: weddings, graduations, etc. You
deliver prints, digital files, and other photographic
products.
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
BRAND MESSAGE

6. personality
Creator & Entertainer Personality
Archetype
Our goal is to create fun experiences of
collaboration & creation with our clients. We
are driven to create something new and
interesting in the world.
When they encounter our brand, my audience
FEELS: joyful, inspired, creative, happy, alive,
energetic, involved, heard.
Your brand is:
• Easy-going
• Creative
• Fun
• Talkative
• Inspired
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
BRAND MESSAGE

7. point of view
Photography is a purchase you’ll never
regret. Celebrate this part of your life by
taking the time to record it.
Creativity is powerful when it is a
collaboration between the photographer
and the person being photographed. We
want to take each of our clients on a
creative adventure.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Life is
weird and flawed and real. Your portraits
should show that, too.
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
BRAND MESSAGE

8. Mix fun & creativity.
Throw it like confetti!
manifesto

9. design & visuals

10. logo
VISUAL IDENTITY
Your main logo is classy, clean, and
engaging - like you! The geometric
butterfly will become a recognizable
aspect of your brand’s visual identity
and can be used on its own.
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL

11. primary colors
VISUAL IDENTITY
Your primary brand colors are
deliberately neutral to keep the
focus on your photographs. Other
than the simple black and white, a
gold will be used to accent your
designs.
#000000
20% 40% 60% 80%
#fdeba9 #ffffff
20% 60%
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL

12. texture
VISUAL IDENTITY
Your brand should feel like a party so
the textures chosen help communicate
that “feel.” The gold is beautiful. The
confetti-like polka dots feel energetic
and fun.
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL

13. typography
Headlines: Futura Pt Heavy
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890
!@#$%^&*()
VISUAL IDENTITY
Body: Futura PT Book
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890
!@#$%^&*()
The fonts used in your designs will
primarily be Futura. It has a nice round
and casual (fun!) feel to it. It is also quite
modern. As an accent, Country Chick
script will be used sparingly. It helps
communicate your creativity and fun side.
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
Accent: Country Chick
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1234567890
!@#$%^&*()

14. website design
VISUAL IDENTITY
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
This website mockup shows how you can
incorporate the new brand font, colors,
logo, and direction into your existing
website structure. A small facelift gives
your website a lot of new energy!

15. image style

16. image
do’s
VISUAL IDENTITY
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
Do show mockups/designs featuring your
images. Especially ones that use your brand’s
gold, white, black, cream, etc. colors scheme!
Creative (& fun!) shoot concepts - anything
‘out of the ordinary’ to show the kinds of
things you what to photograph.
Natural smiles, energy, fun, and life in your
portfolio poses/expressions
Focus on couples & weddings for the majority
of your portfolio images if that’s what you want
to shoot more of (as opposed to families,
landscapes, etc.) This is especially important for
your website homepage, social media profiles,
and other “first impression” places.
When choosing images for
your brand portfolio, pick
ones like these.

17. words & content

18. tone of voice
BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
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BRAND COMMUNICATION
Content and communication from your brand
should be casual, personal, and positive.
You’ll sound:
• Positive & happy
• Confident
• Authentic & real
• Descriptive
• Easy-going
• Casual
• Energetic

19. tone of voice
BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
BRAND COMMUNICATION
We would say
Hi there!
We wouldn’t say
Dear client,
We would say
Join the party! Get VIP info and special
invitations when you sign up for the
email list.
We wouldn’t say
Sign up for my newsletter.
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20. tagline
Celebrate this moment.
OTHER OPTIONS
Celebrate your moment
Making Photography Fun
Keep Creativity Fun
Unpretentious creativity
Mix Fun & Creativity, Throw it Like Confetti!
Creativity, Meet Fun
BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
BRAND COMMUNICATION
Your tagline is a “catch
phrase” that describes your
work to others at a glance. It
is also used as your main
headline on your website.
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21. stories
Low to High Origin story
Tell your story of how you got started in
photography. Include the challenges and “humble
beginnings” and lead up to where you are now.
Why Story
Tell the story of WHY you have been called to be a
photographer: your passion for creating, learning
the art, mastering your equipment, etc.
Human Elements
Tell personal stories – share stories about your own
family and the impact that photography has had on
your life. Also share bits of your passions outside of
photography: the city, traveling, technology, etc.
Client Testimonials
Share stories about the experiences that your clients
have with you in their own words whenever
possible.
BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
BRAND COMMUNICATION
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Even though photographs tell
a 1,000 words, you’ll still
need to write some text. Here
are ideas of the stories you
can tell to attract your ideal
clients.

22. live your brand

23. brandemies
Not-to-do List
• Cookie-cutter sessions (like too many studio
sessions!) :)
• Focus too much on landscape photography in
your portfolio/brand presence
• Use multiple styles throughout your brand. Keep it
consistent.
We Are Not
• The low-budget or cheap photographer
• A “quick” photographer - you are co-creating
with your clients.
BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
LIVE YOUR BRAND
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24. action steps
Update your Online Presence
Incorporate these new design elements and brand focus
into your website (make it feel like a party!) and social
media platforms. Delete the blog from your site if you
aren’t going to update it regularly. Also, add information
about your photo booths to your site (perhaps on a drop
down menu option under weddings.) That product
offering fits your brand perfectly!
Send to your Email List
Start sharing a monthly story and any current offers you
have (mini sessions, upcoming seasons, ordering
deadlines, etc.) with your email list. MailChimp has a
great email marketing system that is free to start.
Shoot More of What You Want to Shoot in the
Future
Look into second shooting for a more expensive wedding
photographer in a bigger city, set up more stylized
engagement shoots, stage a wedding portrait session —
do whatever you can to get more of your target clients/
looks in your portfolio and on your website.
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BRAND GUIDELINES FOCUSED GIRL
LIVE YOUR BRAND

25. Questions?
kaye@kayeputnam.com