Fractional Brand Identity Consultant; Writer

Smart Design is looking to refresh its market positioning and restructure its service offerings to better reflect its current work, before embarking on a website redesign.

We are looking for a consultant with experience crafting tailored messages in the creative services world to help us solidify our strategic messaging and verbal identity. You will partner directly with our leadership and design directors to articulate who we are, what we offer, and why it matters in a changing design landscape.

The project will be 6-8 weeks with 1-2 days per week onsite in our Brooklyn design studio.

• Work closely with leadership team through interviews, working sessions, and understanding existing brand documentation

• Review our current offering, and competitor positioning to recommend:

  • A "North Star" narrative which includes a core positioning statement and updated brand pillars

  • An updated, compelling, and clearly understood service offering structure

• Several directions that explore a refreshed brand messaging and service offering. Subsequent refinements and a final down-selected version based on feedback sessions from business leadership, and key clients.

• A brand communication system including:

  • Brand manifesto
    : the narrative storytelling of the “new” Smart Design.
  • Service offering taxonomy
    : A restructured menu of services (renamed and reorganized).
  • Verbal identity guide
    : A practical guide on how Smart Design sounds across different touchpoints and rules for voice, tone of voice and mechanics.
  • Website core content
    :
    The primary headlines and introductory copy for key site pages (home, about, services) working alongside Visual and UX designers.

• 7+ years of experience in Brand Strategy or Verbal Identity

• Successful work with creative service firms (e.g., innovation, product design, industrial design, brand or architecture studios) and understanding of the nuances of articulating design services

• A portfolio that demonstrates both strategic thinking (e.g. offering taxonomy), compelling story telling and engaging creative execution

• Experience working with a senior leadership team to successfully move a project forward

• Experience collaborating directly with designers to create compelling materials and understanding that these activities are highly dependent on one another

• The ability to craft compelling story telling for different audiences

Rates will be determined based on experience, but will be calculated as a fixed project price based on hourly rates of $100-150/hour.

All applications should include portfolio or examples of brand communication systems and messaging structures.