Do you love Pinterest like me? As a designer, browsing Pinterest is one of the perks but it's easy to waste hours on the platform.
Regardless of whether you’re a DIY-er or planning to work with a professional branding expert to create your new brand or rebrand, I want to share best practices for using Pinterest to build a brand board that will form the foundation of your branding. As a requirement, each of my branding clients create a Pinterest board which they send me with their other branding homework. This provides me with a clear visual of their style.
If a Pinterest board and other homework are not reflective of each other, this must be discussed before the brand design can move forward.
While I give a description of what a client should pin on this Pinterest board, I think it can be confusing for a client to know exactly what to pin, therefore, I have example boards to share.
Choosing What To Pin on Your Pinterest Board
Keywords
Pinterest is a search engine like Google. Use keywords or phrases in order to bring up pictures that represent what you want to visually communicate. This is where your brand keywords come in. In my branding survey, I ask clients to list up to five brand power words. For example, words that you may use to describe your brand are encouraging, helpful, relevant, simple, or confident.
Graphic Elements
Look for images with graphic elements that you like. This could be flowers, leaves, or furniture, but I always say ... if you love it enough to decorate your office, add it to the board.
Patterns / Textures
Patterns and textures are an important part of branding and have multiple purposes. These can be used on the website and in the design of other business assets such as business cards or notecards. Heck, use these in your physical office decor to create a space that speaks your brand. Again when looking for textures, think back to your brand power words used. Natural/neutral brands might go for soft, neutral colors and nature patterns such as wood or leaves; however, girly, feminine brands might prefer floral patterns.
Logos
I always recommend to my clients that they pin 3-5 logos that they love. As a designer, I will not copy logos that you pin but will be inspired by them. Whether the layout or the fonts are used for inspiration, it's a great way to visually communicate what you envision for your own logo. There’s no point in wasting time creating logos with serif fonts when you would prefer a sans-serif font or script font with a feminine feel.
Colors
While you may not yet know specific color codes you want to use in your brand (this is where I come in), you know what colors you're attracted to and might have a sample color palette to share. If not, think about colors and color palettes that portray the look you are going for. Think back to your brand power words. When I think of feminine I may think of pink. When thinking of timeless, I may think of black and white. Search for colors you are drawn to when diving into the world of Pinterest.
Fonts / Typography
Pin fonts and typography styles that you love. This is so important as a font can make or break a design. Serif fonts tend to be more connected to timeless, classic brands whereas calligraphic and hand drawn fonts are better suited to brands looking to attract a female audience. Sans serif fonts are better suited to brands looking for a more modern look. A combination of these fonts will speak to a broader audience.
Web Designs
Pin 3-5 websites you love. Again, as a designer, I will not copy the web designs that you have pinned but might take elements from them. Regardless, it will help determine the design features that you love and will appreciate in your own design.
Personal Style / Target Audience
If your brand is going to reflect your personal style and tastes then look for interior images or decor based images. Other ideas include what you might wear to a client meeting or how you might decorate your dream office. While the images should have some connection, don't worry too much about whether or not the images are completely cohesive. This is where your designer comes in. They will see the connections and use this along with your branding homework to build your brand identity.
HOW MANY PINS?
I recommend my clients pin around 50. Any less than this would not paint a picture of what you are looking for. Try not to exceed 75 pins. Any more than 75 makes it confusing and overwhelming.
REVIEW YOUR BOARD
Once you have pulled together images for your branding Pinterest board, step away revisit it later to ensure that you still love all of the images you have pinned. If not, remove the ones you don’t like and add more. Don’t expect to complete your Pinterest board in one sitting. Do it over a few days. Most designers will give you a period of time to complete your homework so just be cognizant of your project timeline.
COMMENT ON YOUR PINS
A picture doesn't tell the whole story. It’s important for your designer to know what you specifically like about the image you pinned. Do this as you go or as a last step. Use the description field to make comments on the colors, textures, fonts, or anything that draws you to the image.
HERE’S HOW I'll USE THE BOARD
Once I receive the Pinterest board from my clients and we have had our project kick-off meeting, I will go through the board and look for elements that connect me to their brand. I may add additional images of my own. Once I am happy the board is complete, I will use these images to create a brand inspiration board of about 8-10 images which will guide the design throughout the project and also the color palette.
I hope you will use this information to prepare for your branding session with me or another designer. If you're a DIY-er here to learn, please comment below and let me know what you discovered today that has been most helpful in your do-it-yourself journey.
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