The One Concept Approach

Over the past two years I’ve honed my branding process. It’s important to take note of what’s working, what could work better, and most importantly, how to get the best outcomes for my clients. In doing so, I’ve transitioned to the one concept approach.

As a potential client, receiving one concept of your design might sound a bit scary, but it’s actually becoming the new “norm” and for good reason. After all, clients aren’t hiring me for multiple concepts, they are hiring me to provide a solution to their branding needs.

ONE.

Quality over quantity

Even though I present one concept, it begins with strategy, a messy Illustrator artboard, and a lot of refinements. But once I have that ‘ah-ha” moment, it helps create a quality brand identity concept to present to my client.

I take an in-depth approach that showcases the strategy behind it (making sure it aligns with the brand values we’ve created), outline the full use case (logo, secondary logo, brand marks, patterns, etc.) and even add in a few mock-ups so my client can visualize it (in real life).

This in-depth approach, has lead to less overwhelm by the client, easier decision/refinement making and an overall better experience (for both myself and the client).

TWO.

We can skip the “Frankenstein” design step

When showcasing multiple logo options, it can quickly become a “mix-n-match” situation. Ooohh...what if we combined option #1 with #3 and then just a touch of #5. Eeek! This is what in the design world we call a “Frankenstein” design. We can skip this all together with the one concept approach.

THREE.

Reduce overwhelm and decision fatigue

Raise your hand if you’ve gone to a restaurant and stared at the multi-page menu for minutes on end, and when the waiter comes around to take your order you simply can’t decide. Me too! Sometimes even the smallest decisions like what to choose for dinner at a restaurant can turn into an overwhelming ordeal.

Instead of sifting through multiple options or asking all your friends for their top 3 favorites, I’ll work to make sure we get the first concept almost perfect. With the one concept approach, we can use that creative energy to do the two rounds of refinement vs. multiple revisions on multiple versions.

All in all, the one concept approach for my brand identity clients has been such a game changer. Clients are excited to see their brand in-full from the initial concept and it truly helps them visualize it out in the wild. Are you interested in learning more and elevating your brand? I’m currently accepting new brand identity clients.

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