5 Reasons You Need Creative Direction for Your Indie Brand
Hiring a creative artistic director for your business is one of the smartest things you can do for your independent brand. A creative director can help guide your visual style and decision making when it comes to creating products or merchandise, your album art, and even the smallest of details such as font choices and fret inlays. Here’s how you know it’s time to hire one.
Creating a cohesive visual style elevates you from internet rando, to "Oh, let’s hire them!”
You are a growing small or micro brand, musician, or independent business owner
Many solopreneurs, whether you are a musical performer, a growing thrift store, or even a label often outgrow their DIY phase of self-created graphics and visual, as their fanbase and sales or bookings grow. As a creative who has seen how visual design and art can impact loyalty, I have watched brands suffer and lose momentum because they shifted to far away from their own aesthetic.
You tried to diy your logo/merch/album art but it sucked
We have all been there, even me! When starting out, budgets are tight, and stuff needs to get MADE. However, there is a reason why crappy DIY with can’t compete with hired creative talent. Most average brand and business owners don’t possess knowledge of artistic guidelines and visual flow and hierarchy. Though many apps make it “easy,” many people end up using cut and paste templates, which doesn’t help you stand out.
you detest the thought of lame, a.i. generated creative assets
You’ve seen them. The visually-overstuffed event flyer or restaurant menu. BOOM! In your face display fonts! LOTS and LOTS of A.I.-generated mock up images that don’t accurately represent the product! Complicated flow! No room for anything else! Fill whole page! SO FANCY! YES! I AM GRAFFIK DEEZYNER NOW! Just because it’s easy, doesn’t mean it’s good. A.I. generated anything relies of a “middle point” of data sourced from hundreds of thousands, if not millions of data points. This is why those A.I. event flyers you see all look sort of the same, kinda basic, but with so much going on visually, that your eyes can’t pause to really take anything in. Also, A.I. data centers STEAL from artists, hurt the environment, don’t generate jobs or income, and drink all of our water. Oh and they are now eating antique books.
You have reached the point of having no idea what you are doing
The point of no return: you’ve reached absolute overwhelm. Nobody wants this. A creative director can help you accomplish your goals by offering you the right services, creative projects, and execution of your brand within a vision. Being a one-person (or two!) brand is hard enough as it is, and not everyone possesses every skill needed to make their project come to life.
you are being pulled in a million directions creatively
In the social media 3.0 age, we often find ourselves looking to counterparts and similar brands for direction, as well as making endless Pinterest boards, and falling into the trap of the infinite scroll on Instagram. The hundreds of ideas being shared every second can lead to one wanting to do this, that, and everything that seems like it’s a good idea. A creative director will guide you back to earth, and help keep you grounded and focused, when it comes to developing your brand, particularly in the visual and graphic design. This is why companies have entire departments dedicated strictly to developing the visual aspects of a business or brand.
Meet Crystal (THat’s me!)
Visual & creative that makes them clutch their pearls…
As an artist and illustrator, I’ve worked across multiple industries and roles, dedicated to creating exquisite visual interpretation and brand loyalty. Sure, I can hand illustrate a cool logo, but your business or brand is worth so much more than just that. You deserve visual appeal, whether you are just starting to grow, or you are on the verge of blasting off, let’s do it together.
I offer creative and artistic direction, including illustrated brand design, for alt and indie brands, bands, and misfits. Your visual assets and branding should be a mirror of your lore and your story. You deserve creative that says “F*ck yeah!” and not, “I asked the Chatbot to do it for me!”