home decor blog brand book

brand standards

CONTENTS This brand standards document explores the message, visuals, and expression of the Hey There, Home brand.

1. Brand Message 2. Design & Visuals 3. Words & Content 4. Live Your Brand

BRAND GUIDELINES HEY THERE, HOME

MOODBOARD The brand is an extension of your style and personality so I used images that you personally love as the inspiration. Note there are lots of blues, strong uses of pattern, and clean (but not too perfect lines.) You’ll see these same themes throughout the brand visuals.

Photo sources: Living room: Madeleine and Jeremy Grummet and Family Pillows: Refinery 29 Door: AirBNB

brand message

POSITIONCORE IDEA Hey There, Home shares easy-to-follow and beautiful home decor and entertaining articles for real homes.

WHO WE ARE Hey There, Home is the product of the talents of its founder, Corey Willis.

OUR GOAL We want to make home decor accessible to every one. We also want people to decorate their homes in a way that they can actually be lived in - not just looked at.

HOW WE ARE DIFFERENT Our brand’s (and founder’s) talent for teaching is evident in our tutorial and ‘how-to’ content that our readers love. We also put a huge emphasis on designing for REAL life, not magazine pages.

WHAT WE DELIVER Hey There, Home offers a metric-ton of free content in their blog articles, tutorials, and content. We also offer paid products in our most popular home decor topics.

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brand message

PERSONALITY

GIRL NEXT DOOR BRAND PERSONALITY

We want to create a friendly, helpful, and honest place online where homeowners (and especially parents) can find home decor advice and tips.

We are our reader’s practical and knowledgeable friend. We are the person you turn to when you want real-life and down-to-earth advice about decorating your home or entertaining guests.

When they encounter our brand, our audience FEELS: Understood, seen, included, warm, connected.

We are: • Real & authentic • Relatable • Witty • Smart • Friendly • Honest • Occasionally self-deprecating • Direct

Channel your inner ‘witty best friend’ when you communicate with your audience.

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brand message

POINT OF VIEW

YOUR HOME SHOULD BE BEAUTIFUL AND FUNCTIONAL

Yes, we all secretly wish our home was a bit more ‘Pinterest-worthy” but we actually live in our homes. Design spaces that make you happy but also that WORK for your family.

QUALITY FAMILY TIME MATTERS

We quit dream jobs to move back to be closer to family. We believe in eating dinner with your family. And no screens at the dinner table. Be mindful of the quality time you spend with your family. It really is the most valuable time you’ll spend all day.

YOU MAY NOT ALWAYS LIKE YOUR WORK, BUT YOU SHOULD LOVE IT

These two sentences explain the headline above. Keep it short, simple, and succinct.

YOUR “IDEAL” HOME AND ACTUAL HOME PROBABLY AREN’T EXACTLY THE SAME (AND THAT’S OK.)

We all have that junk room that frustrates us. That, and the garage is too full to actually fit both cars in. We work to make all of our spaces inspiring, but if they aren’t there yet - don’t stress about it. That’s real life.

GET RID OF THE JUNK

When your decor, toys, stuff, or whatever aren’t serving you any more, it’s time to let it go. (Please help me convince my 5-year-old to stop collecting rocks.)

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brand message

“Homes are meant to be lived in.”

manifesto

UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

TEACHER AT HEART

Our best work is when we’re explaining concepts and step-by-step tutorials to our readers.

DESIGN & DECORATING COME EASY

Picking a paint color doesn’t come easy to everyone (just ask my sister.) I’m here to help make it easy for you!

PLANNING? PIECE OF CAKE.

I’ve been blessed with an organized mind for big, overwhelming projects. I can help you get it done from start to finish.

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brand message

design & visuals

LOGOWe have two versions of the logo that we can use - one for square spaces and the other for skinny horizontal spaces. The chair icon can also be used on its own as your trademark image.


visual identity

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PRIMARY COLORSThese colors show up throughout your own design choices and fit your brand personality. They are the perfect way to represent your down-to-earth yet fun brand message.

#307186

20% 40% 60% 80%

#8ee1d7 #d0d0d0

20% 60% 20% 60%


visual identity

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SECONDARY COLORSPops of color are fun to incorporate into your home decor, and also in your website and brand designs. The dark grey and white can be used as font and background colors.

#f5cd51 #fffff#53585f


visual identity

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PATTERNSFor the love of triangles! I chose two patterns to show here that have a strong visual impact and imperfect lines - much like the brand message you are communicating.


visual identity

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TYPOGRAPHY

HEADLINES: MONSERRAT BOLD ALL CAPS

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()

Body: Quicksand Book

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890

!@#$%^&*()

accent: amanda(lower case)

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwx yz 1234567890 !@#$%^&*()

The fonts chosen are a fun contrast of bold with thin and clean with script.


visual identity

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FONTS IN ACTION

HEADLINE This is a description paragraph. It explains the purpose of the page and describes the title to the left.

1. Example 2. Example 3. Example 4. Example

“This is a quote from a very impressive person.”

-IMPORTANT PERSON

HEADLINE LEVEL 2

This is a description paragraph. It explains the purpose of the page and describes the title to the left. This is a description paragraph. It explains the purpose of the page and describes the title to the left.

• Example • Example • Example

HEADLINE LEVEL 3

visual identity

This page shows how the fonts will work together on your website.


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ICONS

02visual identity

We’ll keep a clean & colorful style for the icons and titles used on your website to contrast with the grays/whites of the overall page design and photographs.


image style

words & content

TAGLINE HOME DECOR FOR REAL LIFE

other options considered:

IMPERFECT YET BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL AND LIVABLE BEAUTIFUL AND REAL ANYONE CAN DECORATE THEIR HOME ANYONE CAN MAKE THEIR HOME BEAUTIFUL YOU CAN MAKE YOUR HOME BEAUTIFUL DECOR & ENTERTAINING FOR REAL FAMILIES BEAUTIFUL HOMES FOR REAL FAMILIES MAKE HOME BEAUTIFUL + LIVABLE MAKING HOME BEAUTIFUL FOR REAL LIFE MAKING HOME BEAUTIFUL + FUNCTIONAL


brand communication

03

TONE OF VOICEYour brand personality needs to show up in the tone you communicate with.


brand communication

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Content and communication from Hey There, Home should be friendly, accessibly, and clear. You need to encourage your readers that they can, in fact, decorate their own homes.

When possible, tell stories from your own life that relates to the content. Also, provide the “behind the scenes” frustrations and challenges to each decor project you are featuring. Be clear that the pretty pictures are a process to get to.

You’ll sound: • Encouraging • Honest not perfect • Down-to-earth not fancy • Supportive • Empathetic to their challenges • Witty at times • Personal

CONTENTHOME DECOR

Keep up the great work with the home decor posts and especially tutorials. This needs to remain the ‘bread and butter’ of your content.

ENTERTAINING

Add more entertaining articles to your site. It’ll create a source for more content (without tearing out your bathroom tile.)

PERSONAL STORIES

Add in more personal stories to your home decor and entertaining posts. Focus on reaching the goal of one every other month to help your readers get to know you better.

HOW TO BLOG

Phase this out in the first quarter of 2016.


brand communication

03

STORIES LOW TO HIGH

Tell the story of how you quit your job to spend more time with the kiddos, and how your blog came to be. Relate to a moment when your blog only had 10 readers and the journey to getting where you are now.

WHY STORY

Your “why” story is the story about your aunt not using her bathroom for 10 years until you helped her remodel it. Share that story so your readers understand why you are so passionate about home decor.

HUMAN INTEREST

Throw in references for your love of wine, humor, etc. into your blog posts on a regular basis. It’s a way to create a personal connection without making an entire post about you.


brand communication

03

live your brand

ACTION STEPS

LAUNCH YOUR FIRST WORKBOOK ASAP This needs to be a first priority. Package up those workbook/ebooks you have been thinking about and list them for sale. Launch them with a similar plan as your blog planner.

UPDATE THE WEBSITE BRANDING Get with your tech girl to create the ‘development’ site and update all of the visuals we create. Launch it with a little pizzaz on social media when it’s ready!

NETWORK WITH OTHER BLOGGERS Reach out to bloggers that are at the next level you want to get to before your blog conference.

CREATE CONTENT IN ADVANCE Get far enough ahead that you can spend time incorporating your brand voice and personality into the content you publish.

LEVERAGE YOUR LIST Update your autoresponder with a new opt-in offer, indoctrination story, top posts, and product offer.

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live your brand

BRANDEMIES IDEA ENEMIES • Design at the expense of function. • Growing the blog too large that you don’t

get to spend quality time with your family anymore.

• Making others feel “less than.” Keep your content relatable and friendly.

NOT TO DO LIST • Stay away from design concepts or styles

that are too fancy, complicated, or un-friendly for kiddos.

• Don’t post off-topic content (kids activities, more blogging tips past the planner launch, etc.)

WE ARE NOT • A blog about blogging • A purely personal blog


live your brand

04

GRAPHICSlive your brand

This mockup shows how you can update the website homepage and sidebar with your new brand visuals.


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