I'm Margaret Ryland.
I can help your business grow through brand & logo design, book design, and other fun things.
Designing a brand for your business is a continual process.
But when you start with a good foundation, it makes everything else easier. I work collaboratively to help build this foundation for your brand. We dive into your brand goals & mission, your industry landscape, and more; explore visual means of communicating these; and design a brand identity that reflects the essence of your brand.
What is a brand?
This is a whimsical analogy, but a brand is like a personality for your business. It helps your customers or clients connect with your business on a more human level.
What is branding?
Branding is the process of determining and cultivating a culture that permeates your business. And designing visual assets that communicate this to your customers.
So how does this all work?
Here’s what you can expect when you work with me to design your fabulous brand identity.
1
Discover & Strategize
Beginning with a live workshop, we’re going to build a strong foundation for your brand. Following this I’ll be taking what we uncovered in the workshop, and using it to create a plan for your brand. The result will be a “Brand Map”, which we will use to guide the decisions we make in designing your identity.
In addition, this document will be a companion beyond your launch, as it contains the goals and essence of your brand to guide you as it continues to grow.
2
Design & Refine
Once we’ve established where you’re brand is going, we will move to concepting, exploration, and developing a visual proposal for your new brand identity.
I work iteratively, so instead of presenting multiple complete concepts, we’ll have discussed a design direction in Stage 1, and will now develop one cohesive brand identity, including a responsive logo system, brand fonts, colors, and more.
3
Launch & Celebrate
The final stage is when I prepare the files for hand off and equip you with information to implement the new brand we’ve developed!
This includes a Brand Bible—which is a combination of your Brand Map, for internal alignment and company culture; and traditional Brand Guidelines, where we’ll pass on the visual torch to your in-house design team!
Then, cue the champagne, and let's celebrate!
Welcome. My name is Margaret Ryland.
With a small team of specialists, I help companies create human brands. I am passionate about creating a new economy that reimagines the local communities of yesterday into human-centered brands that unite people through commerce in today's digitally-driven society.
I began my design career in the publishing world as a book designer. After four years, I took a sabbatical, moved my entire life to Italy, and spent a year studying the foundations of design, art history, and branding in a design school in the heart of Florence.
With a renewed passion for design, I set up my studio to help businesses clarify their mission, gain internal alignment, and visually communicate this to their customers.
In particular, I believe in the power of product-based brands and the Godlike power entrepreneurs have to create “something out of nothing” when we bring something to market!
