So, I recently rearranged all the furniture in my Living Room. Tossed everything aside and found a new orientation for everything that maximises the open space, creates clear walkways and generally just looks and feels nicer.
And not to get all LinkedIn post wanky here, but I did learn something that I, and I think all of you, can apply to your endeavors. Redesigning the room, rebuilding the flow of energy in the space, it really reinvigorated my desire to be in this space. Usually, I would spend most of my time in the Office with my husband, even far after the workday was over (Don't worry, we weren't working until silly o'clock, we were usually playing games together).
This Living Room was basically just a thoroughfare into the kitchen - and not a very well optimised one at that - alongside a space I watch AEW once a week.
But now, it's actually pleasant to be in here. The sun shines on me through the window, there's a nice, direct route to the kitchen, and I realise just how much room I have to do all the things I want to do. I can work out in here. I can build props in here. I can walk around and channel my thoughts. It's lovely.
And maybe it's the novelty, maybe it's just the latest shiny thing calling out to my ADHD to milk for dopamine until I get bored. Or maybe, just maybe, a fresh visual can help you look at what you have in a whole new way.
Now, far be it from me to talk myself out of work, but I'm not saying you should rebrand just because you're bored of looking at your brand. That's not a good business idea. A rebrand should solve a bigger problem in your business. And, yes, lack of enthusiasm and energy _can_ be contributing factor, but it shouldn't be the end point of it all. My rebrand back in November did reinvigorate the energy I had for my business, but the primary point of that rebrand was to focus on new positioning and clearer offerings to my clients: Branding Packages, and Retainer Schemes.
So how do these two ideas co-exist? How can I be telling you that a fresh visual can reinvigorate your brand, but not to rebrand just because you're bored? Well, let me explain:
1. Are you bored because there are underlying issues?
This is what I did with my own brand. I noticed I had a lack of energy for my brand, partially during a business course in Blackburn I did with Community CVS. I spotted patterns between the lack of clarity in my offering and the lack of enthusiasm in offering it. So I had to tighten that up, I had to fix that problem, and I took the opportunity to properly give the business a look that I can be proud of. Because if my problem is communication, then someone I can be proud enough to wear on my chest is something I can properly communicate.
So if your problem is, as was mine, unclarity in communication, then perhaps it is a good idea to be tearing it down and starting from scratch
2. Don't reinvent the wheel
Sometimes you don't need an entire refresh, simply a little tweak or revitalising of your brand assets. A tweaking of your colour scheme, a rebuild of your social media posts, new business cards or fliers, perhaps a new brochure. A brand audit like this, getting in a designer to put a fresh pair of eyes on your brand without wanting to instantly burn it all down can do the part of reinvigorating without having to do a full rebrand. I've done this with companies, seen what they're working with and how we can make small changes to what they have to better showcase what they can do, and the brand has flourished as a result.
So sometimes it's not all about burning it down and starting again
3. Maybe it's not the brand?
If you work from the same one room every day, maybe it's not the brand that's the problem. Maybe you gotta pull all your furniture out and move it around. Maybe you gotta get out of your house and work in the local cafe, or in a park. Just get some fresh stimulus in your eyeballs, and your brain will fire off.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone. And if you think you need to audit your brand, get in touch! Now, I'm off to the Caribbean for a couple of weeks, so you won't hear from me again until March. Take care of yourselves, yeah?
