"We Offer Handjobs™"
...that’s what her business card said. Meet Gretchen, she’s a professional manicurist located on Charlotte Street, Port of Spain Trinidad. She desired a business card, which highlighted what she did, with some personality that could get her noticed. She worked in a heavy female populated environment, where everyone pretty much had the generic look and feel to all their business cards. Come on, you know the multi-colored laminated business cards that say things like, “nails or hair by Keisha”. She wanted to distance herself from it.
Owning her voice was scary at first because no one around her was capitalizing on the use of this kind of language to improve their visibility and connect with their clientele. So naturally, she felt that setting herself apart meant a more corporate image. But doing the opposite, was the very reason her services got popular. Sure her counterparts weren't saying "we do handjobs" but her clients were. So mirroring that personality in how she expressed what she does stood to benefit her connection with them and by extension her business. And as her popularity grew on account of it, she began embracing what took center stage to her visual brand...her brand.
Individuality And Authenticity
The things that comprise our perspective and inspire a different approach define who we are. And while it's the most scariest experience for outsiders to conceptualize, it's a pathway to freedom.
If you've ever been discouraged from doing something unheard-of by someone in your industry, you know what I'm talking about. Yet no one enjoys showing up at a party and seeing ten other people in the same outfit as them. Well, that's the value of individuality, it disassociates us from the ordinary. In the article 'Creating Digital Products', I used the witch's brew rather than the famed bread crumbs of Hansel and Gretel to make my point about content and it's effectiveness onboarding someone as a client. I saw how I could bring out my point visually using that part of the story, and it loosed me from what was already being used to express the same point.
Gretchen wanted that same release, hence her reluctance to pay for generic design services. She wanted a design viewed through the eyes of her world; the way it really was, not the way someone thinks it should be. And taking the time to understand that world is what made the experience for her clients authentic and memorable.
What do you do differently in your industry that to your counterparts is a horror story?
I am the Founder and Visual Brand Strategist at The BrandTUB
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