How To Brand Your Fashion Illustrations

Breaking into the niche of illustrating for fashion designers isn’t as simple as one two three. There’s a lot of competition! And marketing your creative skills can be difficult if you don’t have a lot of experience in doing so.

Skill and marketing are both important factors in the success of any illustrator, but another huge determining aspect is how well you brand yourself.

Fashion illustrations are not just your plain artistic expressions; they are powerful tools that fashion designers can use to convey and communicate style, creativity, and brand identity.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an aspiring fashion illustrator or a seasoned professional, branding your illustrations can help distinguish your work in the crowded fashion market, attract clients, and build a strong professional brand.

According to one survey about 82 percent of Gen-Z says that fashion plays a crucial role in establishing their identities.

For them, fashion is less about being trendy and more about developing their entire personality. This is just one of the many studies that help us understand the impact of fashion choices made by many young fashion shoppers.

Once the designer gets their head around the physiographic behaviors of their customer, they can create the product of clothing unique to their taste and fashion choices.

This is exactly what we are going to discuss in this blog post, top strategies and techniques you can use to brand your fashion illustration brand that will make your brand instantly recognizable in the saturated market.

1. Define Yourself

It’s true for all brands, but it’s especially true for those whose work is closely tied to their identity, such as fashion and creative artists. You are your brand and your brand is a unique depiction of yourself.

For example, to create a unique brand identity for a clothing store, you need to focus on expressing your purpose through visual elements.

So, logically, to know what your brand is, you need to know who you really, are and what your personality is all about.

But it isn’t just a case of knowing, but the ability to define it. Put yourself into words. Take your pen and paper out or a Word document and brainstorm ideas- Write whatever comes to mind, adjectives, phrases about how would you describe yourself and then ultimately how you describe your fashion brand.

Answer these questions:

• How do I describe my personality?
• What am I passionate about?
• What do I do well?
• What is my main goal in life?
• What is my main goal with my career?
• What message do I want my fashion brand to speak?

If these questions seem kind of big, tangentially related questions, rest assured that they are all stepping stones to defining you! Then comes the process of defining your brand.

All the things that motivate you will propel your fashion illustration brand towards success.

2. Figure Out Your Brand’s Place In The Market

Have you got yourself all figured out yet? Great! Now it’s time to apply that to your brand. Your brand has a place in the fashion illustration market.

That place will be determined by your personality, your skills, and your marketing. Know what type of illustration you want to do, and then research the market.

This is the stage where you want to put your marketing hat on and start planning out a comprehensive marketing and branding strategy from scratch if you don’t have any.

A good place to start is analyzing your brand first, canary out a full-fledged audit of your brand, SWOT analyses, Unique selling propositions, keywords, branding tools, and social media profiles. Make sure all these are aligned with your brand message.

Then, investigate your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and identify gaps in the fashion market, that is the opportunity for you to stand out because no one is even looking at it.

Remember to adopt ethical practices while conducting your competitor research because some of them may eventually become co-workers or collaborators.

Determining where you want to be in the lineup helps to codify your brand.

3. Write A Catchy Slogan

Most businesses have a slogan or a tagline, usually based on their marketing campaigns. Think L’Oreal’s “Because you’re worth it.” These are designed much like a logo: a quick way to bring all aspects of the brand to mind. They’re like shorthand for branding.

Creating a slogan or tagline for your fashion illustration brand is no less important, but it could be a little more challenging.

After all, it isn’t just about marketing yourself. It’s also about reaching out to your audience on an emotional level. It’s about the ability to connect.

But it also has to describe your work and do so succinctly.

Creating this slogan might take a lot of time and thought, and probably some rejected possibilities along the way. But taking a look at other artists and what they’ve chosen might help know what to do — or what not to do.

Artist Gregory Peters, for example, has “Art That Begs To Be Touched” as both brand and slogan.

And remember, your slogan doesn’t have to be set in stone forever. Just as new and innovative marketing campaigns can be created to take advantage of new markets and audiences, your slogan can evolve throughout your career. The important thing is that it catches the eye and makes a connection with those who see it.

4. Design A Logo

Logos are a great way to condense your aesthetic into a small space. They’re designed to evoke your brand as a whole simply by one relatively small graphic.

With that ethos as their design backbone, though, logos still have lots of scope for reach, imagination, and variety.

A classic logo design decision for an artist is to use their signature as a logo. Norman Rockwell is one example.

Signatures are commonly used simply because they’re easily replicated in a variety of circumstances, and will usually be included on each piece of artwork that the artist creates. So a signature logo is worth considering.

Another option is a logotype logo — a wordmark or a lettermark. If you have a particular font that you love and that evokes your brand perfectly, this could be the right option for you.

But the possibilities don’t stop there. Whether you intend to design your logo yourself in your signature style, or whether you’d rather use a fashion illustration logo that is designed for you or which you have adapted, don’t settle too quickly on a logo.

Remember, this will be the main “ambassador” for your brand as you create it, and the first connection that many clients and audiences will have with you.

5. Reinforce Your Brand — Everywhere

Putting an awesome brand together doesn’t mean that your branding journey stops right there.

You may be satisfied and even excited about your brand slogan, logo design, branding materials, and overall personality which you’ve combined to create a brand that reflects you — but that does not mean that your hard work is over, in fact, it is only the beginning.

So, you have put together a brand of your own, now it’s time to promote all the work you’ve done. As a working illustrator, it can be difficult to find the time to put into promoting your brand.

It’s recommended to set aside at least an hour or two, a few times a week, to post content on social media and your website.

It’s not a lot of posting and it might not give you the instant results and exposure that people expect while launching their dream brand on social media. But it is a nice way to start without overburdening yourself.

Keeping in mind that you are not posting that frequently on the internet, you must make sure that each point of contact with the public reflects your brand personality.

Take advantage of opportunities to include your logo or slogan and other branding elements as much as possible. Don’t rub it in the face of your audience, keep your marketing efforts subtle.

Initiate the conversations around your brand-related topics with others and don’t shy away from talking about who you are and what you do.

Branding isn’t just a one-and-done proposition. Branding is an ongoing adventure that always has a new aspect around every corner. And when you’re doing it right, branding can be the key to success for your fashion illustration career.

6. Collaborate With other Artists

Collaborate with other creative designers and look out for networking events in the fashion industry. This can open doors for you and can provide unmatchable opportunities to put your fashion illustration brand at the forefront and expand your reach.

In these networking events, you can create lifelong relations with the giants in the fashion market “who have made it”.

Partner with designers, brands, photographers, stylists, and influencers to create some unique projects that feature your illustrations and a fusion of their unique art.

Workshops and fashion exhibitions organized by industry professionals are also a great way to engage with similar minds in the community, make yourself and your brand recognizable, build useful relationships, and showcase your portfolio any chance you get.

This is by far the most effective way to get a taste of what goes on behind the curtain in the fashion industry. You can gain exposure working with the big designers and realize how tough the competition to get seen in this market is.

Conclusion

You might be a great fashion designer who has designed one of the most creative designs and all yours.

But unless you learn about the whats and hows of fashion illustration branding, you are missing out on a big chunk of customers who may love your art but could not get their hands on it because of poor branding and marketing.

To make your fashion brand successful, you have to be creative with your designs and know your craft very well but along with that you must be a savvy marketer who knows how to research and stay ahead of their competitors’ marketing game.

Branding is an essential aspect of establishing your identity, capturing prospects, and building a sustainable career in the fashion industry.

By defining yourself and your unique fashion brand telling compelling stories that relate to your audience, and maintaining consistency across your social platforms, you can create a memorable brand that your audience is going to relate with

Effective branding is not just about creating stunning illustrations; it’s more about building meaningful connections within the industry and captivating your audience’s attention with your art.

About the Author!

Raquel Addams is a digital marketer, a seasoned blogger, and a graphic design lover. She has written articles like The Impact of AI in Logo Design, and many more for different blogs. Connect with her to explore the latest trends, issues, and discussions on the world of brands, nifty tools, and technologies.