Brand essence book

I spent some time yesterday researching brand essence books. I wanted to get a better idea of how different companies tell the story of their brand. I also wanted to see if I could get an idea for interesting layout or element ideas.

I gathered a bunch of inspirational pulls and drew a bunch of sketches of some simple, but different layouts. From what I found in my essence research, is that pairing photography with simple words that make up a message from page to page is effective and appeals to me. I also found that image-only spreads were interesting and a good pause for the eye, which is something Matt (my directed study advisor) said my book needed.

I am so happy I went and took so many nice pictures this past summer. I have a decent library of food and farmers market pictures to pull from. I do need to gather more this summer to be sure I have more than enough. I also am collecting images taken with my Mamiya, which gives the images an almost flat and older look, which fits in with my branding. This past weekend I took a few, so now I am waiting for my film to come back. I love that part!

I found I have not really explored the abstract ways to show my brand essence and I need to work on that. (community, love, happy, food-centered) So far I have taken it pretty literal, showing actual food and people. I will need to go back to my keywords and take new images that convey those words. I think it will be a nice pair with my food images.

Off to design more layout sketches.... but first here are a couple I finished yesterday.

Sample spread 1

Sample spread 2