Visual storytelling is important for all brands, but especially social impact brands. You want people to see your brand and take action. The best way to do that is to tell a compelling story through brand components.
Visual Storytelling is an art. It’s meant to reach viewers at a deep and lasting level by conveying messages, emotions, narratives, and information. It can take the form of a video, photo, illustration, digital interaction, song, or written word. Visual storytelling is actually the basis of design, and it’s one reason you’re probably here, reading this blog. You subconsciously picked up the visual story that I tell through my brand identity and it resonated with you.
Chances are that Say When is not the first agency or studio you’ve looked into. There are thousands and thousands of design studios and agencies, but many of them lack depth and meaning. When an agency relies on templates and ai-generated content, it’s easy to tell. They don’t seem genuine, they don’t seem passionate. There’s nothing about them that compels you to want to have a sincere conversation with the people who work there. And it’s because their brand isn’t telling a story that matters to you.
You, however, have a great story to tell. Your organization is based on taking care of the earth and/or society. Your passion runs deep and every week you’re working towards a specific goal. Your brand should tell that story in some way, across every component.
This chart shows the different components of a brand identity, broken into four categories: Visual, Verbal, Interactive, and Sensory. Each component is tied to the Concept & Rationale, or the story you're telling. Don’t worry, you don’t need to have every one of these components! Just the ones that make sense for your organization, ie. if you don’t sell anything, point of sale signage isn’t needed. However, every excellent brand has at least five visual and five verbal components. Having more than that is what we call a robust brand. For example, Target has a robust brand. They have strategically planned for every brand component and they have documented them for their design and marketing professionals to be able to use consistently. It’s the consistent use of these strategic components that compels people to choose Target over other brands.
Your social impact organization needs an excellent brand. It has to have one because you rely on donations and funding. In order for people to give, they have to feel compelled to give. For each type of donor and sponsor, the compulsion to give will naturally differ. This is why we take the time to identify a Market Niche and understand the people within it. Once we understand their fears, frustrations, goals, and ideals, you can start to align your brand with them. We can design specific campaigns for each audience type. We can speak to all audience types in your most important asset: your website.
Your website is the first place people will go to listen to your story. They may find about you through other means, but when they’re looking for more, they go to your website. Using Visual, Verbal, and Interactive components, we can craft an experience. We can tell your story in a way that will leave an impression on the viewer. With compelling calls to action, we can increase your donations.
I’ll help you refine your brand and tell a story that makes people want to give you money.
