(Body) Building Your Brand
During my time in college I became really fascinated with bodybuilding, but from an outside perspective it seemed nuts! Women and men pushing themselves to their limits; bathing in self-tanner; and eating so much it would indigestible by anyone else. All for the cause of being the beefiest of the beefy!
As a 5’ 6”, small-framed female this seemed almost larger than life to me; but when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped on the crazy train.As a recent graduate and new member of Tag’s creative team, I have found myself trying to manage a new-found adult life, as well as trying to fully grasp what I’ve gotten myself into, but nonetheless I’m committed!
In my training, I’ve drawn a lot of parallels between bodybuilding and branding.
When you’re training, you figure out what works and doesn’t work for your body.
You change and modify the way you workout to accommodate what works for you. The same can be said for building strong brand visuals. When something isn’t
working, you don’t give up; you adapt to find the perfect look for your brand.
It’s important to remember that anything worth achieving comes with challenges.
The dreaded plateau is a common fear in both branding and bodybuilding. I have yet to experience the plateau, but anyone who has been building for awhile experiences this at some point in their career. What is a plateau in building? Bodybuilding.com best describes it as, “a stop in progress whether it is muscle gain, strength increases or just overall performance.” As anyone can imagine it’s incredibly frustrating and stressful. The feeling of working so hard at something and basically getting nowhere. Sound familiar?
To designers, it should be. Creative “plateau” or trying to figure out what that little
last push is to take a design to the next level, can be difficult. The biggest thing to remember is not giving up! (Cliche but true!) Taking a step back from your work
(or workout) can be extremely beneficial. It prevents overworking your muscles
and your mind. Approaching the problem from a different angle is what I have found works best as an athlete and an artist. Instead of staring at the same layout for hours or squatting the same 100lbs for weeks on end, I look for alternative answers.
“What if I work on thigh strength, so I can increase my squat weight?” “What if I go back to my moodboards and try something I wanted to, but didn’t?” It may take some time, but it is completely possible.
That extra push, those extra hours and all that drive will lead you to stand out in the competition. Throwing in the towel and just settling with what you’ve created midway is not how legends are made. People like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Milton Glaser are prime examples of perseverance and the greatness that can be achieved.
(Never thought you’d see those two in a sentence together did you?)
I may not be the beefiest of the beefy just yet, BUT I have no intention of giving up any time soon and neither should you. I highly recommend pushing yourself to the limit and being the best version of you (and your brand) as possible!
Now please enjoy this gif of our buddy Arnold doing what he does best!
“This is a caption and a pull quote maybe?”
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