"How to Style your Brand" - interview with The Brand Stylist's Fiona Humberstone

Jun 1

As a photographer, I often get asked for tips on how to style designer makers products for photoshoots. Choosing the right style & branding for your products is an integral part of a small business as it shows your identity as a designer, helps reach your target audience and convey the right message about your company. I recently came across a fantastic resource - Fiona Humberstone's best selling book "How to Style Your Brand, Everything You Need to Know to Create a Distinctive Brand Identity". Sounds great, right? I recently purchased a copy and find it very useful, especially the case studies which gives examples of how companies have built their branding. I asked Fiona to share a little info about her book and the importance of creating the right branding for small businesses...

Why is creating the right branding important for a small business?
It's essential. It's your opportunity to create the right impression, get prospective clients to take you seriously and show the world what you're capable of.
Great branding is all about carefully planning the impression you want to create for a very specific group of customers and then executing that with flair and style. It's about attracting the sorts of customers who really value what you do and will pay what you're worth. And it's about creating a look for your business that you can be proud of.

Do you have any tips on creating the right look and feel for my brand through photography and styling?
It's really about following on from what I advise when creating your brand identity. Think carefully about what you want to be known for, what your clients value about what you do and the impression you want to create. I have a workbook on my blog you can download for free which walks you through a dozen or so questions and ultimately you whittle your answers down to three words that best sum up how you want your business to come across.
For example, you might pick creative, inspirational and stylish. And if that's the case you'd then want to follow that through in your choice of props and your photography style.
Colour psychology is your secret weapon here. This is the way I translate brand values into colours, patterns, textures- even photography styles! Those three words I've picked represent the spring personality with a dash of winter, so I'd be keeping my images packed with light, simple and with high quality props. There's a lot on colour psychology in my book and also on the blog, and I run workshops on the subject too...
Ultimately, if you always think 'what impression do I want to create' before you style or shoot anything you won't go far wrong.

Can you tell us a bit about your book "How to Style Your Brand"?
I'd love to! HTSYB is a book for entrepreneurs that walks you, step by step, through the process of creating a distinctive brand identity: from finding a clear focus and creating a strong vision, to logo design, typography, colour and more.
It's about giving entrepreneurs confidence and the know how to make the right decisions. No one teaches us this stuff in business school (yet) but knowing how to create the very best impression for your business is essential. Consumers are a discerning bunch: we love to buy from small businesses but that doesn't mean we'll cut you any slack when it comes to how your brand looks.
Get this stuff right and you can charge what you're worth; get the projects you dream of and create the sort of business you are proud to call your own. What's not to love!