How to brand yourself as an artist people will remember

BE MEMORABLE

I preach about making a brand for yourself a lot because I think it’s so important for kicking off your career. But many artists question how useful it is or ask how you even go about “branding” yourself. (Hint: no hot metal is required for this one.) Every company has a brand, and if you want  to elevate your own business, essentially you have to create your own theme, mood, style, and brand.

The purpose is that you want people to be able to recognize your work immediately when they see it (assuming they’ve seen it before). You want people to know exactly what style to expect when they buy a commission or ask you to design something for them. You want your portfolio to look cohesive, like you actually have your shit together for once.

A cohesive “look” is key here. Think about each artist you obsess over on social media. What does their profile look like? An artist that comes to mind for me is Marena Skinner. Everything she makes is drawn digitally, with the type of squiggly detail that makes you squirm. She uses skin-tone and warm colors to illustrate flat-looking dogs, portraits, knives, and other upset looking characters. Her subject matter is usually sad and focuses on mental health issues such as anxiety or depression. She’s vulnerable and relatable. I absolutely love her work.

And I would recognize it anywhere.

I could name a dozen artists that I fell in love with like this after just the first time I saw their art. I immediately followed these artists and I keep up with them as they create new work. The others? Unmemorable. And I see hundreds of artists each week.

You can be a memorable artist with a cohesive style by developing your brand. There are a few things to focus on creatively when honing in on what you want your brand to be. Note: in this post we’ll be discussing the cohesiveness of your artwork itself. Of course social media is tied in, but if you’re happy with your style and want more on how to make your social media accounts look better, know that I’ll be writing a post on this soon, so stay tuned. Otherwise, let’s get started.

COLORS

This is the easiest way to make an impact on your look: limit your color use. It’s the first thing I did when building my brand. I use exclusively cool tones. And people notice. I know because my friends and family told me when I made the switch, and people continue to remark about the color scheme at fests and gigs. Listen to your audience when making changes in your style. They’ll tell you what they like and what they don’t.

However, remember that you can’t make everyone happy and that it’s YOUR art. Plus, if you’re early enough in the game, you probably don’t have a lot of followers yet and there are less potential people who may be disappointed in your changes. That’s a good thing. So if you’re looking for a quick style move, pick a color scheme. Go with black and white, or primary colors (blue, red, yellow), or exclusively warm tones, or whatever. Just pick a theme.

SUBJECT MATTER

You can get away with no set style or color scheme if you have a rigid subject matter limitation. If for example you draw exclusively portraits, you can do one in acrylics, one in crayon, one with photography, etc. Your theme and brand would then be portraitry. I prefer to have extremely varying subject matter, so I limit my other qualities. However, it might be useful to your niche if you focus on spooky things only, or things that involve a femme persona, or subject matter exclusive to food art, etc.

TEXTURE

Texture is a subtle part of your artistic style, but it makes a huge subconscious impact on your viewers. Choose two or three texture variations and stick with them. Sometimes your medium makes it easier.

For instance, watercolor comes with its own texture. But you can add cross-hatching with pencil on top to create a more unique feeling. Outlining everything, outlining nothing, or outlining only the foreground creates a type of texture. Flat paint is an option. Millions of thin lines is an option. Shiny metallic ink can give your work texture, too.

Below are some examples of artwork that I think has unique textures that can serve as inspiration for you. If you check out their profiles, you can see that their textures are used steadily throughout their work. Their brand is unique and refined.

MEDIUM

This is the one I struggled very hard with. I’m all for limiting yourself to spur creative growth, but choosing a medium or a set combination of materials to work with really felt like a prison. It was a limitation I couldn’t easily set myself into, so I spent a long time experimenting. It really hurt my brand. You can’t make a plaster sculpture one week, a watercolor sketch the next, and a video production the next without confusing your viewers unless your brand is already insanely specific and unique. As a beginner, mine obviously wasn’t at that level yet.

Thankfully, I eventually settled on two mediums: watercolor and digital paint. It’s a weird combination, but it really works for me. It may take an awkward phase of experimentation, but settling into a medium or a combination will be the best thing you do for your brand. It also solidifies your artistic process, which becomes an important part of your art that people inquire about and that affects your overall image.

The same drawing in different formats can look radically opposite, and you want to lock in that specific “look.”

However, if you want a great example of someone who can rock a solid brand and still use multiple art forms, check out Dinara Mirtalipova (in the photo above). She has such a grasp on color, texture and personality that it doesn’t matter what she uses. But if you feel like you’re not achieving the look you want while being as flexible as she is, then I’d suggest sticking to a specific medium instead.

PERSONALITY

Last but not least, sprinkle some personality into your work. What kind of mood or thought do you want to invoke in your viewers?

This factor usually comes naturally, whether you notice or not, as long as you are open and vulnerable. Things like the expression on a figure’s face, the subject matter, and any text included on the art itself or along with the post can make a huge impression. Things like color and texture can also make an impact on your personality, though, so I’d keep an eye on the big picture of your style when monitoring your overall vibe.

For instance, I use a lot of blues and purples which are generally sad colors, draw frowns on my characters’ faces, an often include gloomy poetry or text made to cheer up someone who is sad.

The vibe you give off can determine if someone really falls in love with your art or not. If they relate to the personality of your work, you will be harder to forget.

ALSO THINK ABOUT

When defining your brand, don’t be afraid to experiment at first. It’s good to get all of your curious awkward phases out of the way at the start of your career, lest you discover that perfect medium halfway down the road and decide you want to flip your whole technique upside-down. Be daring, be bold, and choose what feels natural to you. But also listen to your audience. Your friends will tell you which ones they don’t like and strangers will show you with which pieces they buy. Find harmony between what you like expressing and what your audience likes to see.

When you have finally chosen your favorite color scheme, subject matter, texture, medium, and personality, don’t be afraid to abandon pieces that don’t fit the bill. I know this sounds terrifying, but if all your experimental work is clogging up your social media profiles, it will become a confusing distraction from the art you want people to really focus on. So stop selling things that don’t fit your brand and take them out of your portfolio. Yes, even if they are beautiful pieces. Let people soak in your artwork, be sure of your brand, and begin to recognize your stuff anywhere they see it. Become memorable.

BONUS

If you are feeling intimidated by this advice and suddenly have the urge to throw out all of your precious artwork from a second-story window, pause. Do this first.

Assignment:
Create three pieces for the sole purpose of trying to hone in on your brand. Focus on texture in the first, color in the second, and medium in the third. Keep personality in mind with all three! If you’re happy, continue in that direction. If you hate them, repeat the assignment until you find a style you like.