Mike has an acute sense of style and function which helps to create compelling designs and elevated visual communication. We collaborated on a complete brand refresh, including a suite of corporate artefacts, designs and new website. Mike is a genuine creative, he is not a ‘box ticker’ but someone who brings passion and flair to his work and the entire process. I highly recommend his services to anyone looking for a thoughtful, talented and responsive design expert.
Barb Ferres | Former Communications Manager Anteris Technologies
A great question to start with. No - a logo is not a brand.
A logo is one part of the bigger brand picture. I like to think of it as the cherry on the cake, it a tasty representation of your business but the logo in isolation is not your brand.
At its core a brand is a combination of foundational blocks - thoughts, process, visual and auditory assets that in combination help to distinguish company (or a person) and it’s products / services.
'Branding' is not a product or a singular activity but a process - the end result of which is the perception you try to cultivate in other peoples minds.
A distinctive logo is a great asset to have - and next to a business name it's often the very first item on a new business' wish list. It can certainly help a micro business owner to feel legitimised and build momentum by having a great logo - but remember that a logo will never appear in isolation. Building a brand is a foundational step towards creating a long term, successful business
Generally our process flow is Discovery, Analysis, Strategy, Design and Implementation, Support and Roll-out.
The process differs for every business - and depends largely on whether you are refreshing a business or developing one from scratch. Other factors such as the size, reach and complexity of your operations can also play apart. Branding is most effective when it's completely holistic and covers every aspect and interaction of your ecosystem.
Rebrand Redesign = Established Business - Major overhaul
This is where most of our brand work happens - a refresh brand is an exciting time in the development of a business, it generally means the entity has grown beyond its original concept or that market forces are encouraging or demanding change. In highly competitive industries, well defined, streamlined and authentic brands are likely to rise above the pack.
Rebrand Refresh = Established Business - Minor overhaul
Similar to above, this often occurs when a business has grown and the brand itself has for the large part kept pace. It's built on solid foundations, mirrors a good business growth plan but the visual output is dated or lacking finesse and requires an overhaul.
Brand Development = New Business
A new business venture seeking to start well and maintain trajectory with a well defined and equiped brand tool kit.
Typically a brand project would run between 4 and 12 weeks depending on requirments
Our solutions are bespoke and tailored specifically to each circumstance. It's important to have an idea of budget.
We typically engage small brand and strategy projects starting from $6500
We can assist with micro and startup MVP visual identity solutions from $1500
Yes. We encourage a commitment to engaged brand management if its within the scope of your organisation and resources.
Signing off the a new brand is just the beginning of the journey. It can take time to proactively refine and adjust the a rollout, execution and cross channel application. Retaining Lead Creative as brand managers and designers can be a great way to ensure a full and professional adoption of both strategy and style.
In over 20 years of experience we've covered a lot of industries - And for a long time Lead Creative could have been considered industry agnostic. We've covered resources, construction, agriculture, realestate, tourism, healthcare, technology, professional services, finance, local government, retail. These days we tend to focus on the Medical, Financial and Technology sectors.
We want our work to have positive impact - in more traditional white collar sectors we can apply our ethos of human centred, user focussed brand strategy to great effect. We hope to help disrupt the narrative and tell the stories of connection and drive positive change for Medical, Tech and Finance business' who want to put people at the heart of there products and services.
