At the beginning of June, we welcomed brand and website design expert to the Aster & Fern team, Charlotte Bevan from Hello White Space. Whatever your brand or web design needs are, Charlotte is the perfect person to provide you with a brand identity and website to showcase how truly amazing and unique your business is. Read on to find out a little bit more about Charlotte and have a look at the different packages she offers.

Hi Charlotte! What drew you to working in brand and website design?

Funnily enough, I didn’t even know ‘brand designer ‘was a job until I worked for an outreach charity back in 2010. I took a position as an information and communications officer and a whole world of marketing and design opened up to me!

I realised I had such a love for this field and decided it was something I wanted to explore further – so I developed the role and began to create logos and build websites for the charities I was working with.

I then took the plunge and became part-time self-employed as a brand and website designer, working part-time at the charity and then later on at Robinson and Neal (now Brewers) and Hillbark and Leverhulme Hotels in a design and marketing capacity. I went full-time as a self-employed designer in 2012 and haven’t looked back!

Is it really difficult not to keep tweaking your own branding?

It truly is! So much so that I used to do it all the time – constantly evolving and refining! (I did, however, always ensure all channels and platforms were consistent.) After nine years in business, I finally have a look for my brand that feels like me… my business visual identity aligns with my vision, core values and my design style. And I’m really proud of getting here!

In terms of branding, which company do you think has nailed it?

I love Apple’s branding. Their minimal logo – that most people would know anywhere – slick packaging and ‘think different’ philosophy, to me, is incredible. And they’ve positioned themselves in the market as leaders in such a way that’s so clever – exclusive yet accessible.

And which company/business would you love to work with?

Disney! Disney all the way! This sincere, wholesome and magical family-orientated brand that I grew up with – and continue to! – would be the dream.

On a professional level, I think they have carefully and intentionally constructed such an emotional connection with their customers and on a personal level, I am one of those customers with the emotional connection!

Do you have a favourite project that you’ve completed?

This is may sound so strange… I love briefs that push me. I’m so comfortable and adore designing typeface-focused logos – or concepts with florals. But anything that requires me to illustrate a person or an animal, usually, makes me feel nervous! Having said that, very often, these are the designs that I’m most proud of and that become personal favourites of mine.

When it comes to the businesses/influencers you’ve worked with, what’s your creative process for finding the perfect look and feel for their brand?

To begin with, I send my clients a brand design questionnaire and, once completed and emailed back to me, I use that as my brief. I research the business I am working with, take a look into the industry or field they are in and read the filled-out form in depth.

Based on the client’s requirements, ideas and preferences, I put together a mood board containing images, textures, typography, colour palettes… and then I can start to design some logo concepts and refine until I am happy that the brief has been met.

When building websites, I have a developer I work closely with who constructs the most beautiful, minimal yet comprehensive themes which are flexible enough to lean well into any branding.

What are the benefits of consistent branding to a small business?

Cohesive and consistent branding over all platforms is of enormous importance to any business. Ensuring you have the same logo, colour palette, contact details and so on across all of your social media and website, brand stationery and marketing materials ensures you are perceived by your customers as professional, polished and credible. This attention to detail also fosters trust and loyalty and, therefore, builds a relationship with your customers.

With more and more businesses going online, are physical assets such as business cards still useful?

Whilst having an online presence is, no doubt, absolutely essential for any business… I believe having physical materials such as business cards, flyers and thank you cards certainly have their part to play in a branding and marketing strategy – they can definitely leave a lasting impression on potential customers. A personal, handwritten and branded thank you note can go a long way with customers!

If a start-up or sole trader only has a minimal budget, in terms of branding and web design, what would you recommend they invest in?

My company philosophy is based on helping small business owners in the creative marketplace – and, more often than not, they are start -ups. I price my brand and website design packages accordingly, tailoring them to what I believe any new business should have when they launch.

I would recommend business owners make an investment in a logo they absolutely adore – a design which they feel effectively represents them and their business – and a small, brochure website to communicate a little about their business, the services or products they offer, as well as a range of methods of communication.