Processes
A Deeper Look Into Odi’s Branding Approach
It's a catch-22, isn't it? Branding is most critical when you have the least amount of time to devote to it. That's exactly why we created Odi. Our bloat-free process delivers a brand that’s ready to roll NOW and scale alongside your business.
What makes our service different from other early-stage branding agencies or design sprints? A balance of practicality and flexibility. Because we get it. Times are a little chaotic, resources are a little tight. In those early- and pre-seed-stage days, every moment — and every dollar — counts. Your brand investment has to be useful today.
At the same time, rapid changes are the hallmark of an early-stage company. Maybe you experience explosive growth. Maybe you pivot on features, audience, or value proposition. Your brand identity has to flex for the unexpected so you never lose traction.
The Odi approach hits that sweet spot, allowing us to deliver brand identities that don’t compromise on quality, value, speed, or scalability. Behind the curtain, here’s what that entails.
Prep
We gather crucial information from you at the outset, which helps us be intentional and organized in our approach. The centerpiece here is a self-guided exercise that identifies the key attributes of your brand’s essence. Attributes are how we translate emotion (what’s really going to “sell” you in the long run) into expression (your visual identity).
Evaluate
Before the first pixel hits, we do a Brand Evaluation — a high-level, tactical audit of your competitors’ visual identities. Who are we up against? What does their brand look like? Evaluation uncovers what makes sense for your brand within the landscape versus what’s already being overdone. It’s an extremely fun, satisfying, and productive step in the project. Sometimes, clients even get additional clarity and focus on their purpose, value proposition, or differentiation.
From there, opportunities for design distinction emerge.
Align
Second-guessing branding decisions is incredibly common. That’s the purpose of the Brand Evaluation: to keep doubt and distraction at bay. With our research in hand, we use part of the evaluation phase to identify the single most important thing to capture in your new look, a.k.a. your SMIT. This is our conceptual North Star, a steady touchstone with emotional resonance and practical relevance. The SMIT does double duty. It gets everyone energized while keeping the project on track and aligned to what's most important to you.
Design
The prep work, Brand Evaluation, and our discussions with you in meetings — all of them influence our visual direction. Armed with this knowledge, it’s time to execute the design work, first in mood boards and then in custom designs for your brand. With every decision, we ask ourselves, “Does this embody our SMIT?” Collaboration, feedback, and refinements revolve around this core concept.
From logo to color to typography, your design will reflect the quality and caliber of your company. You’re ready for rollout.
Deliver
Our six-week engagement wraps with brand guidelines. Replete with detailed instructions and inspiring examples, these guidelines will serve as a single source of truth for applying your new visual identity consistently and intentionally. Odi’s add-on Brand Support offering can start knocking out the rebrand tasks so you can launch even faster.
The project has ended, but this is where you begin — with a brand designed to see you into the future. Hitting the proverbial “publish” button could be one of the momentous days in your organization’s timeline. You can step out into the competitive landscape with a level of confidence you may not have expected going into the project. And we’ll be cheering you every step of the way.
This article was written in collaboration with Idoia Gorosabel-Gkikas and Amy Nance.
Photos by Chris Lee, Maarten Deckers and Gleyvison Anselmo on Unsplash
