I am so happy for my good friend Kat Williams because after many long months of hard work, the brand new design of her wedding blog Rock n Roll Bride has launched!
This has been a huge labor of love and part of a string of projects we’ve been working on for two years now. Kat and I met through a mutual friend in 2010 and perhaps the most ironic part of our design relationship when we began working together is that I was completely clueless about weddings. COMPLETELY. At the time, I’d never bought a wedding magazine or read a wedding blog. Looking back, in a way being an outsider turned out to be a benefit because I wasn’t weighed down with expectations of how her brand should look.
Creating A Brand You Believe In Doesn’t Happen Overnight
When Kat approached me needing a rebrand for her business in 2010, the typical wedding finery didn’t particularly link up with what I had in mind for her. I thought she was much too badass with her pink hair, attitude and all to go down that road — and with a name like Rock n Roll Bride, I was way more inspired by one of the original sources for rock and roll news, Rolling Stone. My gut was to embody the the timeless, rock and roll vibe that they had but with a purposely feminine twist.
Differentiation is Key
When creating a brand, while it’s important to do market research and see what’s out there, don’t be afraid to add that unique twist and think outside of the box. Instead of thinking about what makes you the same as your competition, ask yourself what makes you different. Early on, it might seem safe to do what your competition is doing when it comes to your branding in the hopes that you can ride on their coattails and get some of that recognition too but then you’ll just be second best. Remember that if a bunch of brands are put into a lineup, the one people will usually remember is the one that’s different from the rest. With Kat, the differentiation we created with her identity by doing less wedding and more rock and roll is what makes her stand out.
After the identity, we did new headers for her blog, a media kit for advertisers and then, we went a step further designing a 40 page print magazine for her to take to a wedding fair (1,000 copies flew out the door). All that was a great platform for where she saw her brand going but looking back, I didn’t think it was polished enough yet. After all, the wedding industry has high standards and deep pockets — there’s no denying that a tight, polished image plays a huge role in staying competitive.
Rock n Roll Bride Magazine Issue #2, 2012
Momentum really built in early 2012 — I met Kat for the first time in February with a proof for her fully redesigned 80 page magazine inspired by Elle, W, O and Martha Stewart Weddings. I’d dug deep into my favorite fashion magazines (and finally a few wedding ones too!) and this was the turning point for her having a more refined image. Remember, her blog had been going strong for many years by this point. This branding evolution takes time!
Digital Media Kit #2, 2012
Kat is relentless and I admire that about her. Once her print magazine was done and the site comps were delivered, she wanted me to redo her media kit to match the more grown-up, editorial feel of the mag. We finished that in the Fall. Finally, things had come full circle.
The Final Piece of the Puzzle: The Site Redesign
Rocknrollbride.com, 2013
Kat’s website launch is the final piece of her brand revamp we’d been slowly chipping away at. We finally finished the site comps over the summer and in the the next few months, the deceptively simple looking design came to life. Kat’s husband Gareth does all the development (he’s my hero) and I know how hard he worked to make many of these features come to life. Even when I was building the layouts, there were many times where I said, “Are you SURE you want me to do this? I’ve never seen it done before!”
One of the features I’m most excited about is the header area. When you visit Kat’s site, it’s all white with just her logo (see above). But, if you click into a wedding feature, the logo shifts upwards and the space reloads with an image of the bride. In this way, every featured bride becomes a cover girl! I also like the use of the drop caps (something we used throughout the print magazine).
At the end of each wedding post is the Supporting Cast, also styled very similar to the magazine. I like that all of the resources are consistently called out in one spot. I’m sure this is a huge time saver for brides-to-be.
Another interesting point is that Kat skipped over the usual sidebar fare. In an effort to make the site less about her and more focused on the weddings, she’s saved much of her personal content for an extended footer at the bottom, freeing up much of the sidebar for valuable advertising space. It’s an uncommon move but because her brand is so recognizable in the wedding blog niche, she’s able to take some chances.
In Closing
I’ve shared much of this in an effort to remind you that brands take time to build; nothing will be perfect overnight. Take time to let yourself evolve and invest in pieces of your collateral when you can. And, while it’s good to plan, that one project that comes out of left field may actually shape the way things go. At the time, we didn’t know that Kat’s print magazine would end up driving the way her blog and media kit looked. She was already established online but it took that fresh look at the offline to realize this was the way to go.
Kat has a successful brand now but it took years to build, piece by piece. This is often the reality. And that’s okay. Don’t wait for the perfect everything, perfection is a myth when it comes to branding. Instead, think of it as an ecosystem of interconnected pieces. It should shift, change and grow with you.
and 
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