Photo: Cristina Faramo
Eleonora Majorana is a Sicilian entrepreneur. She has been running Branding Little Brands, a graphic design studio specializing in branding and packaging, for 17 years.
She holds a degree in International Communication and Languages, Graphic Design and a Master’s degree in Branding and Packaging.
She helps entrepreneurs, SMEs, and multinationals alike build strategic brands to increase their invoicing by conveying essence, quality and added value in their corporate image. Her mission is to create authentic, competitive, and outstanding brands for bold companies.
Interview: Irina Rybalchenko
Please tell us a few words about your company. What exactly do you do?
The word “branding,” meaning “branding process,” indicates an evolving and continuous action. This means that companies must have a solid strategy that can be visually transferred into their corporate image – that is consistently supported by the following set parameters.
As part of my methodology, I strive to get to know my clients’ goals, market and strengths in order to shape and visually convey the uniqueness of each business.
One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is procrastinating their branding strategy “for later,” but it is crucial that your professionality is conveyed in every micro-element and from the beginning of every project.
Branding helps to exude trust and emotion to your clients.
Everything in a company should be as streamlined and automated as possible, in order to save time and money. Having a brand that is fit, flexible, and ready for any type of work that needs to be done is fundamental to successful operations.
It gives me great pleasure to see how my clients’ businesses evolve from the first consulting session when they tell me about their challenges, their desire to improve, and that they are missing something. I am very pleased to see them smile when they leave, feeling confident that they finally have a solution for further growth.
In fact, it’s just not enough to have only a logo and a file folder. A logo lives and evolves in the context of content and communication. Therefore, it is essential that there are recurring and recognizable elements in every piece of communication it touches – whether it´s the same fonts, colors, or text wrappers – this image will stick in the clients’ minds and represent consistency.
What many people don’t know or expect is that even the biggest companies fail when it comes to managing the touchpoints of their brand.
This is completely normal, because the more you grow, the more you need to create. And if you increase your team, there will be multiple people involved with the brand and each of them will implement it in their own way.
Most entrepreneurs do not give proper importance to their brand image. So in the short term, it appears to be weak or outdated, giving the audience the impression of unprofessionalism, unawareness, or even neglect.
On the other hand, a company that aims to reach success in achieving its goals must treat the brand with respect, use it with discipline, and periodically evaluate whether everything is being done in the best way.
What are the most interesting projects, from your point of view, that you were able to successfully implement?
I would like to highlight the Arancino project, developed remotely for a client from Luxembourg who needed a corporate image for an Italian street food truck. The client came with a white truck and was challenged to stand out from the other food trucks in the country. I was able to create a Mediterranean décor that embellished the truck and made it recognizable and attractive at first sight.
I also like projects that involve a redesign, either a generational or management change, as in the case of Casa Amàlia, a market cuisine restaurant in Barcelona. It needed to update its image and a refined style to attract a larger audience.
Who are your main clients?
My clients tend to be entrepreneurs with a long history and with several businesses. Currently most of my clients are from Spain, Italy or the rest of Europe, although I have had experience in Latin America. Speaking several languages and my cosmopolitan background allows me to internationalize my job.
What current design trends can you point out?
In design, it’s important to stay on top of current trends. But it’s equally important to strike a balance and avoid a homogeneous landscape in which new brands become indistinguishable from one another. While it is very useful to keep an eye on visual trends, a certain distance must be maintained to avoid an oversaturation of new brands that resemble each other.
We should know how to use this lauded artificial intelligence to put it at the service of designers, but not to establish what has value and what does not.
The core strength of design lies in careful research, and this process should remain central to strategic visual storytelling.
As every person is unique, every brand should reflect the nature of the business. Adopting a “one-size-fits-all” or “pretty style” can quickly lead to monotony and ultimately a loss of relevance and clientele.
The visual journey should be original and developed by a design consultant who understands the spirit of your brand.
