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How to Build a Personal Brand and Artist Identity

Everyone has a personal brand, whether they know it or not! The stronger your personal brand, the easier it is to make an impression and promote yourself. This is even more so for artists where your brand is you, and you are your brand.

This week, we provide you with a comprehensive guide on building your personal brand so that you can convey your artistic identity both within and beyond your artwork.

4 Key Components of a Personal Brand

First, let’s break down what a brand consists of. A brand is more than just a logo and visual imagery - it is also a representation of your personal story and values, and includes your:

• Personality

• Name

• Identity

• Values

#1 Personality

Your personality is the characteristics or traits you associate with your artistic persona. Similar to your artist statement, your brand personality should convey what makes you as an artist, you. It is also the foundation that the rest of your brand rests upon.

Thinking about your personality first helps to define the rest of your brand better. In fact, without understanding your brand personality, it can be hard to land on the other aspects of your brand, such as values, your color palette, or even your name!

One way of figuring out your brand personality is to start by looking at the 5 main types of brand personalities, and the common traits they are associated with:

• Competence: traits such as accomplished, influential, intelligent, reliable, successful

• Excitement: traits such as carefree, daring, exhilarating, imaginative, lively, playful, trendy and youthful

• Ruggedness: traits such as adventurous, athletic, outdoorsy, rough, tough, and unconventional

• Sincerity: traits such as down-to-earth, family-values, honest, kindness, positive, thoughtfulness and wholesome

• Sophistication: traits such as charming, elegant, exclusive, glamorous, high-end, luxurious, and prestigious.

For example, outdoor clothing and recreation brand North Face leans primarily into the ruggedness personality with an outdoorsy-aesthetic that promotes touching grass and being one with the wilderness around us. With phrases like “Never Stop Exploring”, the brand also includes excitement into its brand personality.

Know that it is okay to combine different brand personalities, as long as it remains consistent.

#2: Name

Your brand name is the phrase or word mark you use to “title” yourself. This is one of the most critical pieces of your brand, as it is the cornerstone of your identity and one of the first things outside of your actual artwork that people will use to find your work. In fact, when we think of someone like Banksy, the name is almost as famous as his art itself.

Your name could be initials, your first name, your full name, or some mixture of these things. That said, your artist name does not have to be your actual name. For some artists, they prefer to have an artistic identity that is completely different from their real name. This can be for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:

• Their art being a different representation of who they are in real life

• Their art being a continued journey and evolution that feels separate from who they are

• Their desire to remain anonymous

Interested in finding a brand name that isn’t your actual name? Make use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT or Namelix, or traditional word mapping exercises to get a name that is truly unique to you as an artist.

#3: Identity

Your brand identity is the visual representation of you as an artist. First and foremost, this is your artwork. More broadly speaking however, your brand identity also extends to your logo, color palette, fonts, iconography, and patterns. When used together, your brand identity should be reflective of your artistic personality.

Try as much as possible to create a visual identity that is memorable and unique to you. If executed correctly, your brand identity can garner recognition just as much as your art can. Use your art to help define your visual identity, either by pulling directly from your body of work to create it or creating an identity that complements your work.

Here are a few tools we recommend for you to get started:

• Khroma: This tool helps you identify color palettes that are prevalent in your work.

• Looka: This tool helps you to design a logo and accompanying fonts that would work well with your brand.

Feel free to also rope in fans of your work and get them to weigh in on a visual identity that best represents you.

Need more inspiration? Check out this fun exploration of what historically famous painters’ logos and brand identities would look like today. This can also guide you through piecing together the connection of your art and how that translates into a simplified identity.

#4: Values

Your brand values are guiding principles for what you stand for as an artist. They are also a set of beliefs and ethics for your brand to adhere to and convey through your art.

Defining who you are as an artist will help you define your values. Find the motivation that compels you to create your art and talk about the experiences that shaped your artistic journey. Always be honest, sincere, and relatable.

In one of our previous issues, we discuss how to write the perfect artist bio. Revisit your artist bio and break it down, asking yourself:

• What about your mission is relatable to others?

• What about the way you work must be included every time you create something?

To help you get started, we’ve also provided a list of common brand values to either pull directly from, or help you transition to your final set of values. While there is no specific rule for how many values you can have, try to identify the top 3-5 values that resonates with you as an artist to keep your brand strong and concise.

Additional resource: You can also follow along this 12 minute Core Values Workshop from Hatch Tribe on YouTube.

Closing Thoughts

Your personal brand as an artist conveys the uniqueness of the way you view the world, and how you channel it through your creative expressions. While this can be driven by the many things that make you tick, it is important to distill your brand to a simple and consistent version of your artistic vision and practice.

Like anything else, building a personal brand is a process to which you will need to devote attention and time, but will get easier as you identify your values and intention for creating art.

In the News

Industry News

• Art auction house Sotheby's is launching a generative art program this summer, highlighting artists in the digital art field starting with the first woman digital artist Vera Molnar.

• What was the story behind Sotheby’s $17M auction of digital art? Read the interview with their VP and Head of Digital Art Michael Bouhanna here.

• Tech workers are scrambling to reinvent themselves as AI specialists - an indication that the interest in AI is not slowing down anytime soon.

Tools and Resources

• Considered a legacy plan for your artwork? Artist Rebecca Rose shares some insights and resources for how to make sure your work lasts even after you are gone.

Notable Creators

• Pride Month may be over, but here are 18 queer artists who are spreading pride through Web3 all year round.

• Yuga Labs is writing a book on the history of CryptoPunks in partnership with Zak Group, the design studio behind the book “Icons” from Nike and the late designer, Virgil Abloh.

Artist Grants and Opportunities

• Earn a $500 USD grant for your art, while also growing your collector base. Learn more about HUG’s Visionary program, and apply to become a Visionary here.

• Get $1000 USD grant through the Circ Artist Grant for all emerging, mid-career, and professional artists. Apply and learn more here.

• The Adobe Creative Residency program supports creators of visual digital work, offering grants of $500–$5,000 for either a portfolio project or a paid Adobe project commission. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, learn about the program and application process here.

This Week’s Art Drops

Did you know that these are just 8 of 200+ art drops on HUG? Get a full list of this week’s art drops from HUG here.