Cooking Up Your Perfect Brand
While I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of books, art, and culture, cooking is the area where I let myself get creatively lazy. That is to say, when I’m short an ingredient, my handy-dandy shoulder angel Tim Gunn tells me “Make it work,” so I pull an adequate substitution from my pantry or fridge.
Usually, it works out just fine (and my husband is none the wiser). But several years ago, I made the grave mistake of adding the wrong pepper variety to a batch of chili. Instead of a cubanelle pepper, I had a serrano pepper.
It’s green and it’s still a pepper...it will be fine.
Fine, it was not. My stomach could not have been more outraged at my mistake. I have since educated myself on peppers (among other vegetables) and will never again substitute a serrano (five times hotter than the jalapeño) for a sweet pepper.
Since that experience, I’ve continued to discover ingredients I can compromise on, and those I can’t. Out of a spice? Quick run to Kroger. Specialty cheese? Hello, Publix. Bougie foreign ingredient? World Market here I come. I may be spending more on a particular add-in to make sure I get it right, but my meals are all the better for it.
So, what if you’re cooking up a brand?
At ColorWord, we understand that sometimes you have to make compromises—especially when you’re just starting out. But just like that serrano pepper, there are some things that simply can’t be substituted: Don’t skimp on ingredients when it comes to your brand.
“Great marketing isn’t cheap or expensive; it’s effective or not.” —unknown
Your brand is not a transactional purchase; it’s an investment. Nothing breaks our heart more than seeing potentially great brands fail due to poor marketing and advertising—there’s no substitute for experience. Instead of spending your precious time and money on another membership, master class, template site, or cousin’s-undergrad-designer-nephew who wants to design your logo, invest in building a brand you’re proud of.
The cheap, fast, free fixes will leave your brand half-baked, and nobody wants that.
If you're looking for an experienced design partner who is committed to your success, you're ready for ColorWord Creative. We’re ready to tell your unique story, using only ingredients of the highest quality, resulting in a brand recipe with flavor that will last for years to come.
—Emily Kinney, Creative Director
