Who do you think you are...

As a student here at AIO we take at least seven classes that are geared toward answering the question "who do you think you are". These classes are what I like to call the reality check of the photography world. What I am speaking of is Business of Photography I & II, Communications, Advanced Communications, Marketing, and two classes built around constructing an effective portfolio. Whether you intend on working for yourself, or working for someone else, these classes have one basic concept at their core, the thing that ties them all together and that is "who do you think you are".

One word you will hear quite often in these classes is "branding" or your "brand". You might hear it often enough to get annoyed, but the truth is, whether we intended to or not, when we put our work out there, we are establishing a brand. Some brands are more successful than others in presentation, and so it begs the questions; 1. Why is that?, 2. What is your brand?

The reason many brands are successful is that the branding or logo is simple, easy to remember, and appropriate to the product being presented. This isn't to be confused with the success of an item, rather how successfully a brand is presented to the public. There are many recognizable brands around us such as McDonald's "golden arches", the Nike "Swoosh", or the Pepsi symbol. They don't require accompanying text, everyone knows what they mean. That is successful branding, the creating of an iconic identity.

More than that, these companies have created branding that compliments the design of the products. So, how does that work in the photographic world. Can we created a logo and setup our marketing materials to create an iconic look? Yes!

In order to do this, you first have to understand who you are, and what you create. You wouldn't want to use a dark, brooding, cracked logo dripping with blood, if you enjoy taking family portraits with children, and you wouldn't want a brand containing sunshine and light colored flowers for images of a dark, grungy, style. You need a logo and text that compliments your style and looks appropriate to what you enjoy creating.

It goes a bit deeper than that, especially when considering the design of a website. Accompanying colors, background, text colors, all of these things can effect the comfort level and pleasant experience a customer has in viewing your work, and ultimately, whether a potential client that enjoys your style will contact you for work.

I am sure that any professor will tell you, as they have me, that branding is important and can take a long while to develop successfully. This is important for you to get right. I had one professor describe it this way, Imagine you hear about a business that has what you are looking for. So, you drive to their location with anticipation of doing business. Then, once you arrive, you see a building with peeling paint, cracked windows, a broken sign, and a street filled with liter. Do you get out and do business there, or do you move on?

No matter how well we feel we've constructed our brands, if the design, logo, colors, text, do not all come together to support our work, who we are, what we make, no matter how pretty it looks to us, what the customer sees is a broken and disorganized store front.

Take the time to get it right. Do your research. Look at the various photographers with successful sites and ask yourself, what it is about that sight that makes it work. Be true to the content of your images. Not only is that important because your images are your product, but those images are who you are. So build a brand that supports your work and it will be far more successful.