So you think you’ve taken care of everything, you’ve got your logo, your brand guidelines and you know the colours for brand palette off by heart. But take a look in the mirror, does what you see fit in with your brand? The impression you’ve built up through your website and correspondence could be ruined by the first look the client gets of you. But don’t fret; self branding is just like branding anything. To get your creative juices flowing here are three people.

Bob Ross – Consistency is key.  The quiet painter who took the world by storm. His show ran for eleven years on PBS and with his soft voice, big hair and “happy little trees” catchphrase Ross is instantly recognisable. Plus he’s been parodied on Family Guy, proof that he’s made it into the collective subconscious. Ross’ strength was that he knew the value of repetition and consistency. It impossible to guess how many times he talked about the emotional state of trees but at a guess it was a lot. His appearance remained the same for every one of his shows; despite his dislike of the afro. Ross knew it was part of his look and without it he wouldn’t be as recognisable.

Salvador Dali – Flamboyance is eye catching

Any picture you see of the mustachioed artist is at least as surreal as any one of his paintings. This may have been an effect of his life. This began in a strange enough fashion with his parents believing that he was the reincarnation of his deceased elder brother who had died nine months before Dali was born and was also named Salvador. His flamboyant nature was present from the beginning of his career with Dali being expelled from the Academia de San Fernado for declaring that none of the faculty were competent enough to examine him. But the moustache came later, his original look was that of the English Dandy, showing that sometimes you have to move through several versions before you find the look that suits you.

Travis Barker – Make your style a statement

A strange one you maybe thinking, but Barker declared “I tattooed my body so I couldn’t fall back on anything. I purposely did that so I couldn’t get a normal job and live a normal life. I did it so I had to play music.” This is perhaps the most excessive personal branding being so permanent in nature, though his declaration that he did it so he couldn’t fall back on anything is a tad romantic. There are quite a few bankers out there with sleeves and plugs. Still the extent to which Barker has covered his body in tattoo’s declares his rebellious nature and makes him a posterboy for disaffected youths everywhere, despite the conformity of his music.

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Written by: Will van Wyngaarden,  Brief and Crowd Executive, blur Group