How do you match your client's brand identity with your interior design project?

1 Understand the brand

Before you start any design work, you need to understand your client's brand identity. What is their mission, vision, and values? What is their target market, niche, and competitive advantage? What are their brand personality, voice, and tone? How do they communicate with their customers, employees, and stakeholders? You can gather this information by conducting a brand audit, interviewing key stakeholders, reviewing their marketing materials, and visiting their existing or potential locations.

2 Define the brand experience

Once you have a clear picture of your client's brand identity, you need to define the brand experience they want to create in their space. How do they want their customers, employees, and visitors to feel, think, and act when they enter and interact with their space? What are the key messages, emotions, and impressions they want to convey? What are the functional, aesthetic, and emotional needs and expectations of their users? You can use tools like mood boards, personas, scenarios, and journey maps to define the brand experience.

3 Choose the design elements

After you have defined the brand experience, you need to choose the design elements that will support and enhance it. These include the layout, furniture, lighting, color, texture, materials, signage, graphics, artwork, and accessories. You need to consider how these elements work together to create a cohesive, consistent, and memorable space that reflects your client's brand identity. You also need to balance the design elements with the budget, timeline, and regulations of your project.

4 Test and refine the design

Before you finalize and implement your design, you need to test and refine it with your client and their users. You can use methods like sketches, models, renderings, mock-ups, and prototypes to present your design ideas and get feedback. You need to evaluate how well your design meets the brand experience goals, user needs, and project constraints. You also need to make adjustments and improvements based on the feedback and suggestions you receive.

5 Deliver and evaluate the project

Finally, you need to deliver and evaluate your interior design project. You need to coordinate with your client, contractors, suppliers, and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth and successful execution of your design. You also need to monitor and measure the outcomes and impacts of your design on your client's brand identity and performance. You can use tools like surveys, interviews, observations, and analytics to collect and analyze data and feedback. You also need to document and showcase your project as a portfolio piece and a case study.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?