Branding for Artists

Can we actually brand art? Can artists have a brand? Or their work is their brand?

What artists often say is “I don’t need to brand my work. My work is my brand.” Partially this is true. Art is so much part of artists’ identity that it is almost impossible to separate the two. They live through art and art lives through them. Keep artists away from their craft and soon you’ll see them lose their vitality. It is just not possible. 

But what does that mean for their branding? Is it true that they don’t need it?

The Artistic Nature

First, artists cannot be branded as other professionals or companies. They are different in nature. Their identity is often fluid and depends on their craft, their interests, their lifestyle, their beliefs. Ask them to pick an identity and what you will get as an answer is “Don’t limit me.” They cannot be and should not be one stable thing. It is their multidimensionality that makes them interesting and unique. It is their multiple interests that fuel their creativity and work.

So, what should they do? Brand their fluidity, their multidimensionality. After all, this is what makes them unique. An artist needs a fluid, flexible, transformable brand identity.

About Style

Indeed, artists speak through their work. You often step into a gallery and you can recognize that a painting is created by X because of the style. However, is this true for all artists? Do all artists create work that is recognizable and distinct?

Probably not, and that happens for two reasons. First, it depends on their experience and age. An older artist probably has a more “mature” approach to their art, a longer track record and a bigger network. This doesn’t mean that a young artist cannot have a distinct style, but how many of them do? Second, it depends on their preferences. Some artists stick to one style and rarely change. Through time it is easy for them to become recognizable because they master their craft. But most artists like to experiment and change not only styles, but often their medium. For example, it is not uncommon to see a painter work on pottery making, or a dancer experimenting with music production.

Does that mean that they cannot become distinct? No. Their unique blend of interests and styles is what makes them distinct and this is something that can be branded! Do they need to? It depends on how comfortable you feel to follow your interests and passion and not be influenced by current trends trying to fit in.

Communication

Most artists hate sales and marketing. And they are right! Creativity, beauty and artistic talents are invaluable and hard to monetize. How to sell hundreds and hundreds of hours of practice and hard work, the risk and instability that come with art, experience, self-exploration? How to sell something that is so much part of you? How to make people understand the value of your work?

Also, in the age of social media, marketing is almost synonymous with chasing likes, views, comments, and trends. Do what others do to become viral. Art is about personal expression, feelings and growth. Working to market your art steals time and effort from the actual art. It's no question why most artists struggle with marketing. It takes them away from what brings them joy and fulfillment, only to make them feel “not good enough” because they didn’t go viral.

Does that mean that artists don’t need marketing? No. They need to find their own, unique approach to marketing and use it on their own terms. After all, they are creators. They have to have their own approach to communicating with their audience. Not every artist needs Instagram and TikTok to succeed. Not even every brand needs Instagram and TikTok to succeed. This is a huge misconception of our times. An artist can find a very innovative way of communicating with people, using social media or not.

What about branding?

Branding drives marketing, so if a person needs marketing they first need branding. So do artists need branding? My honest answer is, it depends.

On the one hand, branding can bring some structure into the creative chaos. For example, a stable visual identity can make marketing communication faster, easier and consistent. It helps the artist share their work easier and also helps the audience to understand the artist better. That leaves more time for making art than selling art, which is positive. A brand identity can also distinguish the artist from the work. It is true that artists live and breathe through their work but they are not only their work. They are so much more. A successful brand identity should allow the world to see their whole.

On the other hand, a brand identity can block and limit an artist in the long term. It is possible to make them feel that they have to live up to their brand identity and stop them from trying new things. Art changes when the artist changes. For artists, change is the only constant. So, if they decide to establish a brand identity, it has to reflect their changing and multidimensional nature, while leaving them free to experiment. Another concern is that having a brand identity and a stable visual identity system might not fit the lifestyle and beliefs of the artist. For example, anonymity is a strategy that many artists follow and that makes them unique (e.g. Banksy). In this case, traditional branding is irrelevant.

Art has no rules. Art itself is about breaking rules. So there is no “must” or “should” when it comes to branding art. Branding has to adjust and respect the “rules” of the artist and not the opposite. If there are infinite ways to make art, there have to be infinite ways to apply branding. Ultimately, the right question might not be “how to brand art” but “how to make branding more artistic.”