Sharpe Creative

Can you do branding for solos and microbusinesses?

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀!

Business decisions slow in the summer. You can build a new presence while your future customers are vacationing. Launch and be ready when they are!‍

Core brand identity + customized microsite — Three-week sprint | $6,000

Solid presence locked in. A good foundation to build on, and for many small service providers, will pay for itself if the work helps you get 1-2 sales.

𝙄’𝙢 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙪𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩.

Experience points? Hours of my butt in a chair mean good things for your brand.

But seriously… maybe it is time for a new chair?

Rebrand for industrial air equipment supplier.

Everyone needs a Standard Issue Black Tee and to be their own walking billboard… So I made me a thing.

I see the cool kids are doing feature submission posts... So I figured I’d take a stab!

I’ve always felt my strength was more in the systems side of branding, rather than specifically crafting the logo itself. The whole picture of how the logo extends, what it can do, the concept/story/meaning it carries, and the visual language.

I often shoot for “iconic, scales, works in black and white, and timeless” when I create marks. Here are a handful I’ve liked over the years that I think fit the geometric, iconic vibe.

For this project, the client came to the table with “what about something related to a dogwood flower?”

Typically, it can be a struggle if the client comes with a preconceived “can our logo be a _______.”

Frankly, just because someone likes something, that doesn’t always mean it will make a great logo.

So I’d rather let the process determine the subject matter based on the story we are trying to tell.

But the dogwood flower was meaningful to the client for a number of reasons, and I saw potential.

So, I explored a lot of dogwood + medical cross concepts and landed on this direction. It also reads as C shapes, and reflects the idea of the continuum of care and the yearly (four seasons) membership-based model of the practice.

🧻 Unused Concept — I’ll share the selected concept soon. But I thought this direction had potential. Copine Health is a new, two-person primary care practice with an emphasis on time and relationship with patients, and is evidence-based. They cap their patients to ensure visits aren’t rushed.

A collaboration Sarah Dowlin at WorkLife Studios (brand messaging & photography) that I was able to bring the brand identity and site design to.

P.S. We have found a way to blend our processes and create a really strong new business launch (story/messaging + photography + visual identity + website) at an attainable investment.

Launching a business and are curious? Just ask

Dadsign project. Our kids came up with an Earth Savers Club where they do things like pick up trash and play that they are rescuing animals. *Adorable.*

So I whipped up official club tees with a little graphic, fonts from my Fort Foundry subscription, and we used Printful to have them in the Easter Baskets this year.

You wear a lot of hats running a home, basement-based branding and design studio. It was high time I got me one of ‘em embroidered w/ Printful

This is my bread-and-butter type of client relationship. A business that has been around for a bit. Enough time to realize they have gotten by on “fine enough” but it is time to kick things into high gear...

Maybe they had a DIY or amateur brand and templated site...

Then comes the epiphany. “If we want what comes next, we need to look the part.”

That is where I come in. I get the stage set for where businesses want to be.

Peep the “before” image...

Identity concepts that are too literal come across as cheesy.

Logos that look like they were DIY make you feel dated and less capable. Not good in a highly specialized, future-focused expertise.

Websites that are based on *insert my industry* template mean your competitors will have a similar site.

Color palettes pulled from the 8-count Crayola make you feel less sophisticated.

Lack of a full visual system limits you. There are only so many interesting things to do with a singular logo, a couple of colors, and a font. Have an ownable presence wherever you show up.

Branding can help you go from looking like a broke startup to an industry leader.