How do you rebrand a company? How do you find your unique edge? What role do designers play in all of this?

Standing out in a crowded marketplace is more important than ever. The best way to accomplish that is to build a meaningful, recognizable brand for your business; one that creates a memorable experience, generates a gut feeling, and leaves a mark in the consumer's mind.

In episode 1 of Building a Brand, we meet the clients: husband and wife team, and owners of Hamilton Family Brewery, Josh and Crysten Hamilton. Since opening their doors in 2014, their little brewery in Rancho Cucamonga, California has grown in popularity, becoming the go-to spot in their community. Now, they're looking to rebrand their business and expand from the brewery counter into retail stores.

On top of running the brewery, Josh has been designing everything for the company himself—the logo, packaging, t-shirts, and more. He’s not so sure if his cans will be picked up over the next brand on the shelf. But with a little twist of fate, he finds Blind, a brand strategy design consultancy in Santa Monica, to help him transition into retail.

On the other side of the phone is Ben Burns, a brand strategist and digital director at Blind. Ben learns about Josh's challenges and tries to figure out if the team at Blind is the right match.

Let's start with defining what a brand is. As Marty Neumeier explains it: A brand is a person's gut feeling about a product, service or company.

This is influenced by a their visual aesthetic, tone of their voice, and positioning in the marketplace.

So a re-brand is simply an adjustment of the customer touch-points that impact the overall consumer experience.

Sometimes it's an incremental update, while other times it's a complete makeover.