015: Discover Your Brand Personality (and Attract Your Dream Clients!)

Feeling stuck with your branding? Wondering if your colors, fonts, and style really connect with your ideal clients? In this episode, I’m sharing all about my Brand Style Quiz — a quick, fun way to uncover your unique brand style and finally get clarity on how to show up online with confidence.

🫶🏻 Stay updated with all things Flourish Foundry:

Follow on Instagram

View our website

Take the quiz 📣

Music: "Great podcast intro (both short and long version included)" by Lundstroem. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome to the Flourish Foundry Podcast, a show all about meaningful conversations that encourage and inspire business owners. I'm your host, Abby Johansson, I'm a brand and web designer. And today I want to give you a peek behind the scenes at my new quiz for finding your branding style. If I'm honest with you, most of my clients come to me feeling a little bit scattered with an unclear direction for what they want. Now, when you're considering spending a few thousand dollars on your business, it's a little scary to not have a clear idea of what you're even asking for. It would be like going to an all-inclusive resort, but not knowing if you'd be skiing or sunbathing. Even if you love the beach and you love the mountains, not being sure which one you're investing in would be a little uneasy. Just this afternoon, before I pressed record, I received some feedback from a recent branding client. And this is what she said in a question that asked, What would you tell someone considering hiring me? She said, Build an inspo Pinterest, because even if you don't know how to explain what you want, Abby will take one look and figure it out for you. She was most surprised, the client was by how easy it was and how receptive Abby was to my jumbled ideas. Which this is just the sweetest comment. It actually made me tear up. A lot of my reviews do. To give you another example of this fear or hesitation before hiring a brand designer, earlier this week I had a coffee chat with a systems manager named Kara, and she's at a bit of a crossroads in her business. She's shopping for a brand designer, potentially a web designer, but she's feeling nervous since her business is young and she's not certain what direction to take her branding. Her words reminded me so much of Michelle, the client review that I just read to you. And this is just such a common fear when you're wanting something beyond what you have, but it feels a little bit out of reach. I like to say that I help bridge the gap between your Pinterest board of ideas for where you want your business to be and where it currently stands. So the brand style quiz is a free way to help you clarify your ideas and hopefully feel a little bit more cohesive in your planning. However, working one-on-one together, you'll receive multiple mood boards that help you visualize all of your ideas and put words to what you like. So basically, I find the commonalities between all of your inspo and then break it down into three different creative directions, including an explanation for how each option would speak to your ideal audience in your industry. For now, the brand style quiz gives you some quick results. I am developing more in-depth guides for each brand style result. And these guides include color theory explanations, typography suggestions, and deeper insight into how your brand resonates with different audiences. So far, among quiz takers, the Legacy Builder brand style has been the most popular result. So for today, I wanted to take a look at the Legacy Builder. The Legacy Builder is all about trust, authenticity, and leaving a lasting impression. Clients feel grounded and confident when they work with you, knowing your business is reliable and intentional, from cohesive visuals to messaging that communicates authority. Your brand shows that you mean business today, tomorrow, and for years to come. Key features of your dream brand, if you fall into this category, could include cohesive and consistent visuals across every platform, messaging that communicates authority and credibility, and a classic timeless aesthetic with modern touches. Legacy Builder brands typically want their clients to feel confident and reassured that they're making the right choice, connected to a brand that has deeper meaning, like they're part of something bigger, a story or a legacy. With that in mind, let's talk about an ideal color palette for a legacy builder brand. So earth tones, think warm browns, deep taupes, soft greens, muted terracotta, pops of blue, some creamy neutrals. That's a perfect palette for brands that want to feel rooted, dependable, trustworthy, and enduring. When clients see Earth Tones, they feel safe, respected, and like they're investing in something meaningful. It signals reliability, quality, and a brand that's here for the long haul. That makes this the perfect palette for a legacy-building brand. But let's look at another palette option for this brand type. If you wanted to go more feminine, you could add in some deep maroon, a gentle beige and green palette, and it automatically will feel more feminine and still evoke a touch of confidence. I would recommend including a subtle blue because blue communicates trust and calmness without it feeling too corporate-y, we could go for more of like a slate blue kind of vibe. Moving on to typography, some of my top picks for a legacy-building brand. I would love to use classic seraphonts, traditional seraphonts with the elegant lines. They communicate authority, professionalism, and timelessness, and they're perfect for establishing trust. We're seeing a lot of um classic seraphonts used right now, and I think this is largely why. Uh, other fonts that I love to use for this brand type include handcrafted or artisanal fonts. These are typefaces that feel hand-drawn or they're subtly imperfect, and it gives a sense of authenticity and craftsmanship. Another thing I love to use in a legacy building brand is textured or roughened fonts. These are fonts with a stamped or worn vintage texture. They evoke history and character while adding depth to a brand that values legacy. Lastly, I typically include a mono spaced font as like a subheading. These are evenly spaced characters and they communicate practicality, groundness, and reliability. They're also just super clean and easy to read, which I love. Diving a little bit deeper, let's look at some industry where the legacy builder works best. These industries benefit from conveying reliability, experience, and professionalism. So some examples would be real estate and property management, wedding and event services, legal and financial services, consulting, coaching, even photography could be taken on a spin with the legacy builder if you wanted to focus more on that classic or timeless aesthetic. And then home services and cleaning, reliability, consistency, professionalism, essential in the cleaning industry. And then last suggestion would be artisanal or heritage products that emphasize craftsmanship, quality, and tradition. The legacy builder communicates trust, stability, and timeless value, which aligns with these industries where clients are making big decisions or investing in long-term results. On the other hand, there are some industries where the legacy builder may not be the best fit. And these are industries that rely heavily on trendiness, high energy, or playful innovation. It may not fit this style too well. So trendy fashion or lifestyle brands, they tend to have a younger, trend-driven audience that may crave that bolder, flashier, or more playful visuals. Tech startups and apps, I wouldn't recommend for this entertainment, social media influencers, fitness and wellness programs. I feel like could go either way. I've seen it done both ways, but if they have a higher energy audience, they may need again something more dynamic, bright, motivational instead of that classic and grounded. So it just depends on like which way you want to spend it. And then children's products and toys usually are again more playful and vibrant, even whimsical, and that fun, approachable feel. So the Legacy Builder could feel too serious, grounded, or traditional for industries that thrive on energy, trendiness, and a playful personality. One of my favorite examples of this brand, the Legacy Builder, is uh actually one of my very first branding projects, and it was for White Oak Barbecue Supply. And it was, it's just such a special project in my heart. Mostly, I mean, it was one of my first projects, so that alone. But on top of that, it is a barbecue supply store in Bartow, Florida, my hometown. And their physical storefront is in what used to be KT Pharmacy. And I grew up going to KT Pharmacy. It was a locally owned pharmacy before we had CVS or Walgreens, and the pharmacist was the father of my mom's best friend. And so we would go in there and he would give us soda and lollipops, and it was just the best. So that building is now White Oak Barbecue supply, and it's just so cool to see it how this whole new life, that building, has so much history to it. Being from a small town, it still has like the pharmacy sign, and they actually just put the logo up on that, which they're celebrating their three-year anniversary. So it's cool to see them finally invest in that signage there. In the in-depth guide, I give you an example on what White Oak would look like if they had just a logo versus all of the branding assets we did. So I was able to design like all of the refrigerator signage, and I even did like a poster for them and all kinds of fun stuff. So that brand is really special to me and a perfect example of a legacy building brand. So if you received the Legacy Builder as your quiz results, or you just resonate with what I talked about in this episode, here are a few quick wins to try. And don't be scared, they're not about actually making creative assets. Number one, audit your website and social media for consistency. Think about your logos, your fonts, and your tone. It should match across all platforms. Number two, tell your story and your messaging, why your brand exists and what makes it last. Number three, highlight testimonials or milestones to show longevity and credibility. Testimonials are huge, huge, huge for the legacy builder. Whether you're ready for a full rebrand or just want clarity on what to do next, I can help you turn this vision into something beautiful, strategic, and uniquely yours. This quiz and this episode are just a fun starting point. At Flourish Foundry, I specialize in crafting brands and websites that make business owners feel confident, professional, and proud to show up online. If you're ready to move from inspiration to implementation, my signature and essential branding experiences were made for you. Together, we'll refine your style, build a brand identity that fits just like your favorite pair of jeans, and design visuals that actually attract the people you want to work with. Take a look at the show notes if you want to take the quiz chat soon. Bye. Me neither. Follow along on Instagram at flourish.foundry or join the email list for freebies, fun links, new episodes, and more.