Branding Worksheet

A website redesign can feel rather overwhelming. Where do you start? How does the process work? What should you focus on doing?

First, decide if you are going to redesign your logo at the same time as redesigning your website. If you are, then focus on the logo first.

Step one of my logo redesign process is to get clients to complete a branding worksheet. I tailor it slightly for each client, but here is the starting point:

“Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. When I say WHY, I don’t mean to make money—that’s a result. By WHY I mean what is your purpose, cause or belief? WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?

But when a company clearly communicates their WHY, what they believe, and we believe what they believe, then we will sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to include those products or brands in our lives.”

-Simon Sinek, Start with Why

Why does your company/website/blog exist?

What motivates you? What life experiences and memories have you had that reinforce why you’re doing this? Why do you love it?

What is your mission?

Work hard to your mission into a single sentence with the essentials of who you’re helping and what you’re helping them with. It might take a bit of rewriting to distill it down.

What’s unique about you?

When people come to a site, yes they’re there for the information, but they’re also there for the story-telling. Think about some of the sites you love to read. Isn’t it almost as if you’ve got to know them over time even though you never have? What is it about you that’s bringing something unique through your site? For this, don’t write down your interests or bio or hobbies or fun facts. Get to the heart of where your life is at, or where it’s been and how you’ve been impacted by that.

What’s unique about your site?

It can be really hard to tell some sites from others. If you can think of a unique twist to add to your site which is memorable but not gimmicky, that can help your site stand out.

Who is your site for?

Add in lots more specific details about who you’re blogging for. Some people talk about this process as developing personas. That is, building up a description of a typical person coming to your site. You might have only one persona or multiple.

For each persona, think about their gender, age, income, family situation, their struggles as they relate to your site. To help you imagine these people even better, grab an image of a person who fits the picture of this person in your head. Give them a name or you could even use someone you know who fits this persona and grab their publicly accessible photo from Facebook.

Why should these people visit your site?

Think hard on this. What do you offer them?

What do you want people to feel when they read your site?

Jot down a list of words then try to limit yourself to a maximum of five. Here’s a bunch of examples to get you started:

• Intrigued
• Hungry
• Excited
• Welcomed
• Reassured
• Motivated
• Impressed
• Challenged
• Inspired
• Secure
• Supported

What is the tone and personality of your site?

This time, we’re thinking about the site, rather than visitors. Imagine your site was a person – how would you describe their look and behavior?

Jot down a list of words which then try to limit yourself to a maximum of five. Here are some examples to get you started:

• Professional
• Bright
• Artistic
• Colorful
• Fresh
• Elegant
• Chic
• Friendly

Do you have any preferred colors or colors to avoid?

It can be helpful to say why, too.

Do you have any preferred wording preferences (e.g capitalization) for your logo?

Please provide at least three logos you love the design of, and note why you like them.

Please provide at least three logos you do not love the design of and why.

Once a client completes this worksheet, we talk about their answers. I usually ask more questions to dig in deeper where needed, then I put together a branding statement which summarizes everything.

If you’re considering redesigning your logo, I recommend starting with this set of questions.