The Power and the Equity In Business Branding
How Brands Make Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses and Corporations distinctive, competitive and profitable

Workshop Brief

This unique and timely workshop will address Brand understanding; Brand development; Brand equity; Branding in the international market; defining core brand values and development of brand design circles; creating brand strategies with effective visual messages; strategies for innovation; company naming; brand successes and failures; Small business branding. At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be able to ... and will have demonstrated their skills in the following ways:

  • To understand what makes a brand different
  • To be able to define the core values of a brand’s design
  • To be able to define the visual language of the brand
  • To be able to strategize for seasonal and innovative products and communication
  • To be able to more successfully use and or expand upon existing brand components
  • To be able to analyze their own business needs and branding development

Ideal Workshop Candidate

Since branding is done through all aspects of a business, this workshop can be of interest to people from the following areas:

  • Small Business Owners developing a business image
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Graphic designers and art directors
  • Product designers
  • Fashion and accessory designers
  • Interior designers
  • Visual merchandisers
  • Web designers
  • Also—marketing and sales managers

This workshop is created for small business owners, corporate management and experienced designers who seek to better understand the nuances of brand development and create more powerful and meaningful brands for business, non-profit organizations etc. by creating better brand identities, and image and improve knowledge about the power of design and creativity in the workplace.

Instructors

Eric Ligon & Keith Owens

Eric Ligon Bio

Program Coordinator for Com. Design, College of Visual Arts and Design, University of North Texas

ligon@unt.edu

 

Eric Ligon is the program coordinator for the communication design program at the University of North Texas, in which he teaches the full array of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He and his teaching colleague and business partner, Keith Owens, have branded/rebranded and designed the identities for The University of North Texas System, the University of North Texas (UNT), The University of North Texas Dallas, The new College of Law at UNT Dallas, the UNT Health Science Center, and the City of Anna, Texas. Ligon is also the president and cofounder of BrailleInk, a non-profit organization that produces dual-use, braille and print children's books in his patented format that encourages sighted and blind individuals to share reading time.

 

UNT Communication Design Blog

UNT College of Visual Arts and Design web site

UNT Communication Design Student Forum

 

Keith Owens Bio

Associate Professor, College of Visual Arts and Design, University of North Texas

owen@unt.edu

 

Keith Owens is an associate professor teaching in the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design. With colleague Eric Ligon, Owens has co-lead efforts to brand or rebrand The University of North Texas System, the University of North Texas (UNT), The University of North Texas Dallas, the new College of Law at UNT Dallas, the UNT Health Science Center, and the City of Anna, Texas. In addition to his teaching and professional activities, Owens speaks and writes extensively about design responsibility. As a design volunteer for Partners of the Americas, Owens has operationalized his activist philosophy by providing in-country support for farm cooperatives in Haiti. Professor Owens has also taught at Texas Tech University and worked as a design firm owner and director in Dallas and San Francisco.