Branding Like a Gardener: A Creative Guide to Building a Strong Brand Identity

Shea Beck
Sep 8
5 min read

To brand effectively you have to concern yourself with many disciplines and it may help to think of a brand identity or individual concepts as a garden. Gardens, whether they’re great acreages of arable farmland or a row of pots laid out on a balcony, all require constant attention and the correct treatment over time. Weather events and unexpected temperature spikes can all affect the success and growth rate of flora and, in many cases, the same can be said for brand development. In the following, I’m going to cover a few analogies that may help to better illustrate branding principles.

Sowing Seeds: Planning ahead and reaping the benefits.

Illustration of a packet of seeds with three seed shapes over a lime green background

Smart gardeners tend to consult a Farmer’s Almanac or review a planting schedule before jumping in and sowing seeds. In the same manner, you may wish to consider getting as much information as you can ahead of time before setting a project into motion. When faced with branding a new client, I like to consider the overall gameplan with them as it’s helpful to understand where they want to end up in the future and create meaningful targets that can manifest those outcomes.

Whilst having everything mapped out is helpful, I’m also from the school of thought that not everything can be planned for. I’ve never liked the question, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” as it’s too great of a jump and too abstract of a concept when I sit there struggling to remember what I had for dinner two nights ago.

Manageable chunks of time such as: “Where do I see myself next month?” and “Where do I want my growth to be next season?” can be more useful than heavier-laden expectations that put too great a stress on immediate results. Planning ahead is just as much about managing your own expectations of growth as it is the responses of your potential audience.

Soil: Growing a brand identity in the right environment.

Any good life coach will tell you that you can’t grow and develop in the wrong environment. Some plants, like weeds, are persistent and will find any light that they can through the cracks in the pavement and grow in adverse conditions. Other plants can be downright fussy and require the ideal soil, shade and irrigation before they even dream about sprouting. Neither is an indicator of their usefulness or perceived desire once they grow, just that they each have different requirements to best facilitate their growth.

Utilising this principle in branding has little to do with a physical location but rather how you choose the correct building blocks that position your brand to a wider audience. Often, these blocks are specific to the industry that you are operating within so think of this structure as a template that can be tailored to fit your purpose. There will be occasions wherein you may find yourself going against the grain and choosing wildly contrasting elements to stand out from the crowd to better differentiate your brand.

To illustrate this point clearly I’d like you to imagine two bars across the street from one another:

One is a ‘spit and sawdust’ pub. This space needs grit, texture and noise. It’s tone of voice is bawdy, loud and friendly. Its design language involves warm woods, open fires and comfortable seats.

A classic pub bar stool with a red leather seat and brown legs.

Directly opposite is a wine bar. This space requires clean lines, space and transparency. It’s tone of voice is sophisticated, confident and mysterious. Its design language involves punchy colours, reflective surfaces and dim lighting.

Illustration of a modern bar stool with a lime green seat.

Both of the bars described above will co-exist quite happily on the same street (physical location) and serve a vibrant mix of locals; although, note how their environments are polar opposites to one another. If the bars’ languages or tones were to switch then it would ultimately confuse their clientele once they got through the door and neither bar will grow correctly if their environment sits at odds with the expectations of its market.

Landscaping: Design should be functional.

Landscaping is more than just a focus on layout, it’s every conscious choice that goes into crafting a scheme that facilitates its experience: the juxtaposition of low shrubbery to tall ferns, the zoning of areas for distinct activities and, most crucially, the placement of paving stones that direct movement through the garden itself.

To make some sense of this in context, I have divided a brand into three parts below;

Illustration of a man walking a german shepherd dog along a meandering stone path that disappears into the distance.

The Journey:

Branding should tell a story or lead with an overall purpose. We should consider the ‘what and the why’ and should aim to guide individuals towards the brand’s purpose by providing information or by revealing something that elicits a response. This level of planning is known as the ‘user experience’ and many resources can assist with refining this skill. Common qualities of ‘bad’ User Experience include inaccessible materials and the provision of mixed messages. Mapping out points that you would like the average individual to follow can help you to decide which parts are mission critical.

Visual Identity:

Typically we attribute a logo, fonts, certain colours and iconography to the visual identity. Visuals exist to give the audience reference points back to the main concept that you’re trying to promote to them. Key to functionality here is cohesion - the visuals should match up across all of the formats you’re providing, else the message gets diluted and becomes a confusing mass of signals that nobody can associate as a whole.

Illustration of a man waiting at a crossroads, UK Belisha Beacons 'Zebra Crossing'.

Interactivity:

Interactivity focuses on implementing the User Experience across the unique platforms (website, social channels, forms) that your brand is displayed on and ensuring that they run seamlessly; anything relevant to interaction should be clean and easy to access. This concept can be seen in the real world through signage, noticeboards and customer service - a prime example of interactivity is a walking audio-tour in an art museum, its purpose is to guide and provide value / information to what your audience is looking at.

A Magnifying glass highlighting an accessibility icon (human pictograph with a wide stance)

Please note practices here such as accessibility. With some individuals being visually impaired or dyslexic, your brand identity benefits from accommodating the needs of these groups. In our website example you might look into a contrast checker and in the museum’s audio-tour this would benefit from support for hearing aids and the implementation of braille signage.

Clouds on the horizon: let's recap.

With our busy day of gardening coming to a close I hope you’ve gathered a basket full of knowledge on how best to approach some of the principles of branding. My intention with framing the information above is to reduce some of the overwhelm associated with getting a brand on its feet and helping it to grow under the correct conditions. You should now have a better understanding of how:

Planning and managing expectations of growth can aid development.
Different brand types require distinct strategies and tones / design language.
Functionality is a mixture of User Experience, Visuals, Interactivity and Accessibility.

Need help with your brand?

If you're unsure whether gardening is worth the effort, I offer 1:1 consultations to help you explore cost-effective solutions. Email me (hello@sheabeck.co.uk) or visit my branding services page to learn more.

shea beck