How I work

The usual way to get a brand, and the way I do it.

Most brands are built in the wrong order. Here's what usually happens, what it costs, and what I do differently.

The usual way

It starts with a logo, and that's where it goes wrong.

A logo from whoever's quickest or cheapest, a website from someone else, signage from the printer. Each piece looks fine on its own. But nobody stopped to ask who you're trying to win or what they need to believe, so it doesn't add up, and before long you're paying to fix it.

  • It looks fine, but it doesn't tell anyone why they should choose you.
  • Every supplier reads you differently, so nothing quite matches.
  • You pay twice: once now, and again when you outgrow it.
Side by side

The same project, done two ways.

None of this is about anyone doing a bad job. It's about the order things happen in.

StageThe usual wayMy way
Starting point"We need a logo."Who you need to win, and what they need to believe about you.
Who's involvedA different supplier for the logo, the website and the signage.One person from first call to launch day. You won't be handed off to a junior.
How choices are madeOn taste: "I like the blue one."Against a short strategy, so every choice has a reason you can explain.
What you getA logo file, and you work out the rest.Name, identity, voice, signage, stationery and website, ready to land together.
After launchYou're on your own until the next rebrand.I stay on hand, so new work still looks like the same business.
My way

Five stages, from first call to opening day.

Here's what each stage looks like in real life, using my work for The Design Corner, a seasonal pop-up shop for 30 local makers backed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Local Enterprise Office.

  1. Screenshots of Irish and international craft marketplaces compared side by side
    Benchmarking craft marketplaces for The Design Corner's planned online store.
    01

    Discover

    We start by talking: to you, and to the people you need to win. For The Design Corner that meant interviews and focus groups with the makers, an online survey of shoppers, and a close look at how other craft shops sell online.

  2. The Design Corner customer journey map, from awareness through to loyalty
    The customer journey map that shaped the site structure.
    02

    Define

    Then we turn what we heard into a short strategy: who you need to win, and what they need to believe about you. It's the thing every later decision gets tested against, so nothing comes down to "I like the blue one".

  3. Early sketches for The Design Corner mark, built from simple shapes, beside the corner shop it was named for
    The first sketches, built from simple shapes and the corner shop itself.
    03

    Design

    Name, mark, colour, type and voice, each with a job to do. The Design Corner had to hold 30 very different makers together and sit happily beside the Local Enterprise Office's own logo, so that's what every route was judged on.

  4. Two The Design Corner roll-up banners, one red and one green
    Roll-up banners, ready for opening day.
    04

    Launch

    Signage, stationery, website and templates, ready together so everything lands on the same day. The Design Corner's pop-up opened with its signage, packaging, stationery and window graphics all in place.

  5. Spring and Christmas street banners for The Design Corner
    Spring and Christmas campaigns for each pop-up season.
    05

    Support

    I don't disappear after launch day. I went on to design The Design Corner's spring and Christmas campaigns, from street banners to invitations, so each new season still looked like the same shop.

"Barry helped me not just define my brand, but think ahead to what I'd need next, before I even realised it myself."

John O'SullivanManaging Director, John O'Sullivan Property Consultants.

Read how we built it

Bigger organisations

Trusted by larger organisations too.

Most of my clients are businesses like yours. I've also worked for a Local Enterprise Office and a national charity, so I'm used to the standards bigger organisations expect.

The Design Corner shopfront in four different seasonal window graphics
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Local Enterprise Office

The Design Corner

One brand for 30 independent makers, from the shopfront and seasonal campaigns to an online store designed from research with makers and shoppers.

Read the case study
Honey Days poster for Down Syndrome Ireland in a shopping centre display
Down Syndrome Ireland

Honey Days

I was lead designer on Down Syndrome Ireland's national Honey Days fundraising campaign with Boyne Valley Honey from 2010 to 2015: posters, billboards and in-store displays in shopping centres around the country.

Two ways forward

Whichever suits you, you'll hear back from me directly.

Talk it through

A 30-minute call about where the business is going and what people need to believe about it. No pitch, and no obligation.

Arrange a 30-minute call

Send me your brief

Got a brief, a request for a quote or just a few notes? Send it over and I'll come back with how I'd approach it.

Send a brief