#349 - Between Trends and Timelessness: The Antara Approach to Building Strong Brands from the Outside In

Isabel Mendez is the founder and design director at Antara Studio, an award-winning full-service design partner for purpose-driven brands. 

With a focus on brand, content, and design, Isabel and her team help companies create cohesive and emotionally resonant identities across all touchpoints.

In this episode of DTC POD, Blaine and Isabel discuss:

• The three necessary phases for creating a brand identity
• What makes a good brand story and how brands can effectively communicate it
• How brands can adapt to trends while remaining true to who they are

Interact with other DTC experts and access our monthly fireside chats with industry leaders on DTC Pod Slack.

On this episode of DTC Pod, we cover:
1. DTC Brand Design Trends
2. Stages of Brand Identity Building
3. Characteristics of a Good Brand Story
4. Consistency in Branding
5. Branding as a Holistic Process

Timestamps
00:00 Starting the design studio Antara
03:39 From freelancing to building a team
05:10 The basics of building a great brand
07:45 Branding as graphic communication
10:21 Owning assets vs having a brand
12:26 Phases of brand identity construction
16:21 What makes a good brand story
21:09 Brand case study: Star Fades International
25:15 Establishing a design story for brands
26:55 Brand application and consistency
29:48 Design trends and timelessness
33:33 What’s next for Antara

Show notes powered by Castmagic

Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.  

Additional episodes you might like:

• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth

• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content

• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views

• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands

• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook

• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands

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Projects the DTC Pod team is working on:
DTCetc - all our favorite brands on the internet
Olivea - the extra virgin olive oil & hydroxytyrosol supplement
Castmagic - AI Workspace for Content

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Isabel Mendez - Founder and Design Director of Antara Studio
Blaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Castmagic
Ramon Berrios - Co-F