The Business Side of Design A field guide to branding
The living, breathing essence of a brand

More than a pretty face —Meet Brand.

Picture your brand as a person. How would they speak, move, dress? Would you want to know them better? Here's what most people miss: a brand isn't just a pretty face (the logo) or a good outfit (the visuals). It's a whole person — with a brain, a heart, and a personality all their own.

eight parts, one puzzle
HELLO,
nice to meet you.
One piece at a time

He's a puzzle. Let's put him together.

Click each part to meet it — its story opens up right beside him. (Move your cursor, by the way — he'll turn to follow you.) Brand only comes fully to life once you've met all eight.

0 of 8 met
HELLO MY NAME IS Brand HELLO! nice to meet you.
The real question

Guest list — locked Meet all eight parts of Brand, and you'll find out whether he makes the cut.

If your brand were a person… would you invite them in?

Into your home. Your life. Your business. Would you trust them? Would you actually enjoy their company, the way you enjoy a good friend's? If you can say yes, you haven't built a business — you've built someone people want to be around.

Your brand was never one thing. It's a puzzle, and every piece matters to the finished picture.

Your turn

What kind of person is your brand?

Add your logo, answer six quick questions about Brand's parts, and meet your brand's personality type — one of the twelve.

Question 1 of 6 Start over

My brand archetype
The Magician
Anything can happen.

The Kunshuis Collective · kunshuis.com
The full read

That's the headline.
Here's the rest of it.

What your brand does brilliantly, where it quietly trips over itself, and the three things I'd fix first — this week, not one day.

Pop your email in and it opens up right here. You'll get the other eleven too, so you know who else is in the room.

Free. Unsubscribe whenever. I'm one person with a farm and a laptop, not a marketing department.

Already screenshot it? Good. Send it to the designer friend who needs to see it.

The full read —

What you're brilliant at

Where you trip yourself up

Three things to fix this week

    Right — now do something with it. An archetype is a decision-making shortcut, not a badge for your bio. Next time you're stuck on whether a line of copy sounds right, ask whether this person would say it.

    If you're a designer

    The rest of your studio could probably do with the same treatment. Twenty-one days, one small thing a day, five minutes each. Free.

    Start the 21 Day Studio Reset

    Or come and see what we get into inside the Beyond Design Membership.

    If this is your own brand

    Send this to your designer. Honestly — it's the most useful brief you'll ever hand anyone, and it'll save you both three rounds of “can we try it warmer?”

    You now know who your brand is. That's the hard part, and most people never get there. The rest is their job.

    Go on — screenshot your card and send it to whoever needs to see it.

    The full cast

    The twelve, in their own words

    Every brand leans on one of these. Here's what each of them is really about — read them and see which ones feel like home.