Stylescapes: The Secret to Branding Success (2024)

When helping a client build their brand identity, a lot of things can get lost in translation. To avoid this, we use stylescapes before creating a concrete mock-up.

A stylescape is a visual representation of a brand, showcasing colour schemes, typography, images, and how the content will be laid out. They are the perfect way to present a tangible, visual representation of your client’s brand, ensuring that you’re both heading in the same direction as you enter the design stage of the process.

Why Not Use A Moodboard?

Moodboards tend to be a collection of inspirational images, whereas a stylescape takes the images from our moodboards and alters them to fit the brand’s proposed identity. They are often long and rectangular, providing an overview of the brand’s new image. It’s a great way of presenting the final product without actually creating anything new.

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The Brief.

The first stage is to understand your client’s brand as much as possible. Discuss their vision with them, and from there you’ll be able to begin building your stylescapes. Start by looking at their brand attributes - figure out how they want to be viewed by their audience. This is a great opportunity to identify a few keywords they want their brand to be associated with.

Once you know how the stakeholders want the brand to be perceived, you can turn your attention to their customers. Creating two or three personas allows you to tailor your client’s brand image towards their desired audience. Once they’re happy with both the customer personas and the brand attributes, you’re ready to start creating.

Creating Stylescapes.

When it comes to actually building your stylescapes, imagine it as a visual journey. It’s best to start with the basics - typography and colour scheme. Using the keywords associated with your client’s brand and customers, you can look into the best colours and fonts to match with their desired image. For example, if a client defined their brand as ‘approachable’, you may want to use a warmer colour scheme to convey that.

Similarly, the images you select should fit with the style you’ve begun to build. Again, the keywords will be very useful here, as you can use them to find the most relevant graphics for your stylescape. With all of those details fine-tuned, you can create another section that reflects how the content would ultimately be laid out. The finished stylescapes should provide your client with a solid overview of their brand, and a good idea of the final product.

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Presenting Your Stylescapes.

Ideally, you want to present three or four stylescapes to your client, each focussing on a different keyword or idea. This saves you the trouble of repeatedly returning to the drawing board, as your client has a variety of options before them. Rather than having them select one of the stylescapes, ask your client how they feel about the individual elements of each one. What do they like? What don’t they like? Perhaps they want the fonts of one, but the colour scheme of another. With this information, you can create a final stylescape that captures all of their favourite elements.

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The Final Stylescape.

With your newly collected feedback, you and your client should be on the same page going forwards. This means that this next stylescape may be your last - but keep in mind that further tweaks may be needed. Nevertheless, it should shorten the entire process. Once this is approved, you can get to work on the concrete mockup, confident that you’ve captured your client’s desired image.

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Conclusion.

Creating stylescapes allows you to stay on the same path as your client, keeping them involved in the whole design process. It can save a lot of time that’s often wasted going back-and-forth with new ideas, as well as saving you from making a final mock-up without a clear green light from the client.

Here at New Socks, stylescapes have often helped us create the perfect branding or logo for our clients, such as Network Rail and Warranty First. If you wish to learn more about these, we talk about them over on our Logo Designs blog.

Stylescapes: The Secret to Branding Success (2024)

FAQs

What is the stylescape process? ›

The core process of stylescapes can vary from project to project, however it always relies heavily on researching and crafting the messaging strategy to drive a purposeful approach to designing the identity. Our team usually starts by designing the logo and the mark.

What should be in a stylescape? ›

Stylescapes are a carefully collected combination of images, textures, typography, and colors to communicate a certain look and feel of a brand, website, interior space, or any other design project. Think of them as moodboards taken to the next level. Stylescapes bridge the gap between your ideas and your client's.

Why use stylescapes? ›

Stylescapes are used to explore creative directions without burning through the project budget. As a client, they will give you several different directions for the visual identity based on the fundamentals outlined in the project brief. These will include things like: Your brand culture.

How do you present stylescapes? ›

After breaking from the brief with your client, piece together the images, typography, colors, and textures you feel best align with what the client expressed. Present the Stylescapes™ with vivid and engaging language. Let the client imagine the designs coming to life and where they can create impact.

What size is the Stylescape template? ›

Stylescape Template 1422 x 267 mm / 56 x 10.5 inches / 10650 x 2000 pixels.

How do you come up with a design style? ›

Finding your design style can be as simple as slowly building out your space with items you've invested in and collected through the years. Don't set out to decorate your space in a day; let it evolve and come to life over time. As we grow, our design style can and should evolve.

What does a good mood board look like? ›

Select a mix of images, textures, and other visual elements that resonate with your concept and mood. Choose visuals that evoke the emotions and feelings you want to convey.

What is a styleboard? ›

The style board will be a collection of imagery, with the intention of setting a style direction for your project. It will show you interiors that we want to take inspiration from, suggestions on furniture, fabrics, décor, colours and materials.

What are the dimensions of the Stylescape? ›

Dimensions available:

1422 x 267 mm / 56 x 10,5 inches / 10650 x 2000 pixels (stylescape) A4 210x297 mm / US Letter 5,5x8,5 inches (letterhead) 88,9×50,8 mm / 3,5x2 inches (business card)

Is Desygner free? ›

Can I use Desygner for free? Yes, Desygner is always free to use for everyone. You can upgrade to Desygner Pro+, Business or Enterprise for access to premium tools and content.

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