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Always was, always will be.

I work and live on the traditional lands of the Bunarong people. Design Salad respects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and future. For Design Salad, this includes ensuring we don’t appropriate indigenous visual culture. 

Studio Capabilities

Branding
Web design
Art direction
Packaging design
Illustration
Surface pattern design
Animation and 3D
Signage

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Graphic designer from Melbourne (well, the Mornington Peninsula)

Working with people worldwide

Yikes! The new NYC logo wildly misses the mark. Bu Yikes! The new NYC logo wildly misses the mark. But why? My thoughts: - too many people weighed in on giving feedback who weren’t present at the strategy sessions - the designers failed to articulate why the ‘good’ designs were a better option. - the designer (who is actually talented) let themselves be intimidated by the legacy of the I ❤️NY logo and took on the boring feedback rather than further educating the client or looking at other good options. Ultimately it is the client’s choice whether to trust the designer’s decisions. It’s unfortunate this designer now has such a big fail in their portfolio. Lessons for business owners: 1. Be careful whose opinion you listen to when gathering feedback on brand (or custom pattern) designs. Are they your target audience? Or do they understand the overall strategy in enough depth? 2. Listen to and trust your designer! Don’t request to mash multiple concepts together -designers call this the Frankenstein effect. Your feedback matters, but remember why you are not designing the thing yourself! 3. If you are not a personal brand (ie using your name and face a LOT in your messaging) then your audience’s opinion matters more. They are the ones who need to connect and convert, not you the business owner. #ilovenyclogo #ilovenyc
So you want a custom pattern, but not sure what to So you want a custom pattern, but not sure what to actually DO with it?⁠ ⁠ There are many ways to strengthen your branding and enhance your customer experience with pattern.⁠ ⁠ Here's a bunch to get you started:⁠ - Tissue paper⁠ - Stationary⁠ - Website backgrounds to add texture⁠ - Lead magnet documents⁠ - Service guide⁠ - Thank you cards⁠ - Business cards⁠ - Google docs⁠ - Questionnaires and templates⁠ - Email newsletter backgrounds⁠ - Business merchandise⁠ - Client gifts⁠ - Products!⁠ ⁠ If would you like your very own custom pattern, enter the giveaway! ⁠ ⁠ It closes this Friday so go to the Giveaway post in the designsalad.studio feed and enter now!⁠ ⁠ Good luck! 🌻⁠ ⁠ Slides: 2- pattern designed for pia.kuykhoven.artist packaging 3- pattern designed for radarlandscapes website 4- patterns designed for copycircle for print, templates and lead magnets
⁠Celebrate 7 years of creativity with us! 🎉 T ⁠Celebrate 7 years of creativity with us! 🎉 To mark this milestone, we're giving away a FREE custom surface pattern design to one lucky winner! 🎁⁠ ⁠ Whether you're a small business owner, entrepreneur, or creative enthusiast, our unique surface pattern designs will bring your vision to life and help your brand stand out from the crowd. 💻🎨⁠ ⁠ To enter the giveaway, follow these steps:⁠ ⁠ Like this post and follow our page⁠ 🍓Tag 2 friends who would love to win a custom surface pattern design⁠ 🥑Follow designsalad.studio⁠ 🍇More comments with 2 tags means more entries⁠ ⁠ I can't wait to see your entries and create a beautiful design that reflects your brand's personality and style! 🌟⁠ ⁠ Hurry, the giveaway ends this Friday 24th March 2023 and the winner will be announced on stories. Good luck! 🤞
Moodboard as part of the chosen creative direction Moodboard as part of the chosen creative direction for wholesomebydesign_⁠ ⁠ Before this stage, I do a *lot* of research. Both from your list of competitors that you send, as well as scoping out target audience preferences and other brands they're buying.⁠ ⁠ Professional snooping, you could call it!⁠ ⁠ Why?⁠ - to see how we can fit into the industry as whole⁠ - AND also to stand out from direct competitors⁠ - double-check the aesthetic of the creative directions align with the brand positioning nutted out in the strategy session⁠ - look at past work of your business, past logos and branding, to ensure the branding actually fits your business and existing clients/customers will still connect with it⁠ ⁠ Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks to see the development of this exciting new brand!⁠ ⁠
How do you keep your brand up to date? ⁠ ⁠ The How do you keep your brand up to date? ⁠ ⁠ There's a difference between building your logo and brand on the back of a trend⁠ ⁠ VS.⁠ ⁠ using the trends that suit your brand in clever and efficient ways, to stay relevant.⁠ ⁠ Custom pattern designs are one efficient way to change up the feel of your branding without, well, rebranding!⁠ ⁠ I created this custom pattern for talented artist pia.kuykhoven.artist recently. Over time she will be able to change the pattern, while maintaining the classy logo and icon. ⁠ ⁠ Maybe the next artistic phase will be completely different? A new pattern can be created to compliment it!⁠ ⁠ Keep your eye for a giveaway coming soon!
Imagine if you had a recipe book... but for your b Imagine if you had a recipe book... but for your business!⁠ ⁠ If a brand is a salad with lots of different ingredients, sauces, textures and tastes?⁠ ⁠ Then your brand strategy is your recipe book. It outlines WHAT TO DO with all your brand ingredients.⁠ ⁠ Save all those precious hours wondering, testing, and procrastinating! ⁠ ⁠ A stong brand design is marinated in juicy research and strategic thinking to ensure it has meaning and relevance for the right people.⁠ The Secret Recipe Brand package is just that- a comprehensive brand strategy followed by logo and brand design that magnetises your customers. ⁠ The Brand Book is 40+ pages (plus at least 30 hours of research and analysis) that delve into:⁠ - who you are as a business⁠ - what you stand for and why⁠ - mission statement⁠ - what makes you unique⁠ - who your audience is⁠ - your audience's problems and you can solve them⁠ - full competition analysis⁠ - brand story⁠ - suggested solutions to your design and business problems⁠ - creative direction⁠ - brand style guide⁠ - marketing content topics⁠ - 2 x different customer journeys for different price points⁠ - tone of voice suggestions (unless you have a copywriter, in which case I add their tone of voice guide into your Brand Book)⁠ ⁠ Yep. It's a hefty tome. And worth it's weight in tiramisu.⁠ ⁠ You'll send to everyone who creates anything for your business.⁠ ⁠ And *they* will get through their tasks faster than ever before with a solid guide to follow.⁠ ⁠ My own Brand Book saves me hours every week, over a year since I created it. And every word is relevant now (and will be for at least another 5!).⁠ ⁠ You can check out the Secret Recipe Brand + Strategy package in the link up top.⁠ ⁠ Or get in touch to chat about whether you're ready for such an in-depth branding process.

© 2023 Design Salad. Site by Design Salad. Copy by Copy Circle. Photography by Sally Goodall Photography.