NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL
Your step-by-step guide to creating a million pound brand
21 chapters of practical, jargon-free branding advice for small business owners, startups and anyone who wants a brand that actually gets noticed.
Paperback and digital. Free worksheets included with every chapter.
What's inside
Everything you need to build a brand that works
Chapter by chapter
Twenty one chapters, five stages, one finished brand
01
1. Brand New Beginnings Why branding matters, and the ten must-have elements every brand needs. Spoiler, it is more than a logo.
2. Brand New Rules Rob's own journey, and why small businesses have been badly served by branding advice until now.
3. Brand Aid Branding demystified. How brands actually build trust, recognition and value, with examples from global giants and local legends.
Get your head
straight
02
Find your look
and your voice
4. The Ideas Park Practical exercises to spark ideas, shape your USP and build a moodboard that genuinely inspires.
5. Colour Lovers The psychology of colour, and how to pick a palette that makes you stand out in your sector rather than blend into it.
6. Design in Motion The full journey from first brief to final sign-off, so you know what good looks like.
7. Just My Type Fonts are not just pretty faces. How typography sets your brand's personality, with resources and exercises.
03
Plan it, and
get the right help
8. Plantastic Goal setting, audience research, timelines and budgets, sorted.
9. Like, Share, Comment How to collect feedback, read it properly and act on it, without taking it personally.
10. Designer Dating DIY or hire? How to find, brief and work with the right designer.
11. What's Your Style Nail down your in-house style so your brand always looks and sounds like you.
04
Put it out into
the world
12. Logo, Let's Go Roll your brand out across every channel, with launch tactics that get noticed.
13. Market, Like You Mean It What actually works. Digital, traditional and DIY marketing for small budgets.
14. Site for Sore Eyes Websites demystified. Custom versus DIY platforms, and how to set up on each of the big ones.
15. Social Butterfly Pick your platforms, set up profiles properly, and grab the templates.
16. Creating a Brand Toolkit Get every asset and guideline in one place, for good.
17. Ready, Set, Brand A week by week launch checklist with downloadable resources.
05
Keep it
working
18. Brand Worth Watching The metrics that actually show your branding is paying off.
19. A Brand New Day Keep your brand fresh and relevant as you grow, without losing what makes it yours.
20. Brand You The founder in the spotlight. Build your personal brand on LinkedIn, at events and through what you share.
21. Brand & Order Protect what you have built. Trademarks, copyright, and what to do if somebody copies you.
FREE WORKSHEETS
Free resources Twenty one worksheets, free, no sign-up needed
Every chapter has a companion worksheet. Download them, print them, fill them in, and watch your brand take shape on paper before you spend a penny on design.
There are two interactive tools in there as well. A Brand Values builder to help you work out what you actually stand for, and a Brand Health Scorecard so you can see how your brand is performing right now.
WHO IT'S FOR
Who it's for
Written for people who build businesses, not brands You do not need a design degree. You do not need a big budget. You need a clear plan and somebody who will tell you the order to do things in. That is what this book is.
The author
More than 25 years of branding, in one book
Rob Holmes is the founder and creative director of Vinegar Creative, the brand, design and digital agency he started in 2014 to give local businesses proper creative work without big agency fees.
Since then he has worked on brands and campaigns across property and construction, hospitality, retail and the charity sector, from residential developments and architects' practices through to national names. It is the sort of experience that usually stays locked inside an agency, priced by the hour.
BRANDtastic is that experience written down. Same thinking, same process, same checklists the studio uses. £12.99 instead of a retainer.
Rob Holmes, founder, Vinegar Creative
Founder and creative director, Vinegar Creative. Brand, design and digital since 2014. Work spanning property and construction, hospitality, retail and charity.
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