By Beth Kennell
Why do I care about branding?
Just for some context, I come from a very creative background with a passion for all things design. I’ve studied it all, from fine art to graphic design and graduated in 2020 with a degree in Interior Architecture. However, the trials and tribulations of that unforgettable year meant that the industry I was looking at, was certainly not looking at me. Investing in graduates and new hires was a decision a lot of businesses couldn’t afford to do anymore, and the majority already had to cut back on an experienced pool of people.
I joined Peas in a Pod in May of 2021, having never in my life pictured myself working in HR, but ready to work my socks off. I instantly saw my place in this company, and a huge gap of potential design work to utilise my trained skills on, and Rebecca and Kay were all for it. This started by just adding some colour into some spreadsheets, and changing the standard fonts from ‘Arial’ to ‘Helvetica’ – radical I know. I eventually took over their social media completely, once I convinced them to let me play with the full creative Adobe Suite, and I really love that I get to blend some of the more ‘boring’ or admin-heavy paperwork with periods of creativity.
Now, why should you care?
My impact on this company has certainly been a thing of beauty, or so to speak. Whilst my head has always been focused on my main responsibilities, with legal paperwork, contracts and policy drafting, if I could re-format certain parts, utilise spacing and text in appropriate ways and import our client’s logos and brand colours in to these documents, it shows a keen eye for detail and the readability soares.
Progressing with my role, I found myself taking on new challenges. I was making a name for myself as an administrator who knows her way around Photoshop, and found myself being approached or put forward for some exciting and creative pieces of work.
Marketing & Graphic Design
It all started with creating Strategic Plans and Performance Frameworks for our clients, which evolved into detailed infographics, B2B Proposals and even Logos for some new local start-ups.
I learnt quickly that marketing and graphic design is just something that small businesses just can’t afford to invest in, or don’t see worth in the expense. However, no matter the product or service your company sells, first impressions always matter. Let me put it to you like this – If I were to have two documents in front of me that were word-for-word exactly the same, though one was beautifully branded, has a clear readable layout and even diagrams that communicate certain points, you know which one you would be more attracted to, pay more attention to and remember.
How can I help?
Now I can confidently look back at the work I have produced in the past year, knowing how much of a difference it has made to not only the Peas, who have rooted me on forever, but for our clients who didn’t necessarily see the potential of their own branding before. I learnt that whilst business owners want to have something that looks attractive, they wouldn’t know where to start, and that’s where I have come in, in this role, as a kind of middle-woman.
If you think you need to hire a Senior Graphic lead or an outsourced Marketing Team to communicate your visual branding desires, think again. There’s more to me than being awesome at Office Support Coordination (although I do love keeping the Peas in order – anyone else love keeping things organised??) I have the skills to bring your business to life and inject a bit of creative flair into your organisation.
Whether you need a new Letterhead document or want me to reformat your webinar presentations, there’s plenty of things to think about. Next time you think about style & branding, think about me and how I can help you.
You can contact me through beth@peasinapodconsulting.org.uk.
Thanks for reading!
By Beth Kennell