What's in a Brand?

I sit on a porch in Boston trying to figure out my own name and branding for this here thing you are reading. By the time you have arrived on my website there is probably a logo, color, fonts, and some kind of illustration that takes me way too long to make. But, at the time of writing this, this website contains the remnants of a failed project from years past that I am slowly spackling a new facade over, and pretending like my long lost endeavor was always the idea it should have been.

There is an uninhibited freedom in the feeling that nobody is paying attention, so in that spirit I would like to brainstorm the importance of a brand.

My thoughts are this. A brand is a facade of a personality that people can relate and cling to. A brand expresses emotions, tells other people what you are about and why. The colors tell a story of emotion, the logo gives the brand a face, the fonts create a voice. Without these elements people can't connect.

Take this for example. If you are at a housewarming party and talking to someone who has no style, no emotions on their face, and brings no conversation to the table, do you keep talking to them? No, you go find someone who is interesting or adds some value to your life. If you are looking to add excitement and spontaneity to your life would you go up and talk to the tight pony tail and gray pants suit. Probably not. That right there is the importance of a brand and the importance of your personal brand saying the correct thing about who you are as a person!

I'm back to the porch, the yellow pollen covering my pants and I think, what should this brand evoke? What story am I trying to tell? And what in the world should I name this damn thing...