Are you eager to start your business? Are you looking to give a fresh boost to your studio? Do you admire the identity of well-established yoga studios? Then, it's the opportune moment to take a step back and work on your studio's identity.
In this article, you will find all the steps to follow in order to create a strong brand. Are you ready to show your true personality to the world of yoga?
First Step: Define your studio's personality and objectives
Even before diving into creation, it's imperative to take a step back and clearly determine what ties you to yoga and makes you unique. Start by revisiting the origins of your passion. Why did you launch your business? What does yoga mean to you? Choosing to make a living from your passion is an important step often motivated by big ideas that it's good to remember and integrate into your identity. Then, refocus on the present and ask yourself: What does my studio have that other studios don't? What feeling do you want to evoke in your members? What problem do you solve with your activity?
Finally, the last step in this introspection is to project yourself into the future and visualize your destination. What aspect of the sector do you want to improve through your activity? In what way do you want to be recognized?
The answers you gather will allow you to define your studio's personality and the essence of your business. Try to summarize your studio's mindset in three adjectives. From this reflection, clear objectives will emerge that will help you identify your target audience.
Second Step: Find inspiration
After taking this step back, you've already outlined the initial contours of your brand. Now, it's time to take a new step: translating it visually. We recommend creating a mood board that corresponds to your future visual identity. Its composition consists of two steps: searching and organizing.
For research, the ideal tool is Pinterest because it allows you to discover, save, and share images, ideas, and inspirations on a variety of subjects. Create an account and compose a private board dedicated to your project. Immerse yourself in the flow of images and save the content that appeals to you the most. In the search bar, enter keywords, including the adjectives you identified earlier. The goal is to gather a variety of elements: colors, textures, shapes, fonts, photos, quotes. Once you've gone through the site, close your computer, take a break, and come back later to synthesize and organize these inspirations. For organization, create a new document on platforms like Canva. Place all the images that seem most significant to you and organize them by categories and in order of importance: main inspirations larger than secondary ones. This document, summarizing your major inspirations, will guide you for the next steps of creation.
Third Step: Create key elements of your brand
The visual identity of a brand resides in several essential elements. The first choice is the color palette, usually composed of three shades: a primary one and two secondary ones. There are free online resources like Coolors.co to make this task easier. These sites offer existing color palettes or allow you to create one from an image.
The second choice to make is your typography. Usually, brands choose two fonts: one for headlines and one for body text. Our tip is to start by choosing a font that's easily available in common software to avoid installation hassles. Once you've decided on the main font, sites like Fontjoy.com simplify the search for a complementary font.
The third step is to shape a slogan. Use the adjectives you previously identified and the quotes you found on Pinterest to create a short and impactful sentence that makes you unique.
With these elements in hand, you're ready to design your logo. If hiring a graphic designer isn't feasible from the start, don't worry. Solutions like Tailor Brands can automatically generate a logo, serving as inspiration for creating your own version on platforms like Canva. Also, anticipate mobile usage by designing a responsive logo suitable for small screen sizes.
Fourth Step: Centralize all elements in a single document
To simplify your future actions and enable your collaborators to fully embrace your identity, consider creating a Brand Book. This document will centralize your visual choices and the tone defined for your brand. You can divide it into three categories:
The "About" section: Summarize the very essence of your brand in a few pages by outlining your intentions and personality. Specify your goals, values, and target audience.
The visual guide: Gather all previously developed visual elements here, such as the logo, colors, slogan, fonts, images to use, as well as other shapes and selected textures. For better understanding, consider creating "Do's" and "Don'ts" categories.
The communication guide: This section includes your writing guidelines, including the tone of your brand, how to address your audience, the format of social media posts, email signatures, and even the use of abbreviations and punctuation.
By unifying these aspects within this document, you'll establish a coherent brand identity and gain clarity in creating your communication materials.
Final Step: Share your content
Once you've worked through all the steps of creating and developing your yoga brand, you can address your audience. This crucial step involves defining how you'll communicate with your audience and which media channels will be at the heart of this process. Start by determining which media you'll use to spread your message. These channels will serve as gateways to connect with your audience.
In the realm of yoga, there are a few essential media:
Website: Your website will be your online showcase. It should be professionally designed, reflecting the visual identity of your business, and providing clear information about your class offerings, your yoga philosophy, and the benefits you bring to your students. A well-structured and easy-to-navigate site will allow visitors to quickly find what they need.
App: An app offers a more convenient experience for your students, allowing them to access your content from their mobile devices. Ensure that the app is intuitive and offers useful features for your audience.
Instagram: Instagram is a visual and inspiring social media platform, perfect for sharing images and videos of your classes, meditation sessions, well-being tips, and inspirational quotes. Use relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts and encourage interaction with your audience by responding to comments and sharing authentic stories.
It's important not to spread yourself too thin across too many media channels. Focus on the platforms that best align with your target audience and your message. Consistent communication across your chosen media will strengthen your brand recognition and increase your credibility in the yoga sector.
In conclusion, forging a strong brand for your yoga studio is essential for standing out. Following these steps will help you create a consistent and memorable identity that reflects your values and passion. From defining your studio's personality to creating key elements like colors, fonts, and the logo, each step contributes to a strong identity. Centralizing these elements in a Brand Book ensures consistency and understanding, while sharing content through appropriate media strengthens your presence with your audience.
