Branding Strategy and Design As a Curatorial Practice
Almost ten years ago, I was preparing to walk across the graduation floor for a second time, this time with a master's degree in Art History and Museum Curating. I'd spent a year working with museums, galleries, and heritage sites alongside my studies, building interactive exhibitions and advising on curatorial projects, and would continue to do so until leaving Sussex for London. There, I worked as a designer until I started collaborating with local businesses around Kensington and Stoke Newington, and realised how much I loved working with clients 1:1. It wasn't long before I left to start my own design studio, and it all grew from there.
I've since worked with over 100 clients on bespoke projects, and started our Template Library, selling 1000+ templates to small business owners around the world. And along the way, I thought I had left the world of curating behind.
I recently came to realize that wasn't actually true. Curation is still a big part of my work. I'd even go so far as to say that branding can be a curatorial practice.
A curator designing an exhibition doesn't simply choose attractive pieces and set them side-by-side. They consider the context around each piece, as well as the sequencing, labelling, journey, and experience of walking through the exhibition as a visitor.
Similarly, a designer looks at the brand's context, audience, emotional landscape, and narrative, before designing visuals around all these elements. It's less about asking "how does this look?" and more about "what experience do I want the audience to have, and how I can guide them through it?" Which is a much more interesting and useful question.
A Client Case Study
When working on branding strategy with a recent client, we asked the question: "How do you introduce yourself to someone who has never heard of you? What do you leave with?"
Her answer: "I'm a photographer. I specialize in wedding photography, and I do most of my work on film."
It's an accurate and informational answer, but it isn't particularly confident, nor does it give someone a real reason to connect with them or feel the deeper meaning behind this photographer's work. It doesn't tell us anything about this particular person, or answer why someone should choose her over any other to capture their celebration.
During our brand strategy sessions, we worked with her to find her purpose and story, and found so many layers of experience to draw out through the brand. We discovered that she had a background in pre-med science, trained to follow formula and chronology, and while she later moved into photography, her work began with rigorous training that taught her to chase the 'perfect' photographs. Over the course of her work, she found a freer approach to her art form, and indeed, her favorite memories (both in her personal and professional life), are centred on freedom. Outdoors, among people who aren't performing, picking wild blueberries, arranging ceremonies in fields, cooking meals together over a fire.
The artist trained to follow formula only to find meaning in freedom without performance gave us a compelling foundation for the brand's story. Their work is artist-led, skilfully made, yet warm blooded. It's minimal but not cold, and most itself when feelings of intimacy, belonging and presence shine through in the imagery: dogs beneath tables, wildflowers gathered by hand, candlelit barns, nervous smiles before the ceremony, a grandmother seated for dinner. She trained to understand people through bodies and biology, then through film and the camera, creating work that is attentive as she witnesses and celebrates love.
There is plenty more that we could say about this project, as it’s been a real joy to work on. But for now, I want to share a little more of what the process behind our work looks like, so it can feel a little less abstract:
I. Strategy
The first step in my process is always brand strategy. This is where we explore the brand's market, niche, values, audiences, archetypes, and narratives, as well as its purpose and its 'why.' How a brand looks is important, but I also want to define its unique point of view. This means exploring beyond what the business offers, defining the parts of the brand that have deeper meaning, and pinpointing how to make audiences feel why the brand's purpose and point of view matters.
II. Interpretation
When we have the brand's strategy and narrative, we decide how it should be interpreted. This includes aspects like the brand colors, typography, imagery style, voice, thought leadership, and audience journey. When people think of branding, logos are typically the first thing that pops into mind, but branding is actually about creating an experience that encompasses design, storytelling, the digital and in-person aspects of the brand and how they are also used to communicate the things that we uncover during brand strategy.
III. Experience
Which ties us into experience. How does it feel to encounter the brand? We often refer to this as brand world building: creating not only a beautiful visual, but a 'world' that audiences can step into and be a part of. In a museum exhibit, audiences don't just experience individual objects. They encounter them within a space, where the sights, tactility, scents, sounds, and route through the space are chosen by the curator. Brands function in a similar way: whether it’s a website, social media account, or physical location, it should feel like the audience is stepping into the branding and becoming part of it.
IV. Responsibility
Museum studies teaches a sense of responsibility when it comes to interpretation. You need to consider who you're speaking to, the context that they need to understand the experience, and the things that might make an exhibition difficult to access. These questions influence the way I approach accessibility, sustainability, and ethics in branding, and in fact, I think that all business owners have a responsibility to be inclusive and ethical. This is baked into my process.
Hi, I’m Hannah Shaw. I’m a brand designer and strategist at Studio Founded, a full-service creative studio creating brand worlds that invite dialogue and desire. If you’d like to discuss building your brand together, you can reach out to me here.
