Brand Strategy is one of the most important aspects of building a bold, unique brand. But when I first started my adventure, I wasn’t even sure how to define it.
That’s why this fortnight’s article isn’t going to focus directly on a single aspect of branding. Instead, I’m going to show you my journey – where I started and how I got where I am. There’s a reason for this that I’ll explain towards the end of the post.
My personal interest in branding began long before I recognised what it was. Creativity and imagination would form the basis of my values. However, as a child, these were vital survival tools.
The Early Journey
Here’s the first thing you should know – I was a quiet, shy kid. This may mildly surprise readers who have met me in the last 8 years. I’ve based my entire brand around having a certain ferocity, but this wasn’t always the case.
I was never particularly outgoing and generally preferred my own company. I had a small handful of friends, but I was generally ignored at best, or bullied at worst.
This meant that I was much more comfortable retreating into my own world than I was interacting with others. Adults would refer to me as a ‘daydreamer’ or having my ‘head in the clouds’. Other kids were less kind – ‘freak’ was their word of choice. Still, I was happy in my imagination – drawing quietly and reading books. Occasionally I’d even act out the scenarios from my imagination. Sticks were swords, fields and forests vast, unexplored lands filled with challenges and excitement.
When I was around six, my dad got a video game console. A Sega Master System. That was a game-changer for me. I became engrossed with these amazing worlds on my screen. While these first games were frankly primitive compared to what exists now, for a young boy with a big imagination, they were portals into new worlds.
It was a few years after this that I encountered one of my first major sources of inspiration. Around the age of nine, I’d read basically everything in my class library. My teacher suggested I look for something more advanced in the main library.
This is when I first encountered The Hobbit.
It was a copy tucked away at the back of the older kids’ library. The cover had a beautiful illustration of Smaug, the dragon, atop his golden hoard. I consumed the contents greedily over a few evenings, instantly drawn into an incredible world.
I can’t fully describe the feelings of a grand adventure laid out before me. I’ve felt the same feelings of expectation, awe, grandeur and possibility on a few occasions since. This was the first time though.
And it was what set me on my path.
The Adventure Begins
The next time I would feel this was the next year. My uncle bought me a Nintendo 64 for Christmas and I remember renting a game from Blockbuster (yeah, remember that?). The game? The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Proper 3D gaming was just evolving and the experience of the opening section of this game blew my tiny brain. It was like all my imagined adventures come to life. I was obsessed (and if you ever see my office, I still am).
This was my second major source of inspiration.
I spent much of my teenage years designing games. Building puzzles, creating encounters and designing worlds. It’s little wonder I started playing Dungeons and Dragons, where I could test these ideas on other players. I became engrossed in Warhammer, scratching a bunch of itches at once. Building and painting miniatures satisfied my creativity. I learned to strategise through playing and imagined creative stories and backgrounds for units and characters that performed well in the game.
I was still a weird, bullied kid, but I had a group of friends who also shared the same passions. It was the first time I’d found my tribe.
When the end of school and sixth form approached, I had to decide what to do next. My class was full of kids who were expected to go on to do the same things their parents did. Budding lawyers, doctors and accountants.
I couldn’t think of anything worse.
So I went off to do video game design.
I’ll tell you now, it was hard work – perhaps unsurprisingly, we had a massive drop-out rate.
Still, I spent a few years happily designing props, levels and characters. I learned a lot about design principles and programs (which would come in handy later). There was one part of my course, however, that would only show its relevance years later.
In my final year, I studied two things that would eventually form my interest in brand strategy. Story development and player psychology. My projects centred around understanding how players interact with the world and each other, forming strong emotional bonds that keep them playing.
See the link with branding here?
It was a fascinating subject. I spent time with the guild I ran in World of Warcraft, understanding the stories and moments that built emotional attachments. This helped me see how design influences players’ moods and helps them see the path forward.
The seeds were sown but it would take another 7 years before I would use it properly.
The Hero’s Journey
Spoiler alert – I didn’t make it far into the games industry. A combination of poor timing, bad health and financial issues kept it just out of reach.
But you probably already realised that by the fact I’m here, running my own business.
Even though I struggled to get into the industry, I knew I wanted to do something with design. Through my 20s I began reskilling in graphic design and started looking for work in the industry.
In the meantime, I worked a set of, frankly, the most horrible, least creative jobs I could possibly imagine.
Now, I’m not disparaging any of these professions – there are people out there who love these jobs. But they weren’t a good fit for me.
And this was a particularly valuable lesson.
I won’t bore you with the full list, but here are some highlights (or low-lights, if you prefer).
Working in a supermarket was a special form of hell. I still maintain that if everyone worked service at some point, people would generally be much kinder.
Working as a contact lens technician was at least, interesting. I could even have made a career out of it as I was a great (and patient) teacher. The problem was that my boss was a narcissist and creative people do particularly badly under their watch.
The worst, by far, was working in a call centre, It was soul-crushing. It flew in the face of every value I had (but hadn’t yet quantified). I was there for about a year, during which I was diagnosed with depression, and anxiety, hitting pretty much the low point of my life.
The depression and anxiety were particularly difficult, Coupled with near-constant rejection from the industry for not having ‘enough experience’, I couldn’t see a way out. I became more frustrated and desperate.
However, they also allowed me to address a lot that had been silently bugging me for years. My entire life was out of alignment and every choice I had been making was based on reaching a point I didn’t even want.
Working ‘anything and everything’ while I searched for the ‘perfect’ job had been draining me. And it was then I realised the final piece of the puzzle. I was working against my values.
So I stopped fighting myself – and focussed my energy where it was most needed.
Overcoming the Ordeal
My transition to self-employment happened almost overnight. One day I’d had enough of my day job. The next, I’d handed in my notice with no job to go into. I think my narcissist boss actually laughed at me when I said that I was going freelance.
Best choice I ever made.
I started Iron Dragon Design in early 2016, from the bedroom I rented at my friend’s house. And I made some mistakes to begin with. But I was free. And with every mistake, I learned something new.
Early on I was designing whatever I could. Need a business card? Easy. Cheap logo? I’m your man. It was a slow start, but it was my adventure.
I could be imaginative and creative while doing the things I loved. And I was being paid for it!
I even started liking networking. The first few times were terrifying, but I eventually got into it and it taught me to come out of my shell.
The only problem was, I was still operating in fear. Although I’d taken on the ‘Iron Dragon’ brand, I wasn’t reflecting it. I was still showing up how I thought other people expected a business owner to. Suits and a safe, corporate identity.
It didn’t really match the ‘Iron Dragon’ brand I was building. I had the imagination, drive and creativity, but I was missing something.
I found it shortly before COVID. A man approached me at a local networking meeting and asked what I did. I was so bored of that question by then that, almost without thinking, I said ‘I wear chainmail and kill orcs with a big sword.’
That got his interest.
So I told him about my LARPing (Live Action RolePlay) – a hobby where a massive group of us meet in a field in fantasy armour. Then proceed to drink, fight and interact as characters we’ve invented.
(Don’t worry – I also told him what I do to finance this)
The thing is, that’s what ended up being memorable. And I realised that’s what the safe, corporatised version of my brand was missing.
A sense of adventure.
The Iron Dragon Rises
This interaction made me realise I wasn’t being true to my values. While I could more easily define them and was generally closer to them, I wasn’t living them.
I’d fallen into the trap of being afraid of putting people off. Years of being hammered into the wrong shape by bosses who just wanted a drone had made me afraid of embracing my nature.
And as soon as I saw this, massive things happened for me.
I embraced the adventurer in me and put all those early influences back into my brand. The Lord of the Rings, Zelda, Warhammer – all of my geeky passions found a way into what I was building.
A burning passion filled me. It was no longer a career. It became my purpose.
I stopped taking on any old clients and started working with people I wanted to. People who saw the value in what I do and wanted to start their own adventure. People who had been fighting the shackles placed on them.
I drew on not only a lifetime of creativity and art but also my strategic side. My interest in gamer psychology evolved from questions of ‘what if’ into a deeper understanding of human emotion. Why do people take certain actions? What makes them tick?
My eyes were opened. No longer was I shackled to creating based on what people thought they wanted. I could uncover and define what made my clients unique and how they could use it to their advantage.
I became happier with my work, more focused on what I wanted and more able to deliver for my clients.
Embracing what made me different opened up a world of possibility.
The Power of Sharing
My reason for recounting this personal journey. Is twofold, Firstly, I believe in the power of stories. Being vulnerable and showing the untarnished truth helps create a deeper connection – and I hope that this has helped you get to know me better.
Secondly, it’s leading by example,
When I work with clients, we often venture into the deep, dark places to find the stuff that makes them truly different. And this requires trust. I can’t expect to uncover my client’s secrets without first showing them some of mine.
That’s why I wrote this article. It’s me wearing my journey on my sleeve. It isn’t idealised, or polished. You can see I didn’t always have it together.
It provides humanity for my brand. Which is the part of it people connect with.
Sharing your story, even in small parts, builds a human face for your brand and helps you connect with people who have shared similar experiences.
Because that’s where you’re going to find your ideal clients. They are people with a problem that you can solve – and showing them how you’ve done that is a powerful way of connecting.
Building a fierce brand isn’t about being cruel and hard. It’s about being able to own your vulnerabilities and being proud of who you are. It’s about doing things your way, rather than trying to fit in and be the ‘safe’ option.
Show people who you are.
The ones who matter will thank you for it.
Want to hear more of my story? I’m active over on LinkedIn – follow me there.
To build a brand that reflects your story, you need to uncover it. If you need help finding what makes you different, check out Brand Adventurer – a deep-dive workshop that uncovers the unique and authentic face of your brand.
