How I knew Crafted by Carly was ready for a brand refresh

Notice anything different? 

It might feel a little like when you get your hair trimmed and then your partner doesn’t comment on it. Then when you point it out they’re like, “Oooh I thought something was different.” *insert eye roll.*

Well, I give you permission to kinda-sorta-know something’s different but maybe not know exactly what. 

Let’s start here: what’s a brand refresh? And how is it different from a rebrand?

In the dictionary, refresh is defined as “to give new strength or energy to,” or “to reinvigorate.” And that’s basically exactly what a brand refresh is! 

We all know that change is inevitable, and a healthy part of growing our businesses. Our products or offers may shift as we grow and gain more experience; our clients and customers will inevitably shift (at least a bit!) as a result of that. We learn new skills, get inspired by new life experiences, and adapt to an ever-changing market.

These changes are usually pretty subtle and happen over time, and our brands are meant to evolve. However with time, things may start to feel a bit misaligned. 

Where a brand refresh isn’t a strategic overhaul, and really just focuses on upgrading a few elements of the brand to “bring it up to date,” a rebrand is much more intensive and requires relooking at your strategy and visual identity from the ground up. You’re usually ready for a rebrand if:

• You’re launching an entirely new business and you want to have a clear roadmap to success from the get-go
  
  
• You DIYed your branding when you were just starting out, or bought something cheap on Etsy, and now that you’ve seen success you’re ready to take things to the next level and grow with intention.
  
  
• It’s been a really long period of time (I’d say 5+ years) and you know your old branding isn’t serving you anymore, and that you need to revisit your strategy to reset and continue growing. 
  
  
  

Ok so how did I, branding professional & enthusiast, decide it was time for a refresh? And how did I know I was NOT in need of a rebrand?

Let’s get one thing out of the way: brand designers are ALWAYS craving a rebrand, and web designers are ALWAYS craving tearing their website to the ground and doing it again. It’s what we do, it’s what we love, we can’t help it. 

BUT over time we’ve learned to practice restraint. For starters, I am always talking about how important consistency is. What message would I be sending if I was constantly rebranding myself? NOT a good one. I wouldn’t be able to establish any sort of brand recognition throughout my marketing materials, I would probably confuse people, and honestly I’d lose a lot of my credibility. 

When it comes to the current refresh, there are a few things at play here that I’ve had in my head for a while now (I mean months, maybe even close to a year). 

For starters, my service offerings have grown. Two years ago, when I did a big rebrand (which included brand strategy and investing in website copywriting), my main services were branding and web design, and I sort of had retainer packages, but they weren’t a huge part of my business. 

Since then, I’ve slowly added and prioritized services based on my background and what I love to do:

• My branding process now includes a super in-depth, value packed brand strategy service
  
  
• I have a wide variety of web design offerings designed to meet my clients where they’re at, including totally custom and a semi-custom option, and everything in between
  
  
• I learned Shopify so that I can start offering websites to e-commerce / product-based businesses
  
  
• I launched a DIY-style branding course for brand-new business owners who want an intentional brand but don’t have the funds quite yet to invest in a 1:1 service
  
  
• I’ve leaned in to my retainer packages and have decided to prioritize them a lot more
  
  

And because of these shifts in my offers, my audience has expanded. Notice I didn’t say it changed—at its core, Crafted by Carly still serves passionate entrepreneurs. But now we’re able to work with a wider variety of entrepreneurs, across a wider variety of times on their business-building journey:

• Self-funded solopreneurs and small busienss owners right when they’re starting out, when they may not have much budget.
  
  
• Self-funded solopreneurs and small business owners who have launched, seen success, and are ready to uplevel via new brand strategy & identity, website, and/or by outsourcing their monthly design tasks so that they can focus on their zone of genius. [This was my main audience when I did my branding & strategy 2+ years ago!]
  
  
• Product-based e-commerce businesses who need a Shopify store. I’ve always worked with these kinds of clients on their branding, but now I can actually offer help on the web design side, too!
  
  
• Pre-seed startups who are looking for a strategic branding process but don’t need or want to work with a bigger box agency.
  
  
• Pre-seed startups who could really use ongoing design support (but don’t need a full-time design hire yet).
  
  
• Startups that are further along in their journey and need support, whether ongoing or on a specific project that their in-house team doesn’t have the bandwidth for. 
  
  

As you can see, the core audience is similar in terms of values… but I’ve expanded far beyond that ONE type of entrepreneur. 

And with that, some of the ways I was coming across (from both a visual AND messaging standpoint) started to feel a bit misaligned. Nothing that was dragging my business down, but definitely something that made me more hesitant to market to certain groups because I wasn’t sure if what I was saying would resonate. 

There are 2 things in particular:

1. Messaging-wise

I was still very much TALKING to only one kind of entrepreneur on my website, in particular: self-funded solopreneurs and small business owners who have already launched their business and are looking for more branding & design support so that they can uplevel.

2. Visually

My color palette, while neutral, did have some blush-pink highlights… and this was starting to feel overly feminine to me. 

And when these sorts of things happen, even as a designer I start to fall into a pattern that I realllly don’t support:

I start to become inconsistent. 

I start playing with new colors, adding little bits of copy here & there to try to get at my new audience and message, craving an upgrade so that I can regain my confidence in the brand I’ve worked so hard to create. 

And that’s when I knew. It was time for a refresh.

Because being consistent & feeling confident are maybe the 2 MOST important parts of having a brand that helps you grow. These 2 simple things allow you to show up, stand out, build brand recognition, and develop trust and credibility. 

So here we are 🙂 

When I started to focus on my new(ish) audience, I was able to make decisions that felt right so that I could confidently show up for them (& you!). Here are some of the changes you’ll notice on my site, social media, emails, and wherever else I show up:

• A new color palette that is still focused on black, white, and neutral, but instead of a pop of blush and some pink undertones, I went for blues & greens. Not only does it feel more neutral and less feminine all around, but if you know me you know I ADORE the beach… and honestly these colors are the ones I’m typically drawn to when I buy clothes, decorate my home, etc. so they felt just right.

• A refreshed font system. While I loved the fonts I used and didn’t feel like they were too far off, what I was using as my main headline font before actually only came in 2 weights – Regular & Oblique… which was super limiting. I sort of stumbled upon this new font, Carefree, a few months back and fell in love with it. It feels modern and clean but filled with personality, and comes in lots of weights including a fun italic set which has already been so fun to play around with.

• An upgraded illustration style that is one color and neutral. A huge part of my brand is actually showing off the work I do for OTHER people… and I don’t want my own brand to drown that out. This has been a goal of mine from the start (some designers feel differently, which is totally okay!). So I used this opportunity to explore a tweaked illustration style. I wanted them to be one color (so they could just be black, for example), and I wanted them to FEEL handdrawn and sketched, to show that I do all my work by hand and it’s all really organic and authentic.
  
  
  

So with all that said: do YOU think you’re ready for a refresh (or maybe even a rebrand)? 

I offer brand refreshes to past branding clients only. This is because for them, I’m familiar with the branding and how we got there. So if you’re a past client and need a refresh – whether it’s a whole new color palette or just some new illustrations to add to your website or social posts – reach out so we can chat about how to give you a lil upgrade! 

And if you’re new here, I’d love to chat more about how we can work together to build your brand so that you can grow your business with ease. 

And if you KNOW you need to focus on building your brand, and are struggling figuring out what exactly you need to help you move the needle or where to even start—I want you to reach out, too! All of my service offerings are customized to fit your business’s goals, needs, and budget—so let me know where you’re currently at so I can meet ya right there. 

Click this link to reach out—I can’t wait to hear from you!