Brand in a Weekend: Visuals, Voice, and a Punchy Bio

Why this matters (and why “aesthetic” isn’t a strategy)

If a stranger can’t tell what you sound like and how you want them to feel within three seconds of landing on your profile, they bounce. Visuals and voice are how you frame the music—so the right listeners self-select and act (save, follow, buy, show up). You don’t need a rebrand; you need clarity and consistency you can maintain.

This weekend build gives you:

• A 2-color palette + neutral you’ll actually use

• A type pairing that looks pro without a designer

• A DIY wordmark that scales across covers and thumbnails

• A voice guide so captions and emails sound like you

• Three bios (social, press, EPK) you can paste today

Part 1 — Visuals: your 2–1–N brand kit

A. Palette (2–1–N method)

• 2 core colors (emotion match): one primary that pops on dark/bright backgrounds, one accent for buttons/highlights.

• 1 contrast neutral (dark/ink): for text, outlines.

• N utilities (soft grey, off-white, near-black): for backgrounds.

Pick fast:

• Charged/gym/hype: cobalt (#0B84FF) + electric teal (#2EE6D6); ink (#0A0F14).

• Cathartic/night-drive: neon magenta (#FF2E86) + cyan (#00E6FF); ink (#080B12).

• Cozy/study/lo-fi: moss (#4C7A5A) + sand (#E5CDA6); ink (#1C2220).

• Cinematic alt-pop: violet (#7C5CFF) + acid lime (#C6FF00); ink (#0C0C0F).

Rule: one color leads; the other accents. Everything else is neutral.

B. Type pairing (free + legible)

• Headline: Oswald / Bebas Neue / Anton (bold, condensed).

• Body: Inter / Source Sans 3 / Lato (regular/medium).
  Use one weight for headlines and one for body. No italics unless it’s a lyric pull-quote.

Hierarchy cheats:

• Headlines 28–40pt (web), body 14–18pt.

• All-caps only for 1–3 words (song title or callout).

C. DIY wordmark (10 minutes in Canva)

1. Create 3000×1000 canvas (transparent background).

2. Type your artist name in the headline font.

3. Track the letters (+5 to +40) until it breathes.

4. Nudge kerning on tricky pairs (AV, TA, LY).

5. Duplicate layer → offset 2px → set to primary color for a micro-outline.

6. Export PNG (transparent) and SVG.

7. Save a white and near-black version.

Covers & thumbs: lock the wordmark position (e.g., bottom-left, 48px from edges) so every cover feels like you.

Part 2 — Voice: how you sound when you’re not singing

A. 3 sliders to lock tone

• Direct ↔ Poetic → pick your 70/30.

• Confident ↔ Vulnerable → 60/40? 40/60? Choose.

• Technical ↔ Story-first → default to story unless you make tutorials.

Write two example captions in your chosen tone so future-you can copy the cadence.

B. Style rules you’ll actually keep

• Sentences: 8–14 words. No walls of text.

• Hooks first: 1 bold sentence or a question the fan already asks.

• One ask per post: save, comment, or click—never all three.

• Banned filler: “genre-bending,” “pushing boundaries.” Say the feeling and moment instead.

Part 3 — Bios that sell the feeling (copy/paste)

1) Social bio (70–120 chars)

Modern metal for late-night drives. Fans of Sevendust & Trivium—save this for tonight. 🎧

Template:

[GENRE] for [USE-CASE]. Fans of [REF1] & [REF2]—[soft ask].

2) Press bio (120–180 words)

Template:

[ARTIST] makes [GENRE] that feels [EMOTION] for [USE-CASE]. On [LATEST RELEASE/ERA], they lean into [SOUND DETAIL: riff-heavy choruses, cinematic whispers, 808s that shake glass], channeling influences from [REF1] and [REF2] into [UNIQUE ANGLE: late-night catharsis / gym-charge / cozy focus].

The project took shape [ORIGIN/PROVING MOMENT: after a string of midnight drives across Detroit / while producing beats for local filmmakers], and the result is [PROMISE: songs built to be saved and replayed]. Recent highlights include [PROOF: sold-out support at ___ / 250k saves-to-streams on ___ / local press mention].

With [UPCOMING: EP/tour/single] arriving [DATE], [ARTIST] invites listeners to press play when [SITUATION] and leave feeling [PROMISE OUTCOME].

3) EPK bio (skimmable paragraph + highlights)

Paragraph (80–120 words):

[ARTIST] crafts [GENRE] that feels [EMOTION] for [USE-CASE]. If [REF1] met [REF2] on [VIBE IMAGE: rain-slicked Woodward Ave / a basement lift session / a 2am study sprint], you’d get [ARTIST]: [SOUND DETAIL]. New single [TITLE] arrives [DATE], produced by [COLLAB/SELF], the lead chapter of [ERA/EP NAME].

Highlights (bullets):

• Notable: [press, radio, playlist, support slots]

• Metrics: [saves-to-streams, email list size, YT views]

• Live: [cities, sell-through %, notable venues]

• Contact/Links: [manager/booking/press + smartlink]

Part 4 — Asset checklist (export + naming)

Logos/wordmark: Artist-Wordmark-dark.svg, Artist-Wordmark-light.svg, Artist-Wordmark.png
Palette sheet: Brand-Palette-HEX.png
Type guide: Brand-Type-Pairing.pdf
Cover template: Cover-Template-3000x3000.psd (or Canva template)
Thumbnail template: YT-Thumb-1280x720.psd
Press photos: Press_YYYY-Lastname-Photographer-01.jpg (3000px+)
EPK (one zip): Artist-EPK.zip → bio.docx, photos, wordmark, links.txt

Export sizes:

• Covers: 3000×3000 JPG (quality 90+), keep under 5 MB.

• Thumbs: 1280×720 JPG/PNG.

• Reels/TikTok: 1080×1920 MP4, 10–30s, loudness -14 LUFS ish (don’t overthink—avoid clipping).

Part 5 — Examples by lane (visual + voice)

Gym metal (charged):

• Colors: cobalt + teal on near-black.

• Type: Anton + Inter.

• Word choices: “lift / hit / charge / rip.”

• Caption hook: “Save for your next PR set.”

Night-drive rock (cathartic):

• Colors: neon magenta + cyan on deep navy.

• Type: Bebas Neue + Source Sans 3.

• Word choices: “breathe / burn off / city lights.”

• Caption hook: “Save this for tonight’s drive.”

Lo-fi focus (cozy):

• Colors: moss + sand on charcoal.

• Type: Oswald (light caps) + Lato.

• Word choices: “steady / warm / flow.”

• Caption hook: “Set a 25-minute timer and press play.”

Part 6 — 48-hour sprint plan (hour by hour)

Day 1 (Visuals)

• Hour 1: Pick palette (2–1–N) + type pairing.

• Hour 2: Make the wordmark (dark/light).

• Hour 3: Build cover + thumbnail templates (lock placement).

• Hour 4: Export and name all assets (see checklist).

Day 2 (Voice & Bios)

• Hour 1: Decide tone sliders (Direct/Poetic; Confident/Vulnerable; Story-first/Technical).

• Hour 2: Write social bio (70–120 chars).

• Hour 3: Write press bio (120–180 words).

• Hour 4: Write EPK bio + highlights. Update profiles, EPK doc, and smartlink.

Bonus (30 minutes): shoot a clean press photo: window light, plain wall, 35–50mm phone lens, shoulder-up, 2 variations.

Part 7 — Publish sequence (this week)

• Mon: IG carousel “Before/After bio” + wordmark reveal.

• Wed: Reel/Short: 0:01 emotion proof cut with on-screen hook (brand colors/type).

• Fri: Email: “I finally put words to what this music is” → drop press bio + smartlink.

Troubleshooting (fast fixes)

• Looks messy? You’re using too many colors or fonts. Drop to 2 colors + 1 neutral and one body font.

• Bio reads generic? Replace adjectives with use-case + emotion and references.

• Thumbnails not popping? Increase subject size; add micro-outline to wordmark; reduce background clutter.

• Captions too long? Hook, one sentence of context, one ask. Done.

Paste-ready templates (just swap the brackets)

Social bio:

[GENRE] for [USE-CASE]. Fans of [REF1] & [REF2]—[SOFT ASK].

Press bio (short):

[ARTIST] makes [GENRE] that feels [EMOTION] for [USE-CASE]—songs built to be saved and replayed. New single [TITLE] arrives [DATE], blending [SOUND DETAIL] and influences from [REF1]/[REF2]. Highlights: [PROOF]. Press: [CONTACT].

EPK highlights:

• Notable: [press/playlist/support]

• Metrics: [saves-to-streams, list size]

• Live: [cities/venues]

• Contact: [email/links]

CTA

👉 Download the Bio Builder Template (press, social, EPK)
You’ll get:

• 3 fill-in bios (with word counts + examples)

• a one-page voice guide (tone sliders + banned words)

• a copy-paste press highlights section

• a file-naming + export checklist