Chronically Strong Brand Development

Shawn Bethea brings a lot of light to whatever she touches. As a chronic disease advocate and lifestyle + travel blogger, she covers a range of topics that at first glance, may seem unrelated. For Shawn, it’s imperative to be effective by developing a clearly defined identity, so she can learn pull that out of all of her messages, and connect the dots for a strong and cohesive identity.

Shawn’s platform is adaptly named ‘Chronically Strong’, and when you meet her, you understand how true this is. Taking this digitally, to build up her brand identity with strong traits and tactics is what cultivates powerful impression and fast audience connection, and avoids falling generically flat. It’s Shawn’s blend of personality, openness, and wisdom that draws audiences in to quickly connect with her brand and flavor, and find growth and impact from content.

She had been working to build her online presence for about a year, when we connected to really focus in on her brand identity and refresh her logo. Our goal was to hone in on a strong brand identity that still allowed her to capture her variety of subject matter. We reviewed her current materials, while also wrapping in the impression she emits in real life. We listed her traits, values, messages, and goals, and then identified common themes that clearly surfaced. Wrapping this up into a strong and specific brand statement has given Shawn an improved confidence in her brand, as well concise, specific identity to reflect in her reach.

For Shawn’s visual identity, I evolved her existing logo design, which was simply typed out words. We preserved her overall look and feel in a more thoughtful design, most critically reflecting the subtle, inner strength that she offers in an approachable script font. Shawn’s logo gives her consistency and flexibility by working in a single color, multiple brand colors, and multiple placements.

I developed these into a clean, usable Brand Guidelines document, so that she has a toolbox of elements to pull from that are appropriate for her size and platforms, and allow her to strengthen her brand with every touchpoint. Because Shawn was previously unfamiliar with this tool, developing a final solution that makes sense, and can be used outside of a professional designer environment was a priority that, according to Shawn, ultimately met the goals.

Role: Brand Strategy and Graphic Design
Client: Chronically Strong
Impact: Shawn had overwhelmingly positive feedback and excitement about going through this process, and the finished guidelines.

Project Notes: View the associated Branding: More than a Logo presentation, in which this was used as the example.