As I’ve talked with many friends, family members, and colleagues over the last several months as I’ve been alluding to the great Tori Watson Rebrand almost all of them have said, “That’s so cool! But what inspired the desire to rebrand?” So, I thought I would take this opportunity to kick off a little series to let you in on the process….starting with the “why” of it all!

Image by Alisandra Photography, edited by me

Name Changes Call for Brand Changes

The biggest answer to “why the rebrand?” is because I’m changing my business name. It’s hard to keep the current branding and all the same elements when you’re making such a major shift. So, the bigger question might be, “Why are you changing your name?” and that’s a great question!

Changing my business name from Marvelous Things Photography to Tori Watson Photography is something I casually started thinking about at the beginning of the year. I wasn’t entirely sold on it, or sure it was necessary, but it was in the back of my mind. However, after three photographers I respect very much – at three totally separate times – approached me randomly and said, “Hey, have you ever considered switching to your name for your business? I think that would be such a great move for you!” I took note and got more serious about the idea. The general reason is that in my case particularly, my brand is a pretty direct reflection of ME. It’s a little eclectic, vintage-inspired but still current, genuine, approachable and believable. Not every photographer has a shooting style and a brand that actually IS their personality, but since in my case I do, it makes the most sense to tie that brand directly to the person behind it. And the best way to do that, is to make sure my name is always attached to it. After a while it just became evident that seeing “Marvelous Things Photography” written somewhere didn’t actually do anything to communicate to viewers who the photographer is. So, while I don’t regret that it’s how I started off my business, and I think it’s been so great these past 6.5 years….I’m excited and ready for my brand to take on a more accurate reflection of me. I think that will better serve my future clients, and in a way makes me even more passionate about my work because it ties it more personally to who I am.

Likewise, as my business has grown, my shooting style has continued to evolve, and I’ve matured as a person, my personal taste in what I want for my brand and website has changed a little, too. So, it’s the perfect time to update the style of my online presence a bit to better show who me and my business are today. It’s not a total start-from-scratch rebrand, because a lot of the “feel” of my brand is staying the same. I’m really viewing it all as more of Brand Maturing than a total rebrand, by nature.

Hopefully that explains the reasoning behind it all, and if you have any questions about the process or how to decide if a name change is right for you, I’d love to give feedback and try to help! It’s an exciting process, and I can’t wait to see it all come together! Still to come in this series, I’ll share some of my Pinterest board inspiration for the direction we’re going and the difference between brand new elements, and updated concepts for keeping some of the same elements during a rebrand.

Here’s to fabulous new things on the horizon! :)