What are some of the best tools and resources for learning and improving your brand identity skills?

To enhance your brand identity skills, consider utilizing a combination of tools and resources that facilitate both learning and practical application. Canva is an excellent starting point for creating visually appealing designs with its user-friendly interface and extensive template library. Adobe Illustrator offers advanced design capabilities for more intricate branding projects, while Brandbuildr.ai provides structured guidance for developing comprehensive brand strategies. Additionally, platforms like Hootsuite and Buffer can help manage social media presence effectively, ensuring consistent brand messaging.

I've been on this learning journey about Brand Identity for quite a while. Discovered Udemy as my go-to place with affordable courses, to figure out how to create a strong authentic brand. When I first started, I signed up for a few top-rated Udemy courses, mixing them up with other resources to get a deeper understanding of Brand Identity. This way, I learned not just the basics but also how to help others, my clients, figure out their unique brand style in an engaging way. Udemy's courses are awesome because they're easy to understand, and you can learn at your own pace. They played a big role in shaping how I see things, giving me the tools to help people find their special brand style.

A core element needed for brand and identity skills is basic graphic design. While there are plenty of online courses to teach you how to build a brand, it's often unstated that you should have a basic understanding of design before starting. Learning how to paint a presidential portrait isn't much use if you don't know how to paint to start with. Basic graphic design skills will help you understand why you don't create brand identities in pixel-based software, as well as the importance of visual balance in your artwork. These skills will go far beyond the creation of a single brand, but into the rest of the assets that will need to be created to support the brand or for future campaigns.

LinkedIn Learning is one of the best platforms to learn Brand Identity and related topics, both as a subject and as a skill with its wide range of courses and supplementary material, taught by industry leaders!

The best tools and resources for learning how to improve your brand identity skills are learning how to use Adobe CC Suite including Illustrator and Photoshop. Some educational platforms like Linkedin Learning, Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, YouTube, and The Future have great courses to teach you how to do branding. There are also lots of great independent brand identity designers that have created their own extensive courses on how to master brand identity design from logo design to the full brand identity presentation to mastering the client experience.

I’d also recommend: 1. "Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits" by Debbie Millman 2. "Brand Gap" by Marty Neumeier 3. "Brand Aid: A Quick Reference Guide to Solving Your Branding Problems and Strengthening Your Market Position" by Brad VanAuken.

Here are some of the best: ? Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler is the preeminent book on the topic. Invaluable to say the least. ? The Brand Gap and Zag by Marty Neumeier ? Purple Cow and everything else by Seth Godin. ? Start with Why by Simon Sinek ? StoryBrand by Donald Miller That’s a pretty good place to start for anyone, even the super experts!

I started my career by spending hours and hours in bookstores flipping through various design showcase books. There are fewer in stores today due to the internet, but companies like Graphis.com still produce a fair number that can be ordered online. I've built a library of books that inspire me to create new illustrations, logos, or even interfaces. The generative AI revolution threatens to kill a number of design roles, however, I'd highly recommend learning some of the tools (such as Midjourney) as a way to improve your workflow and inspire ideas.

Existem muitos livros com vers?es online sobre Identidade Visual. Eu gostei muito do "How to Style Your Brand" de Fiona Humberstone. Ele é focado em pequenas empresas e empreendedores, e aborda como criar uma identidade de marca visual que reflete os valores e a personalidade da marca. Vale a pena a leitura.

Wanna learn how to make your brand look super awesome without breaking the bank? Grab a book or check out some blogs! These things are like secret superhero manuals for your brand. They'll teach you how to make your logo look like a million bucks and give your brand a personality that'll make people go, 'Whoa, that's cool!' Trust me, reading about other awesome brands is like stealing their superpowers.

Don't use Canva and expect to be taken seriously as a designer or brand expert. It is an incredible tool for designers to distribute their designs to a company and allow for quick marketing asset creation, but it's not a tool designers would use to create or establish a brand. At this point in time, Adobe Illustrator is still the leading software for creating a brand or vector-based illustrative work. With the inclusion of generative AI tools into Illustrator, it's helping drastically improve workflows. Learn how to harness these tools to improve your workflow and to keep up with new technologies. Generative AI always reminds me of an old saying..."Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."

Nuestra herramienta más valiosa está justo encima de nuestros hombros; es decir, lo más importante es tener las ideas claras y luego utilizar la herramienta con la que te sientas más cómodo y seas más ágil y rápido. Aprendí a realizar mis primeros bocetos de marca con Freehand de Macromedia, y aunque esta herramienta desapareció, aún la utilizo para mis primeros bocetos. La tengo tan dominada que para mí es tan natural como usar papel y lápiz. Posteriormente, realizo el trabajo final con herramientas más automatizadas, como Illustrator. Pero, en la fase inicial, valoro la agilidad y la herramienta que me permite plasmar mis ideas de la forma más rápida posible.

You need some fancy computer stuff! Illustrator is like the superhero of design software – it can do anything! Canva is like the easy-breezy, fun friend who helps you make cool stuff without breaking a sweat. Figma is the teamwork wizard that lets you and your crew brainstorm and create together. These tools are your secret weapons for making your brand look like a million bucks!

Frontify e Brandfolder s?o plataformas de gest?o de marca que ajudam a centralizar, organizar e compartilhar diretrizes de identidade de marca, garantindo que todos os ativos estejam alinhados com a identidade visual. Existe também o Branding Brief Canvas, um modelo para ajudar a definir a essência da marca, incluindo miss?o, valores, público-alvo, e a proposta de valor.

Branding tools and resources seem to change and evolve every year. Keeping up with them is a challenge, but it's a necessary part of working in this field. Set aside a small amount of time each day at work to delve into brands and techniques. Study successful brands and build your own digital library of inspiration and research.

Find yourself a mentor! These magical beings can teach you stuff you can't learn in any fancy school or online course Think of a mentor as a Jedi Master who can teach you mind tricks (or rather, brand tricks) that no textbook or online course can cover. They've seen the dark side of branding (aka epic fails) and know how to turn it into something awesome. Mentors are like real-life cheat codes, unlocking doors to a world of branding knowledge that will blow your mind. So

I think it depends on the company you work for. For example, my company the YMCA is a household name with a nationally recognized brand. For me, taking courses and reading material outside of what is provided by Y-USA is mostly a waste of time as their brand and branding standards are pretty set. I do get ideas from outside sources that I could maybe manipulate to fit our brand but my most useful tool are the Marketing and brand webinars offered by the company. Even the entry-level ones I find myself taking as a refresher. I also find it insightful to hear what the new hires ask and want to know about the brand as well. Learning from my peers has been the most insightful.

Deconstruct other successful brands. Look at how they were built, what made them unique, why they were successful. Research, research, research. Then try to imitate and iterate. Create daily challenges. Build a body of work. Repeat.

Find the people who are the best teachers in branding. There’s thousands of us giving away free info. Start with: Chris Do James Martin Jacob Cass James Draplin Seth Godin Simon Sinek Donald Miller Search their names in every platform and start reading all of their posts. Ultra valuable stuff at a nearly endless volume.