My Very First Thoughts on Building a Brand

The start of my model for cultural brand strategy. Building a niche, self-sustaining ecosystem rooted in specialized craftsmanship.

The brand model I’m building is a niche, self-sustaining ecosystem rooted in specialized craftsmanship (more here).

It’s supported by the premise of a lifestyle brand = 1) strong conceptual universe, 2) sense of community, 3) physical artifacts and 4) a digital presence. The point of even building this has always been to use Ash Nelson Things as a studio for brand strategy and beyond.

I’m defining branding as a means of creating distinction in a marketplace through heritage and origins. It leans a lot on the luxury model (defined here), with the understanding that “heritage” is slow-baked. Pulled from various resources, my goal is to re-examine the principles of building a brand with special consideration for cultural impact and design.

The intent is independent, smaller scale brands with genuine cultural impact. A real community that reinforces meaning and values.

To start, the model requires a brand. “Defining Brand Identity” by Alina Wheeler is the most thorough resource I’ve found on the subject. The book details steps for designing a brand from scratch.

This series is a set of work diaries taken as I leverage my theory.