Meet Our Founder

Now that we’ve covered why our studio is called Sunday Roast, and why we call our clients “do-gooders”, it’s time to look behind the curtain and get to know our founder, Lee. Lee is a Graphic Designer, Brand Creator and Web Designer based in the Kawartha Lakes who is passionate about building successful brands.

Full name:
Lee Brennan

Hometown:
Sheffield, England

Schooling:
Degree in Graphic Design from Sheffield Hallam University

Years in career:
10+ years

Why Graphic Design?

As a 15/16 year old, I enjoyed the “graphics” course at school the most. I also got my best grades in that course! It seemed like a natural progression to take graphic design at college and so that’s what happened. My love of the industry has grown and developed since then, but my initial interest in graphic design is simply that it’s what I enjoyed, and it’s what I was good at!

Why open your own studio?

To get back to those reasons I started graphic design in the first place! As I mentioned, I love the industry more now and my knowledge and expertise have increased, but I wanted to make sure I still enjoyed what I do. I didn’t necessarily dislike what I was doing as a freelancer but I needed to inject more passion if I was going to do this for the foreseeable future! So I basically took myself through my own process to figure out the why, what and who of my own business to try and truly figure out what my passion behind the work was. That landed pretty quickly into an area of positive impact. Whether local or global, the projects I felt more invested in were those that had a cause, or a goal to create positive social impact and so that is how Sunday Roast came about!

Where do you get your design inspiration?

I have a few people that I follow and a few websites that I try to stay on top of that I feel are pretty typical, but all very helpful. Chris Do and the work at The Futur, courses from Domestika, Simon Sinek, and GaryVee among others… designspiration.com, awwwards.com, and siteinspire.com are all great sites to visit, but I find a lot of inspiration from all the many talented designers/freelancers/agencies that I follow on instagram, and I love seeing what they are doing! I also join a lot of webinars be it through Squarespace, InVision or others to learn new tips, and build my design and/or business knowledge! 

How would you describe your creative process?

My creative process I would say is collaborative as much as possible but in a somewhat controlled environment. That may sound contradictory but what I mean by it is —I am the expert they have come to for help. They have a problem, and I can fix it.  But I also understand that my clients are experts in their respective fields so as much as I research something or figure something out, I may be off point sometimes. So the collaboration comes in the form of phone calls and digging into the issues together; the ‘why’s’, and getting to the bottom of the problem. It also comes through their feedback and opinions about what’s been done at a particular phase of the project, for example I may say, “here is a mood board of what I think is the best route to take, and the solution that I think you need”, but they have a say too! “This works but this doesn’t”. And we work like that throughout the process. The controlled environment is the process itself. I have a structured process that we work through to get the best results. There are phases and deliverables and timelines/deadlines within the project so that the discussions/solutions/collaborations stay focused and meaningful. 

What is your favourite occupation to design for?

I do not have a favourite industry or business to design for. Having said that, I have been able to work on some exciting projects from clothing companies, fitness, and other creative agencies that I really enjoyed being a part of and found some passion in working on them.

Why are you passionate about “do-gooder” organizations and where did your love for them begin? 

My passion for working with ‘businesses with a cause’ we’ll call them, started when working with Akin Clothing. Their whole business model I fell in love with. Their vibe and culture is part of who I am on a personal level, but the giving aspect and the community building aspect is amazing to me. Their whole process of collaborating with artists/musicians/poets/photographers around the world in order to create unique awesome tee designs is one thing, but then to use the profits of those sales to provide school uniforms for children in underdeveloped countries (where school uniforms are a necessity to attend school but so many families can’t afford them) is amazing work. Not only that but the school uniforms are made in the local area of the children receiving them! AND the children participate in a community-based project to “earn” their uniforms. Just so many levels of building community across the world. It’s quite beautiful and it is the catalyst for the start of Sunday Roast. 

What kind of design projects are you most interested in?

Sunday Roast is here to work with entrepreneurs and businesses to help them succeed. For us that comes in the form of Brand Strategy, Brand Identity and Digital Presence. We believe strongly that without a brand strategy you are going to struggle if not fail. Your brand strategy identifies your internal direction as much as your external direction. Who are you? What’s your mission/vision? What are your values, your value proposition, your position in the market? What is your market? Who are you aiming to work with? Who is your target audience? How do you speak/sound? What’s your tone and voice? All these things and more, are the foundation of how your brand identity is developed, how your logo is built, what your colours are, what your typography is, etc. Together these inform your digital presence! Your website goals, aesthetic/functionality, user experience, etc… So to try and answer the question we are more interested in projects that understand that goals matter, that strategy needs to come first and those that trust us to help them succeed.

In 10 words or less, how would you define a “brand”?

The key to successfully connecting your business to your audience.

To you, what makes a successful brand?

A successful brand has a clear strategy in place. It has clear goals and it connects and engages with its audience. I think a truly successful brand engages users to the level of them going out of their way to follow or interact with that brand. If you look at the more successful brands out there, they have created a community or a lifestyle that people want to follow and be a part of. That doesn’t happen over night and it doesn’t have to make you billions but to me that is success and if you put in the work you can achieve it.

How do you unwind after a long day of being creative?

After the typical madness of dinner and getting the kids to bed, I tend to sit and watch a movie or a couple of episodes of whatever show my wife and I are watching. That is a typical end of day wind down, but I also have things I do during the day to try to focus, or have a zen moment. That could be a mixture of meditation and taking deep breaths, standing up and pulling some power poses or even cracking out the guitar and playing a song or two. I find stepping away for a moment to do these things helps clear the mind and allows me to organize things better.

What advice would you give to new businesses trying to create their brand? 

For a new business, the first step is to have a brand strategy. Figure out all the things I mentioned previously about who you are, why you exist, who you exist for and where you sit in the market. This will then inform how your brand should look, how you should move forward to reach your audience, and what you need to do to reach your business goals. On that same note, an existing business can benefit just as much from getting their strategy in place! Maybe your goals are not being met, maybe you are not attracting the right clients, and you need to adjust or realign your strategy. We did that very thing for ourselves, and we’ve done it for multiple existing small to medium businesses. Strategy first, identity second, a digital presence and successfully reaching your audience will follow that. 

There you have it, folks!

The man behind the pen tool is focused, creative and ready to help you achieve your dream brand.
Not sure where to start with your brand or feel like your brand needs a revamp? Reach out to Lee and Sunday Roast to get started!