Direction Not Decoration Book
Direction Not Decoration (Paperback) - Image 2
Direction Not Decoration (Paperback) - Image 3

Direction Not Decoration (Paperback)

$24.99

Quick test: line up your website, your sponsor packet, last year’s gala banner and whatever your volunteers say at the farmers market. Do they sound like one organization, or a group project where nobody read the brief?

Direction Not Decoration follows Martin, an A/C company owner who is sure a new logo will fix everything. Five vendors, six logo files and one suspiciously confident shade of blue later, he learns what a brand actually is: what people see, what they hear and what they feel, all pointing the same direction. It’s a quick, funny read with reflection questions at the end of every chapter, so your organization walks away with a plan instead of a mood board.

  • Signed copies are free. Just choose “Signed” at checkout.
  • Order online and pick it up at our Yuma office (2511 E. 24th Street, Suite A), or stop by and buy one in person.
  • Bundle it with the Brand Discovery Master Workbook and turn every chapter into homework you’ll actually want to do.

Branding Done Right Bundle

Brand Discovery Master Workbook

Brand Discovery Master Workbook

The Brand Discovery Master Workbook is a guided brand clarity system designed to help founders, startups, nonprofits, and growing organizations define who they are and communicate it consistently. Built from the real-world process used by an award-winning agency, this workbook combines structured exercises, guided prompts, worksheets, and practical examples to help organizations organize their messaging, sharpen their identity, and create a stronger foundation for future growth. Whether you are building a brand for the first time or preparing for a rebrand, this workbook is designed to help you move forward with greater clarity and direction.

SKU: Parent: 9781964587110 Category:

Description

You do good work. So why doesn’t anyone remember your name?

Martin has run his A/C company the honest way for nearly twenty years. Yet new customers keep mixing him up with the company down the street. So he asks five vendors to “make us look more professional” and gets back a premium website, a penguin in sunglasses, a coupon ad shouting SUMMER SAVINGS BLOWOUT, a slow-motion hero commercial and a truck wrap in a shade of blue nobody approved. Every vendor did exactly what he asked. He just ended up with five different companies.

Direction Not Decoration is the story of what happens next. With help from his office manager, Ruby, and a design studio that refuses to rush him, Martin learns that a brand is a system, not a logo. It stands on three pillars:

  • Visual Identity: what people see, and whether they recognize you on sight
  • Brand Voice: what people hear, rooted in values your team can actually use
  • Customer Experience: what people feel, and whether your team delivers it every time

A brand guide holds it all together, so every employee, volunteer and vendor tells the same story.

Who it’s for

  • Nonprofit leaders juggling a board, volunteers, sponsors and a rotating cast of vendors
  • Small business owners who know they’re different but can’t get anyone else to see it
  • Anyone who has asked a designer to “make it look professional” and hoped for the best

Every chapter ends with reflection questions written for your business or organization, so the lessons carry straight over to your mission and your next sponsor packet.

What you’ll walk away with

  • How to give vendors clear direction instead of hoping they guess right
  • How to turn the values you already live into words your team can repeat
  • How to compete on clarity instead of price
  • The Simple Brand Check, four questions you can run today

What’s inside

  1. The Company Everyone Knew, But Nobody Remembered
  2. Five Vendors, Five Different Companies
  3. The Map Before the Marketing
  4. What People See Before They Listen
  5. What People Hear Before They Trust
  6. When the Brand Has to Prove Itself
  7. The Guide Everyone Could Follow
  8. When the Brand Started Working

Closing: The Lesson Martin Took With Him, plus a Final Reflection and The Simple Brand Check.

From the people who build brand guides for a living

Written by Jon M. Perry with Sarah Scott of Imaginary Friends design studios, the 2025 Yuma County Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year. Jon is a Gold ADDY Award winner with more than two decades of helping small businesses and nonprofits build brands that work.

You can finish it in an evening and use it for years.

Additional information

Signed Copy

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