Telling Your Story Through Branding Rhonda Willers

Appears in the Nov/Dec 2021 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated.

Branding is the consistent way a business or person represents themselves to the public. The overall visual look of a brand should delineate one brand from another, much the same way one artist’s work looks different from another’s. Branding has become widely encouraged within the fine-arts world. The rise of social media as a form of advertising and connecting for artists means that artists venture into what was traditionally siloed into business and design. But what does branding look like for an individual artist? I remember when I first learned about making a chop to mark my ceramics work as an undergraduate student. These stamps, or maker’s marks, could be framed as a first step to branding. Your chop becomes your identifiable signature—aka your first logo. 

Today’s artist branding goes beyond the chop and expands into the way you tell your story. Humans connect through story and are inspired by story, so let’s use this to connect your artwork with your audience. And if the word branding feels too commercial for your taste buds, call it your “art story.” 

I’ve been working on my branding story for the past three years. I’m still working on it and have more goals to work toward in the coming year. I want to share some of the experiences I’ve had along the way and the kinds of experts who have guided me through this process. Note: Pricing/fees mentioned throughout this article may vary from time of publication.

Developing a Logo

In 2019, I worked with Odd Design (www.workwithodd.com) in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to develop a logo. I found this incredible duo by looking at logo designs in the region and then researching who created the logos. I reached out to Odd Design via their website and began my logo-design process by meeting with them for a conversation. Instantly I liked their approach—they had already researched me, so they were well prepared for our first meeting. The total cost for the main branding logo development was $690. I purchased a second logo for $300. This was a significant investment for me. It’s now been three years, and I am still pleased with the logo design. 

Things they did that were helpful to me:

• They deeply reviewed my website and social-media presence to understand my artwork and practice, then shared with me the visual elements that stood out to them. 
• They asked me to send a collection of colors that I love. Tip: Visit https://coolors.co to generate collections of colors. (1)

What they produced: 

• Three logo options (two of which I purchased)
• The main logo was fully developed into multiple color and arrangement options. Colors: black, white, blue, green, off-white, orange, pink. Arrangements: full-horizontal, full-stacked, icon, letter forms.
• The main logo is used on my business cards, jewelry cards, email signature, website, and art-booth signage when doing in-person sales (2).
• I purchased a second logo in black only to be used and manipulated by me. This is a logo I use for my prepared terra sigillata product line.

Why Does an Artist Need a Branding Team?

As artists we are often capable in many mediums, including digital. I have a strong skill set in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and web design, however when it came time to develop a logo, I wanted the perspective of creatives who work within the industry of branding and marketing. Elle McGee and Serena Wagner at Odd Design were able to envision a branding strategy beyond my knowledge and capacity. Their perspective provided insight into how my work and presence is interpreted outside of the arts community as their expertise crosses through a variety of business sectors. When we try to reflect on our presence ourselves, we cannot always recognize all the possibilities of our own work. Engaging with a branding team widens the scope of possibilities. 

An additional recent element of my artistic practice has become not only thinking about what skill sets I have, but also thinking about what I want to hire others to help me with. In hiring Elle and Serena, I was removing that task from my to-do list, which then made space in my schedule to create more art, which is where I want to be spending the majority of my energy.

Working with Artist Consultants

In late 2019, I began meeting with Pennylane Shen, founder of Dazed and Confucius (www.dazedandconfucius.com),
who provides career support for artists. Dazed and Confucius is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and
also includes artist consultant, educator, and photographer, David Ellingsen.   

I began meeting with Pennylane after hearing her interviewed on several podcasts and after a friend provided a referral. Pennylane and David offer 30- or 60-minute consultations and also small group critiques, among many other services. I encourage you to visit their website to see all of the possibilities for support, from statement writing to pricing lists. The 60-minute, one-on-one session (via Zoom in my case) cost about $100 (USD), which for me felt affordable and a worthwhile investment. 

In preparation for the sessions, I sent questions and topics I wanted to focus our conversation on. I also sent links to work that I wanted to discuss. Some sessions have been critiques of my work while others have focused on goal setting or website/social-media development. Things Pennylane has helped me with include:

• Tidying up my website—focusing on consistency in messaging and imagery—branding!
• Editing content—having too much was my problem. 
• Evergreen content—looking at the content I already have and think of new ways to use it. It’s not always necessary to create new content. Viewers don’t scroll too far down a feed, so it’s good practice to re-share some key work every so often. 
• Project and focus planning—defining my 2 to 3 goals for a given year and knowing when to set aside ideas for work.
• New work—advising me about building new bodies of work.
• Documentation of artwork—teaching me about art and objects in situ—more on that next.

Art and Objects in Situ

In situ, when applied to art, means artwork in a situation or space and place. We’ve seen this trend develop over time in ceramics. The gradient backgrounds of the past have mostly gone away and white backgrounds are often used for documentation, which also aids graphic designers who might need to integrate your work into other promotional materials. But to really help sell your work—to help others envision the work in their living environments, showing your work in a setting inspires the possibilities for a potential buyer. This also helps describe the scale of your work. A hand holding a mug tells a viewer “oh, this is the size and my hand might hold the mug in this way.” In a way, art in situ is teaching the viewer about your artwork. We’ve seen this happen for years in home décor and interior design and now it has become much more commonplace on ceramic artists’ social-media feeds. Consider the way adding  in-situ images to your own website enriches a viewer’s experience and understanding. If you don’t have a space available for this type of documentation, consider asking a friend or family member to allow you to set up your work in their home to photograph—I need to do this as I live in a house with a lot of bold colored walls that don’t show the work well (3, 4, 6).

Exhibitions and Photographers

Another way to add to your branding story and expand the visual representation of your work is to hire a photographer to document your artwork while it’s on view in an exhibition. When my artwork was on view at the Canton Museum of Art in Canton, Ohio, I asked the museum who they used to document the opening reception, then hired that photographer to return to the museum and document my work. I was also able to obtain photos from the opening reception, which I now use on my website. The cost to hire her was around $300, which seemed reasonable and comparable to when I bring work to a local photographer to document (5).

Online from Another Perspective

In 2021, I learned that Margo Tantau of Tantau Studios (www.tantaustudio.com) offers 15-minute reviews of your website and/or social media presence and then sends a video recording of her feedback via Loom. I first met Margo through an online course that she was teaching and have since followed her on social media. She also hosts a weekly podcast, Windowsill Chats, that focuses on creatives from the home decor, illustration, and design spheres. The fee for Margo’s 15-minute reviews is $60 USD. Things Margo helped me with include:

• Thinking about my Instagram feed from the vantage point of an art director—what are they looking for and what do they see when they look at my feed. 
• Reviewing what stands out as strong work and possibilities for that work.
• How to share imagery on my website that demonstrates where I want to go with my work and what possibilities I imagine.

Additional Tips

From each of these experiences, some of the feedback shared has been consistent:

1.  Bios, Artist Statements, and Process Statements

a) Intersperse images within the text to tell more of the story and to break up the text. 

b) Offer PDF downloads on your website of this content that include images.

c) Think about how the content and style of your writing represents you and your general life and work approach (playful, serious, exploratory, etc.)

2.  Artwork Online: Galleries and Portfolios

a) Show the work you have made that is related to your current practice. If you want to show older work that you no longer make but was part of your development, consider the heading of “archive” for that gallery collection. 

b) Show your work in a way that demonstrates where you are headed and what you aspire to do. Example: create mock-ups of your patterns, drawings, surfaces on other objects or other substrates, such as fabric, paper, metal, etc. 

Digital Support to Develop Branding

Using programs like Canva can help you develop a consistent look to your social-media postings, website imagery, and e-newsletters. For example, if you offer workshops, select a layout that you could use each time you are sharing a workshop. Canva and other similar apps like Planoly allow you to schedule your social-media postings so that you are not responsible for the actual posting. And remember, you can reuse content and images you already have; you do not need to constantly create new imagery. 

Small Steps to Building a Personal Brand

A. Develop and use a logo consistently.

B. Build a color scheme to your website and social-media text and imagery.

C. Create a two-sentence statement about what you make and do. 

D. Develop and use consistent hashtags on social media. Search to see if the hashtags are already in use and alter if needed. 

E. Create business cards/post cards of your artwork. Consider ways they can do more than a typical business card. Could you design a card that folds into a new object? Would your imagery work well if you order a thick circle card that becomes a coaster? Art directors and gallery directors still enjoy a physical copy of something that they can hang on their cork and pin boards. 

F. Design stickers. These are a fun option to make people remember your work. The sticker becomes an advertisement if you add your name and social handle or email.

G. Order custom-printed packing tape, stamps, product tags, or packaging bags.

H. Write up and print bio cards. Send these out in your packaging when someone orders from you or hand them out at your next in-person sale or event. Collectors, buyers, and art leaders alike all love to know the story behind the artist. 

I. Intersperse images and videos of you in your studio on your websites and social-media feeds. This helps build connections with your community.

Working to build a branding story that feels authentic to who you are takes time. It’s not unlike the process of writing an artist statement that expresses your work and process. Embody a leather-hard approach to the process . . . have some firm ideas about who you and your work are, and be malleable enough to recognize when changes are needed. Remember nothing needs to be permanent, but only representative of where you are at a given time in your art career and practice.  

Rhonda Willers is a studio artist living in Wisconsin. She is the author of Terra Sigillata: Contemporary Techniques, published by The American Ceramic Society and available at https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/shop/terra-sigillata. To learn more, visit www.rhondawillers.com and Instagram @r_willers.

*www.argentephoto.com