Sitting in my small studio in Cornwall, paints spread across the desk, paper, water, an easy feeling. Adding hand-crafted elements to branding projects is a signature of mine. There’s an effect you can achieve by creating by hand that simply cannot be replicated digitally. The expression of what is within you, the pressure of your tool, the ink naturally wetting and drying and bleeding. What is created you could not have planned and there is something really special about that. It isn’t copying, it isn’t formulaic, it’s organic and it’s never going to be able to be replicated again. Believe me – I’ve tried. When I’ve been sat in big city offices who push for quick turnaround and felt silly to start getting out paint brushes. I’ve tried in that scenario to produce the same look digitally – it always fell flat. There was also something missing. It was always too controlled.
Hand crafted elements can bring such beautiful expression to brands whose values centre around themes such as nature, movement, human connection, tradition or their own craft. It might be a typeface redrawn by hand so that the edges are irregular, a logo cut from paper so the lines are unexpected, a set of painted graphics to use as interesting backgrounds throughout your marketing, products or packaging. Balanced alongside digitally-produced assets like clean fonts, structured grid systems and professional photography, you achieve a brand identity which is both expressive and practical to use in the modern landscape of business.
Curnow Brothers Bespoke Branding. The brothers run a carpentry business that specialises in beautiful bespoke fittings for Cornish homes. Using foraged pieces of wood I created painted graphics that had lots of texture to balance out the flatness of modern solid blocks in their digital landscape.
I can’t touch this topic without talking about AI. There has been a huge advancement in AI and it certainly has its place in your business should you want it to. It can be amazing for productivity, helping minimise the time you spend on administrative tasks so you can focus on the important parts. But, AI can only work with what it is given, and if you don’t know what it is exactly your strategic creative direction should look like, it will do one of these things; make something similar to your competitors, make something really generic, make something that has no real connection to your values or your audience.
It might feel like a cheap, quick fix to ask AI for branding but ultimately it will cost you big. You may not be able to articulate it, but you will realise there is friction between the business you want and the AI branding you have. It’s lacking connection because that is something AI cannot give you. It might be able to add in a ‘brush stroke’ or create a symbol with ‘an organic feel’ but it will still be generated from a machine who does not care in the slightest about the output and the result this could have on your business. It’s taking from elsewhere, somewhere that doesn’t have meaning behind it.
Hand finishes won’t apply for all businesses. For some, they make sense, for others a graphical style or something really clean might be a better fit. This is where following your brand strategy is crucial. By turning that strategy in creative direction, we can determine what style is going to reflect your business best, and connect with your customer.
Find more examples below of businesses I’ve worked with whose branding has benefitted from taking the time to incorporate hand-crafted elements. If hand-crafted feels like it might be right for you, let’s talk about that.
Kula Yoga Studio. The owner wanted a really warm, honest feel to her branding that reflected the brand ethos of a welcoming community. By painting fluid abstract shapes we created a stand-out backdrop to otherwise simple branding which was full of texture and hand-feel.
Longton & Hutton Flower Club. As well as hand tied bouquets and floral arrangements, the club focused on incorporating a lot of crafting elements into their projects, often up-cycling items to create props and vessels. The cut paper shapes give an irregularity to the edges that feels more natural and on brand than smooth vectors would have.
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Hallmark UK. A set of floral prints for paper stationary products. I gathered examples from my garden and the fields near by and painted in a mixture of loose and outlined styles. The result is full of character and joy, perfect for the Hallmark customer.
Crystal Case Studies. By creating many layers of watercolour and drying each in between, I replicated the effect of sediment layering over time – a foundational part of the geology that Crystal Case Studies is educating women about.
