Have you noticed people are growing tired of big brands using amazing visuals and marketing that manufacture trust to distract them from the fact that:
their pieces aren’t as high-quality as they were supposed to be,
steal designs from small brands or from cultures without giving credit,
have representation on the runway or campaigns, but not on the executive and designer teams,
and support people and organizations that oppose their values?
Instead, your target market is shopping more from small, independent brands that offer quality and stories they feel close to.
You can be one of the brands that are flourishing. And while you’re proud of what you’ve built, your brand’s visuals, the structure, and the messaging haven’t caught up to the level of work you put into your pieces.
There’s friction between the meaningfulness of your products and how your target market perceives your brand.
So how can you close that gap?
Casa Recess is a creative studio, led by me, Kendra Valencia, specializing in soulful identity design for small brands and independent designers in the fashion and home spaces.
I’ve been working with small brands for over six years, and I’ve seen how many care so much about what they’ve built that the idea of delegating the branding to an agency feels risky. They don’t want their business to lose its soul in favor of something too polished, too trendy, and too commercial. That would be betraying what the brand means to them. And, honestly, I wouldn’t either.
But I also know how these corporations in the home and fashion spaces are pulling customers into their worlds through manipulative branding and marketing. So, how about I help you take a page from their book on designing a solid brand identity without watering down your brand or using deceptive tactics?
I became a jack-of-all-trades to become a better brand designer.
Brand is perception. It’s how your target market thinks, feels, and experiences your business. And that perception doesn’t come from a single touchpoint; instead, it’s everything you do publicly and within the business.
These experiences have allowed me to create a system for designing brand identities that showcase what my clients’ brands bring to the table through a lens that makes their ideal customers want to be part of their world:
So I’ve worked across multiple departments, including graphic design, brand and marketing strategy, website, social media, email marketing, copywriting, project management, podcast management, and admin work.
I became a jack-of-all-trades to become a better brand designer.
Brand is perception. It’s how your target market thinks, feels, and experiences your business. And that perception doesn’t come from a single touchpoint; instead, it’s everything you do publicly and within the business.
So I’ve worked across multiple departments, including graphic design, brand and marketing strategy, website, social media, email marketing, copywriting, project management, podcast management, and admin work.
These experiences have allowed me to create a system for designing brand identities that showcase what my clients’ brands bring to the table through a lens that makes their ideal customers want to be part of their world:
Aka, I’m getting into your business’s “business” in the best way possible.
That means discovering your brand story and goals, learning how everything works across all departments, understanding the results you’re getting, knowing you as the human behind the brand, and understanding the current perception.
I get busy with translating all the data into a high-end creative direction.
Then, we’ll sit down, I’ll share all my discoveries and the direction for your brand, and you and I’ll collaborate to turn the brand’s vision into reality.
You get all the deliverables, but it doesn’t end there.
Because no brand becomes successful simply by having brand guidelines sitting in some cloud storage.
Through mentorship, I’ll guide you to ensure your business departments are on-brand with what we worked on together.
Your target market looks for a brand that resonates with them. They want pieces that show they have taste, express their personality and values, and are relevant to the culture they’re part of. You have the intention, craftsmanship, and storytelling they love.
BRAND IDENTITY DESIGN
WEBSITE DESIGN
ART DIRECTION
