Building Trust With Your Brand Imagery

Last fall, I had the utmost honor of collaborating with the incomparable Jordan Cotton to create the branding images that would adorn her new website. Jordan’s work needs little introduction. Her affinity for modern design made her an easy choice for my own brand when I worked towards elevating my brand presence towards the luxury sphere in 2018. Jordan is someone whose wisdom always leaves me inspired. She doesn’t just “talk the talk,” but rather demonstrates her expertise through the intentional choices she makes in her own brand, and also on behalf of the clients who trust her to create, as she puts it, “empowered brands that the world will notice.”

So, what is the purpose of Brand Imagery? Jordan and I have chatted so frequently about how the collaboration of the design elements of a brand with the photos on a website can either help or hinder a brand message as a whole. Today, in addition to sharing the final products from her brand shoot, I’m also sharing a few key reasons why you really can’t afford to wait any longer to up-level the images associated with your brand.

Trust:

Consistency within your brand messaging across platforms is what tells your potential client what they can expect from you. If there is inconsistency between the language you use in your brand messaging, the design elements, the photos, or the ethos (the way these things combine to make someone feel), there will be distrust. This means when it comes time for a potential client to invest, they are less likely to choose you because they aren’t sure of what you will deliver. They can’t picture themselves within your process.

Brand Positioning:

Jordan wrote an entire post on Brand Positioning that is super helpful, so to echo what she says, this is the process of determining who your competitors are and what value you possess that differentiates you from these people in the market. Having strong brand images that reflect the core values of who YOU are will help to set you apart from the masses. No longer can creatives get away with a simple portrait smiling behind their laptop (remember those? We all had them!).

Luxury:

If you’re selling a luxury product, but the images in your content don’t convey luxury messaging, you’re going to confuse your audience (a confused potential client will not see the value of investing in your service). One of the best ways of elevating your brand as a whole is to simultaneously invest in your web presence AND brand imagery. The cohesion will help to communicate and speak to your specific ideal client target.

Social Proof: