FounderMetrics: Alexandra Lunn

This time on FounderMetrics, Ifty Nasir spoke with Alexandra Lunn, the founder of the London-based branding and design studio, Alexandra Lunn Studios.

Alexandra has worked with some of the biggest names, from iconic publishing houses to luxury hotel chains, to tell their story in the most compelling ways possible.

In her conversation with Ifty, Alexandra explains why a brand is much more than a logo and what success really looks like to her. You can read the highlights below, or click here for the full episode.

Not very employable

I've always wanted to dance to the beat of my own drum. I remember at uni, there was a Deutsche Bank award up for grabs, and someone called Gabriella won it; she set up a studio in Glasgow. I thought, wow, that's so cool.

I always wanted to do that, but I also wanted industry experience. So, I did a few internships - one in Amsterdam and another in North London at Jonathan Barnbrook. He did the album cover artwork for David Bowie's Blackstar album, among others. 

I helped with a few exhibition identities, and at one point, he sat down with me and said, "So, what are you going to do next?" I think he recognised something in me. Like, "You're not very employable," but in a nice way.

Well, he didn’t actually say that; I've said it because, as I've come to know myself more, I think I'm a much better business owner than I would be sitting behind a desk, getting a pat on the shoulders for the work. I just wanted to take things into my own hands.

Building a business

I started signing on while doing part-time design and freelance work, but it just wasn’t enough.

I always say I went from GSA to JSA - from Glasgow School of Art to Jobseeker’s Allowance.

I was living in my grandmother's house in Muswell Hill at the time and caring for her. She was 103 when she passed away in 2015. 

When I was signing on, I went on this course for entrepreneurs. Someone said, "Look, you're not making any headway with the studios you want to get into."

I was only applying to studios I really loved, rather than taking a scattergun approach. I wanted to work in certain places, and then I went on a course and got a certificate - an NVQ in enterprise, I think - and met my first client on that course. The rest is history.

Ideas of success

Everyone's idea of success is different, isn’t it? For me, it’s how calm and content I feel, as well as, obviously, the monetary income. If I’m feeling a bit frazzled and all over the place, I know that something’s wrong.

Last year, we restructured the business because we were getting more and more leads in. We’re a small team, and I’m not looking to scale. We want to continue providing bespoke, tailored services. It’s like a boutique studio.

So, I decided to hire a really good PA, Anne-Marie. She’s so much more than that. She does account management and project management. She really helped one of our biggest projects reach a significant level of success.

Anderson Harris was our first big client -they’re a mortgage advisory service based in Victoria, London - and they were so pleased with the outcome from start to finish.

Part of that success was due to the journey with Anne-Marie, who ensured everything was well catered for. It’s given me the confidence that we could do so much more in helping brands realise their goals, visions, and values.

Of course, we also choose our clients. Today, I chatted with my social media strategist, and we decided not to meet with someone who keeps messing us around.

It’s someone who’s like, "Can we meet today? Can we meet tomorrow?" That’s a good red flag because it’s probably going to be like that throughout.

Open doors

With Anderson Harris, they just trusted us to do the job. I think when it’s a founder and they’re bootstrapping everything, their heart is so much in it, which I totally get.

I love working with them for that reason because you’re changing their life and enabling them to do something totally different. Since the Anderson Harris brand identity went live, we’ve had a couple of leads come through.

And I go out a lot. I do a lot of networking. There’s a members club called Adarium, which is for high-net-worth individuals, as well as entrepreneurs and people who are doing something with purpose.

It’s the right place for me to be and a really interesting group of people to meet. It doesn’t feel like networking; it feels like just hanging out and having a good time, but good things come off the back of it.

Branding is more than just a logo

When people think about brands, they usually think about a logo. That it is a part of it, but not all. A brand is so much more than a logo.

Oftentimes, people come to me for a label or a logo design, and it’s just not enough.

You have to have the backstory to be able to translate the narrative throughout all touchpoints, and that definitely includes tone of voice.

How you speak, how you pick up the phone, how your employees are with your customers or clients, what your employees say about working with you. It’s everything!

The AI Conundrum 

There's so much that you can't say with AI. You need to have that human touch. I always want to work with humans, but when all other industries are using AI, you kind of have to evolve with it but I think the more sophisticated it gets, the more screwed we are as an industry.

Adobe, for example, has an app which essentially does away with the role of a junior designer:

You could tell it to come up with three logos that all look very vibrant and energetic, and it will do that for you.

Or you could tell it to come up with three logos that will look clean and sophisticated. You can specify the colour palette, say, red, green, blue, and the results are actually, not all that bad. They’re really basic, but it's a good starting point to build on.

I do use ChatGPT. I have a tendency to waffle so I will say to it, “Please say this in fewer words”. For things like that, I love it, but I do wonder where we are going with it.

Listen now

Keen to hear more? You'll find Alexandra’s episode and more on all popular podcast platforms. You can also watch the interview in full on YouTube. Don't forget to like and subscribe!