Christina of Christina Tundo Photography came to us with problems she was experiencing with her business that I see entrepreneurs struggle with all the time:
- She felt she had outgrown her logo
- She found herself wanting to expand outside of the niche she became known for
- She wanted to start booking higher-quality clients — ones that matched her ideal client profile
- She wanted to hire more clients through her website instead of word-of-mouth and Instagram
If you’re nodding your head along to these, then you’ll want to keep reading because we’re going to go in-depth on how we took Christina’s brand from “my images are better than my website” to “warm and ready for fun.”
P.S. If you’re a visual person (I know I am) this video will explain and show you exactly how the Signature Experience process works. It might be handy as you go through this blog post.
Step 1: The brand strategy and preliminary designs
Christina’s brand strategy presentation was such a blast to make since her brand personality was joyful, natural, sentimental, and whimsical. This allowed us to explore our creativity with design and strategy, and just have fun with it!
One of the biggest issues she had with her existing brand identity was the lack of her light-hearted and fun-loving personality injected throughout her website. Her mission was to “document the joyous moments even among the chaotic times of one’s life” but her website, from the design to the copy, wasn’t quite living up to this amazing message.
We often find that photographers’ personalities reflect in their style of photographs so by acknowledging her pain points and taking inspiration from her light and airy photos, we were able to come up with a cohesive color palette and font choices plus a brand voice to tie it all together.
What I love about the Signature Experience process is that it’s a collaborative process. I haven’t heard many other designers talk about this particular part of the job, so I’ll be the first to say it — I always tell our clients that we most likely won’t get their design perfect on the first try and it requires some back-and-forth before we get something that feels authentic. As much as it may look like because of the final product, even the best designers aren’t mind readers! Christina’s project was no exception and she gave fantastic feedback that eventually led to a logo and brand design that felt sophisticated and classy, yet playful — in true Christina fashion.
Step 2: Crafting the website copy
If you’ve been following for a while now, you already know how much I emphasize the importance of website copy. If you’re new around here and you haven’t heard it before, get ready to hear me say a million times that website copy is not something to overlook when designing your website. (P.S. I made a handy graphic you can check out here if you want to see all the components that really go into a successful brand. Spoiler — it’s more than just a pretty logo.)
When our copywriters are writing, they’re keeping these four important questions in mind:
- What will convert?
- What will attract our ideal client?
- What are our target keywords?
- What is our brand personality, what is the message, and are they all clear?
Shaping copy around these key questions is going to be the key to standing out in even the most saturated markets.
When working with Christina, we kept in mind that she wanted to change her audience’s perception that she only serves weddings. She told us, “I want to focus on family lifestyle with a hint of documentarian-style, especially family lifestyle with young ones.” But she didn’t want to serve just any type of family. “I want to reach a diverse group of families and change the perception of the terminology of family,” she told us during her brand questionnaire.
So keeping these goals in mind while using words that we knew would connect with (and book) her ideal clients, we added phrases such as “family photography redefined,” “there are no rules here,” and simply changed her primary message to “Maryland lifestyle family photography, documenting joy amid the chaos.”
Clear. Simple. Powerful. Just how it should be.
Step 3: Website design
It’s only after we write the copy and establish our clients’ voice that we move on to the website. design.
For Christina’s brand, we incorporated the soft colors from the brand presentation. We also used flowers and organic, yet minimalistic designs that felt cohesive with the comforting and warm feeling her naturally-lit photography exuded. Fonts also say a lot when it comes to personality so we used a mix of elegant serifs with whimsical hand-lettered cursive to showcase her professionalism without being boring or stuffy.
The result? A website that enhanced her photography and her genuine personality.
Step 4: SEO strategy and website ranking results
A week after launching, Christina was able to score at least one inquiry every single day! These are the results we love to see and it wouldn’t have happened with just a pretty website. Beautiful brand aesthetics paired with intentional website strategy really is the cornerstone for success, booking clients effortlessly, and creating a delightful online experience.
A strategic rebrand is worth a thousand words
Check out the rest of Christina Tundo’s website by clicking here. And if you’re thinking to yourself, “Ok, this sounds amazing in theory, but how in the world do I apply all this to my own brand?” Look no further than our award-winning Signature Experience. Drop us a note and we can see how to elevate your brand.
