Branding That's Clear, Consistent, Uncomplicated: The True Story Behind My Orange

People ask on a semi-regular basis about my visual branding.

As much as I love my logo, it’s a conversation I usually try to skim over.

Because the truth is, it’s complicated.

Take the orange. Long ago, when my business was still a side hustle, I was experimenting with the concept of comparing apples to oranges - promising to build content so distinct as to be incomparable.

The idea just never gelled, so I scrapped it.

But I liked the orange.

Oranges connect with words like fresh, vibrant, and happy - all words I wanted to associate with my brand.

Bonus, they’re my favorite color.

That’s pretty much what I gave my brilliant graphic designer to work with when developing my brand assets. He came up with the gorgeous orange slice and the Eric Carle-esque full orange.

He also developed the color palette, balancing my signature deep orange with lighter shades, plus a gray blue and a soft green.

Which I’m grateful for because as much as I love orange, it’s not an easy color to work with. A little goes a long way.

Then I realized my second bonus - there’s an orange emoji. That meant I could reinforce that image even in blocks of text - like my LinkedIn profile name and my email subject lines.

I’ve been pinning that little orange on everything for about four years now.

And I’m seeing my efforts bear fruit (pun fully intended).

I’ve been introduced as “the marketer with the orange.” It come ups in social media conversations.

And my favorite - after telling someone about my 2024 Content Camp in a networking event, the next time I saw them they said they were considering buying in even though they were already working with another content strategist.

“That orange just got in my head,” she said.

BOOM.

That’s what we’re looking for.

That’s how consistent use of a suite of distinctive elements helps build your brand. It’s been years, but all building to that phrase - “got in my head.”

Your brand doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it’s best if it’s not.

It doesn’t need a deep meaning. In fact, it’s best if it doesn’t.

(The iconic Coke bottle shape came from a desire to make the bottle recognizable “by touch in the dark.”)

What it needs clarity and consistency. Over and over and over again.

That’s how you win.