Parklife Shares Branding Expertise with LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs at Ensemble
Strong brand identities don’t just happen. They’re built thoughtfully, layer by layer, with intention and purpose. Recently, Parklife founder & CEO Brian Castle and designer Rachel Cameron had the opportunity to bring the Parklife perspective to Ensemble, North Carolina’s LGBTQ+ entrepreneurial hub. Together, they led a workshop on branding, guiding local entrepreneurs through the essentials of creating a brand identity that truly resonates.
The presentation covered the full spectrum of branding, from the abstract to the tangible. Brian and Rachel walked participants through the creative process step by step, using Parklife’s own evolution as a case study along the way.
More Than a Logo
One of the big questions that guided the presentation was a simple one: What comes first—the logo or the brand? Their answer emphasized the bigger picture–-a brand is more than a logo. It’s the collective sum of vision, mission, values, and visual identity working together to communicate meaning and build trust.
Rachel walked attendees through the essential components of visual brand identity:
Shape & Imagery: How the human brain forms associations with patterns and symbols.
Color: Why theory, accessibility, and consistency matter.
Typography: How typefaces communicate tone and shape perception.
When one of these pieces is misaligned, she explained, the whole brand can lose cohesion and audience engagement can suffer.
The Rulebook of Brand Identity
To bring these concepts of branding to life, Brian and Rachel used Parklife itself as a case study. As a 15-year-old agency, Parklife has had to do its own work of evolving and refining its brand over time. They shared how Parklife’s vision (to be a haven for entrepreneurs and creatives) and mission (to advance entrepreneurship, social innovation, thought leadership, and inclusion) translate into design choices that are progressive, modern, and always evolving.
Attendees got a behind-the-scenes look at how we’ve shaped our own brand over the years, as well as examples from our clients, to show how different choices in color palettes or typography can radically shift the feel of a brand.
Brand as Community-Building
But branding isn’t just about visuals. Brian reminded the group that at Parklife, “It’s not about all the whats—it’s about the whos.” For us, branding is a tool to help entrepreneurs, social innovators, and thought leaders grow. Every logo, tagline, and design choice should connect back to people and the communities they serve.
Bringing Ideas to Life
At the end of the presentation, Brian and Rachel returned to a theme that guides all of Parklife’s work: branding is about telling a story. The logos, colors, fonts, and guidelines are the building blocks, but the real magic happens when those elements come together to reflect a mission, a purpose, and a vision for impact.
