Branding for artists
Summary
Branding is important for artists, but should be approached differently than branding for businesses and companies. My top tips are 1) to keep the visual branding (usually associated with logos and style guides) very simple so the artwork becomes the brand; 2) organize your work and analyze it over time (on your own and with trusted friends) to identify patterns and themes in your work; and prioritize 1 or 2 works or projects to focus on when you talk about your work including on your website and other channels.
Why should artists care about branding?
Artist brands are different than other brands. This took me years to realize and internalize. When you think of a “brand”, you think logo, colors, fonts, sales, and marketing gimmicks, right? Yes, and these things are typically associated with consumer and business brands like Coca-Cola, Disney, Nestle, even corporate brands like Microsoft, Deloitte, Oracle or even banks and financial institutions, but this type of branding does not feel appropriate for artists, amiright? But artists often need to market their own work even if you don’t call it marketing. Applying for grants, posting your work online, and exhibiting your work all involves marketing yourself and your work - whether you like it or not. How can artists benefit from branding techniques without “selling out” or feeling slimy sales-y? Branding is about intentionality, values, and communication. I wrote this article to help artists think about branding differently to communicate their ideas and artwork more effectively and professionally.
For over 15 years, I’ve worked in digital marketing and advertising, AND I’m a multidiscplinary, often conceptual artist. I know how powerful and helpful branding can be, but for years I couldn’t quite stomach it for my own artist “brand” because it felt forced and unauthentic. I don’t want to “sell” myself to people, I just want to be me! And shouldn’t my artwork speak for itself? My short answer is yes and no. You want to be authentic and your artwork to stand on its own, but you do need to use words and visual organization (at the very least) to help people that don’t know you and your work to better understand you and your work.
A brand is much more than a logo and colors. Actually, a brand is much deeper than a logo or colors. Having a strong brand is about authenticity and intention, especially in today’s world of bountiful AI crap. People crave authenticity, connection, and creativity - all things many artists do naturally. Creating your brand is all about identifying your own values and ideas, and communicating them effectively to others. And I would add (and this sounds sales-y, but I promise it will be so useful for your life), define your goals so that you can use these tips to help elevate you to the next level in your art career.
What do I mean by use your goals to elevate you in your art career? Example: if you are a performance artist using experimental technology who LOVES Pioneer Works in Brooklyn and dreams of doing a performance at that venue, that’s part of your brand. Work towards that goal and your brand will naturally lean towards Pioneer Works brand hopefully while still being authentically you and get you closer to your goal of performing there.
Here are my branding tips for artists to consider while sharing their artwork with the world…
Branding for artists is more about language than visuals
I’ve talked to a number of artists who agonize over the visual aesthetic of their “brand” including website colors, fonts, etc. I get it - you’re an artist, you want your website and other printed materials to look professional and creative. While this stuff can be fun and does look awesome when it’s done right, it’s extra and usually unnecessary. Sometimes it can actually detract from the art itself because it’s a unique skill on its own - artists are not designers. I don’t think artists should stress about visual brand and design. Especially for visual artists, the work really should be the majority of your visual brand. Mostly, artists should keep their visual brand to a minimum and focus more on their artist statement and artwork prioritization and organization. Let the artwork be your brand.
Tips for artists:
Pick a simple, easy-to-read font for your “logo”, use your name, or name with studio or art (i.e. Tamir Sanchez Studio, or Sasha Nhlopo Art), and stick to that font in black for most of your marketing needs. If you have a different name for your studio or art business, that’s fine too, just make sure people know that it’s your art or your business so make sure your name is included somewhere.
Keep colors and fonts simple. I see a lot of artists try to use fun or unique colors and fonts only to make their website hard to read and confusing. There’s a reason so many professional artists use a white background and simple black font for their website - it ensures the focus is on the imagery of the artwork and that design elements don’t distract from the artwork.
Write a solid artist statement. Have a short version and a long version. Use the short version almost everywhere including your website homepage, and post the long version to your About page on your website. I recommend this blog post from NYFA called Artist Statement Do’s and Don’ts for tips on writing a good artist statement.
Organize your artwork so you can see your growth and patterns over time
Organizing documentation of your artwork is especially important for multidisciplinary artists or artists that do a lot of different things that don’t seem connected at first [author raises hand ✋]. When I was a young, emerging artist in my 20s, I thought I was a failure as an artist because I could not create one cohesive “body of work” to save my life. I liked to jump around between different media and eventually getting interested in whole different industries that are generally not associated with art but, in fact, have rich artist collaborations and ideas (i.e. marketing, technology, data, etc). It took me years and a handful of artist friends to see that my work DID have a style of its own, and themes emerged. I was taught in art school that I needed a “body of work” in order to be “marketable” to a commercial gallery and so I thought that’s what I needed to do - I should make a series of paintings that all sort of look the same. I cringe thinking about it now - I was so naive!Of course, now I realize that I had a very narrow idea of what a “body of work” could be or even what an artist is, and I quickly realized I don’t want to be associated with commercial galleries at all! The following activities can really help artists to understand their brand (i.e. values and themes) without changing anything or worrying about creating new visual cues.
Tips for artists:
Document your work. I know this seems obvious, but it’s important so I’m stating it plainly anyway. You need a record of your work, even if it’s a quick project, even if you think it’s shitty, even if you don’t intend or want to exhibit it. Keep it for yourself. Even if you don’t keep the actual artwork, have some record of it. Usually this will be photographs or video, it can also be sounds, writing, or other documentation of a work. Keep documentation of your artwork all in one place - in a folder on your computer, in a folder in your Google Drive, in a folder on a thumb drive. Keep it together and keep it safe. You don’t need professional photos. That’s ideal and preferred, of course, but photos and videos with your phone will do just fine if that’s what you can do. Just document it in some way so you have a record of it.
Organize your work in a meaningful way for you. This will vary drastically from artist to artist. For my own work, I organize my work into “projects” primarily and media sometimes. I have long-term projects with a loose theme that connect a lot of disparate work. I gave the project a name and associate artwork with that project if it makes sense, even if I don’t make the artwork for that specific project in the beginning.
Ask an artist friend to talk about your work. It can be SO helpful to talk out loud about your work with someone that you trust and who knows you and your artwork. If you can record it (and maybe transcribe it - using AI or not), this will help you see how others see your work. This is your brand - this is how your work is seen in the world. It can either help you see a through-line among different artworks, OR it can help you see where you need to clarify the intentions or messages of your artwork
Record yourself talking about your work. I did this with an artist friend a couple years ago, and it was so helpful! Ask an artist friend to record you talking about your work to them, use your phone, or use Zoom if you can. It will help to use Zoom so you can transcribe your words to text and read it instead of watching yourself talk about it. Sure, you can record yourself doing this on your own, but it helps to actually talk to a friend while you’re talking about your work so it’s more conversational and natural and you won’t get as self-conscious. They will also ask you questions and dive deeper into certain areas that can also lead to new revalations for you about your own work.
AI tip: Take the transcription of you talking about yor work, and feed it to ChatGPT to summarize it for you. This could be very helpful when writing your artist statement. Don’t copy and paste directly from ChatGPT, but use it as a starting point.
Prioritize the artwork you want to share according to your goals
Most people don’t have the time (or desire) to explore or discuss all the artwork you’ve ever made. YOU the artist need to edit and prioritize it for people. This is often called an elevator pitch. And guess what? The elevator pitch is your brand. The best thing you can do for yourself and for others so that you can quickly and comfortably talk about your own work is to prioritize one or two artworks or projects. So when someone asks you “What do you do?”, instead of freezing, you can quickly summarize your complex self and artwork by saying who you are “I’m a multidisciplinary artist focusing on performance and dance at the moment” and give an example that you choose as your featured, prioritized work “I recently worked with a choreographer on a performance art piece criticizing digital surveillance through a feminist lens.” Most people will say “oh” and change the subject (sorry, but you know it’s true for most of us haha!), but the people that align with your values (your brand) will be interested and ask you more questions.
The most important part about prioritizing your artwork and defining your brand is knowing that it will change. People’s priorities change. Artists’ priorities and work definitely change. So when you’re elevator pitch doesn’t sound right to you anymore or you want to promote a new thing you’re doing that you’re really excited about, then you change your priorities and your elevator pitch. Then maybe it sounds like, “I’m a multidisciplinary artist focusing on drawing and the body. I’m currently learning about the Alexander Technique and researching artists who draw using the body in unexpected ways.” And in a few months, it may change again. That’s okay, that’s great actually - you should be evolving as an artist. Branding for artists is more about knowing yourself and what you prioritize so that you can communicate that to others and grow in your art career (whatever that looks like for you).
How to do this:
Look at your work over time and see if you can identify patterns or consistent elements like media, themes, process, etc. Write these down.
Think about your main goal(s) for the next year. How can you use your current work to get you to your next goal?
Pick 1 or 2 priority projects or artworks that you want to feature. Which of your works best aligns with that goal you just made? These are the works that you talk about when you get a generic question about your work. These are also the works you feature on your digital channels like your website and social media.
Focus on your priority projects. Add more detail about your priority projects on your website and channels. Detail photos, installation shots, add a long description of the piece and why you made it, make a video about the process behind it or the concept behind it, why it’s important, how it relates to your future work or other artists’ work. Make a point to talk about these projects with your friends and practice your 3 sentence elevator pitch (or 4 or 5 sentences, it doesn’t matter, it just needs to be quick).
That’s it for now. I hope this was helpful. If you need help making goals and prioritizing work, download my free artist website guide which uses prompts to help you prioritize goals and communicate them effectively using your website. If you need more personalized help with artist branding or your website, you can always schedule a one-on-one session with me.
Keep making and sharing your work with the world!