Creating Branding & Identity

Creating a logo and branding is a crucial step in the early stages of forming an organization. A well-designed logo and consistent branding create a professional image, helping to make a strong first impression on potential customers, partners, and investors. It shows that you are serious about your business and helps build trust and credibility. Branding also plays a significant role in marketing and promotion. It enables you to use your logo on social media platforms, making your organization easily recognizable, and ensures a cohesive and professional online presence on your website and email accounts.

Moreover, a unique logo makes your organization memorable, increasing the likelihood that people will remember and recognize your brand. It helps differentiate your organization from competitors, making it easier for people to identify and choose your services. Consistent branding ensures that all your marketing materials, from business cards to advertisements, have a unified look and feel, reinforcing your brand identity and clearly communicating your values and mission to your audience.

A strong brand can also create an emotional connection with your audience, leading to customer loyalty and long-term support. For organizations like fishermen’s associations, branding can foster a sense of community and shared identity among members. By focusing on logos and branding during the business plan stage, you set a solid foundation for your organization’s identity and marketing efforts, significantly contributing to your success and growth.

Steps to Create a Logo and Branding

1. Decide on the Name

• Name: What did you decide to call your organization? Make sure the name reflects your mission and values.

2. Visual Representation

• Symbols: Think about what symbols can visually represent the name of your organization. Do you want fish, shellfish, boats, harbours, or something else?

3. Choose Colours

• Colours: Decide on the colours you prefer. For a fishing community, blues and greens might be a good choice because they represent the sea and nature.

4. Design Elements

• Writing: Do you want writing in your logo? If yes, choose a clear and readable font.
• Pictures or Art: Decide if you want pictures or artistic elements in your logo. This could include drawings of fish, boats, or waves.

5. Alignment with Others

• Consistency: Think about whether you want your logo to align with other organizations. This can help create a unified look if you collaborate with other groups.

Example Questions to Consider

• Name: What did you decide to call the organization?
• Symbols: Is there something that provides a visual representation of the name of your organization?
• Colours: What colours do you prefer?
• Design Elements: Do you want writing in the logo, pictures, or art? Do you want fish or shellfish, boats, harbours?
• Consistency: Do you want to create a logo that could be aligned with others?

We were lucky enough to get funding to cover a graphic designer to help us create our logo. However, for future projects and creating our own notices, flyers, invites, we used software packages below and just did the design ourselves. If we hadn’t received funding for the logo, it would have been fairly easy to use one of these programmes to design the logo.

CANVA

Canva has a free membership, but if you wanted to try one of the plans, they allow a free 30-day trial, which should be long enough to create your own bespoke logo and documents/flyers, etc.

Canva Pricing: Compare Free, Pro, Teams and Enterprise plans

They also offer discounts to non-profits

Canva for Nonprofits eligibility guidelines | Canva

ADOBE

You can also get free trails on Adobe software, here is link to page with all adobe products listed with links to that products free trail.

Creative Cloud pricing and membership business plans | Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Stock, free 30-day trial

Adobe Stock free trial – Get 10 Stock images free. | Adobe Stock

You’re not going to believe this:

It took over six weeks to get the board of Directors to agree on a logo. We were fortunate enough to secure funding to pay for a graphic designer to help us create our logo. At first, it was easy enough to agree on a circle, and around the edge of the circle, we wanted our organization’s name to wrap around. However, this created a hole/space in the middle that I felt needed to be filled. Aesthetically, it looked empty, and I thought something in the middle, like a wave or the ocean,

would look great. But the matter was not for me to decide; it was for the Fishermen’s board representatives to choose.

From that point, five weeks of going back and forth ensued. Should it be a fish? If so, what fish? Should it contain a shellfish? If so, which shellfish? Should it be a fishing vessel? If so, one with a wheelhouse or without? A small vessel or a large vessel? When agreement couldn’t be reached, we put out a poll to get ideas from the board. Now we had several different options, all of which had to be mocked up by the graphic designer. We were shortly going to run out of funding and still not have a logo.

At this point, I shortened the list of options down to three and asked the board to vote on all three in order of preference. In the end, they decided on writing the names of the four ports that make up Lyme Bay inside the circle, thus creating another circle, empty, within.

Lessons Learned

Creating the Logo:

Deciding on a logo would have been far more efficient if we had (1) agreed a deadline at the start, (2) shortlisted two choices from each board member, (3) voted to decide on the top three, and (4) only then decide whether you want to instruct a graphic designer to mock up proofs, or do it yourself by using one of the software packages below:

Creating the Business Plan:

Developing a solid business plan, financial planning and sustainability:

1. Clear Vision and Mission: Establishing a clear vision and mission is crucial. The organization was set up to provide a voice for the inshore fleet, emphasizing the importance of fishermen being custodians of the seas and safeguarding their coastal communities. This dual focus helped align the goals and objectives of the organisation with the values and priorities of the fishermen.

2. Inclusive Participation: Involving fishermen in the planning process ensured that their voices were heard and their concerns addressed. This inclusive approach fostered a sense of ownership and commitment, making the fishermen more invested in the success of the organization.

3. Transparent Communication: Maintaining transparent communication throughout the planning process was essential. It helped build trust and credibility, ensuring that all stakeholders were informed and engaged. This transparency also demonstrated the organization’s commitment to representing the fishermen’s views accurately.

4. Community-Centric Approach: Recognizing the interconnectedness of the fishermen’s livelihoods and their coastal communities was vital. The business plan highlighted the need to support and protect these communities, reinforcing the organization’s role in promoting sustainable fishing practices and community well-being.

5. Flexibility and Adaptability: The planning process revealed the importance of being flexible and adaptable. As the organization evolves, it must be able to respond to changing circumstances and emerging challenges, ensuring that it remains relevant and effective in advocating for the inshore fleet.
6. Building Strong Networks: Establishing strong networks and partnerships with other organizations, stakeholders, and community members was key. These connections provided valuable support, resources, and opportunities for collaboration, enhancing the organization’s ability to achieve its goals.

Risks:

• Democracy
• Communication is essential
• Time frame risks
• Important to understand that it might take a bit longer than expected on some things
• Just try to do your best, but do not to stress yourselves out because of timing issues
• Have confidence in yourselves

Workshop Report

The workshop report was a crucial part of creating our business plan. We used the insights and ideas gathered during the workshop to shape our business plan and mission statement. This mission statement was later included in our Articles of Association and displayed on the main page of our website. The workshop report was so important because it captured the thoughts and ideas of everyone present, ensuring that all members’ voices were included in the business plan and in future endeavours for the organization. Additionally, the report provides all the information needed to start searching for funding, allowing us to match workstreams directed by the members to available funding for those types of initiatives.

Sections of the Business Plan

Creating a comprehensive business plan involves several key sections. Here’s a simple guide to help you include all the necessary parts:

1. Executive Summary
   • Overview:A brief summary of what your organization is about, including your mission and vision.
   • Goals:Highlight the short, medium, and long-term goals agreed upon during the workshop.

2. Organization Description
   • Background:Information about the history and purpose of your organization.
   • Structure:Explain the legal structure (e.g., community interest company) and why it was chosen.

3. Mission Statement
   • Mission:Include the mission statement created from the workshop report.
   • Values:Outline the core values that guide your organization.

4. Products and Services
   • Offerings:Describe the main products or services your organization provides.
   • Benefits:Explain how these offerings benefit the community and align with your mission.

5. Market Analysis
   • Target Audience:Identify who your main audience or beneficiaries are.
   • Needs:Explain the needs of your target audience and how your organization meets them.

6. Marketing and Branding Strategy
   • Branding:Discuss the importance of your logo and branding, and how they will be used on social media, your website, and email accounts.
   • Promotion:Outline how you plan to promote your organization and engage with the community.

7. Operational Plan
   • Activities:Detail the day-to-day activities and operations of your organization.
   • Resources:Identify the resources needed to carry out these activities.

8. Management and Organization
   • Team:Describe the management team and their roles.
   • Governance:Explain how decisions are made and how the organization is governed.

9. Funding Request
   • Needs:Specify the funding needed to achieve your goals.
   • Use of Funds:Explain how the funds will be used, linking back to the initiatives and workstreams identified in the workshop.

10. Financial Plan
    • Budget:Provide a budget that includes projected income and expenses.
    • Sustainability:Explain how your organization plans to sustain itself financially over the long term.

11. Appendices
    • Workshop Report:Include the workshop report as an appendix to show funders the different initiatives that members want.
    • Supporting Documents:Add any other supporting documents that provide additional context or information.

By following these steps and incorporating the outputs of the workshop, you can create a comprehensive business plan that clearly communicates your organization’s goals and strategies to funders and stakeholders. This plan will help guide your organization’s growth and ensure that all members’ voices are heard and included in future endeavours.

Glossary/Documents for this Chapter

• Business Plan template
• Budget template
• Cash-Flow template