snark & magic
presents
Renegade Brand™️ Academy

Design a brand that crackles with personality AND expertise

From beige and boring to “I don’t care what it costs, I neeeeeeed you!,” this is the course that will help you craft brand visuals that grab dream clients by the eyeballs and position you like a pro - while you let your freak flag fly.
OMG yes, help me grab dream clients by the eyeballs

If this is you, pump your fist like it’s going out of style:

Was it in style? Is it out?
I dunno. Like you ever cared about “out of style” or someone else’s drumbeat.

  • You’re in the business of selling your smarts—AND ALSO…

  • You’re desperately in love with doing your work but OMG why is it so hard to sell it?

  • You really know your stuff but marketing online sucks the life out of you. Everything you put out feels like it’s barely a blip on the radar - forgotten 12 seconds later.

  • You have a love/hate with those pretty Pinterest brand boards - all the pristine photos, colors & fonts, lined up neatly, looking so perfect and elegant you’re not sure whether you want to marry them or pelt them with water balloons full of cat pee.

  • You’re afraid you’ll drive people away if you’re too “out there,” so you tone it down and end up looking like Darlene in bookkeeping - you know, that mousy mumbler who always wears basically the same frumpy brown dress, speaks in a monotone, and is always covered in cat hair.

  • I totally love bookkeepers. And people named Darlene. And if you're into frumpy brown dresses - okay then, own that weirdo brown vibe and work it!

  • Worst of all: Most of the time you feel like the nerdiest kid at the prom. You’re working so damn hard to market what you’ve got and you still get to watch the loudmouth pretty-boys and shiny plastic mean girls grabbing up all the clients while you sit in the dark.

Or how about these gut-punches? Any of this sound familiar?

  • Watching your dream clients hire newbies and hacks just because they have a flashier presence than you. 

  • Worse, some of those same people slink back to you a year later after throwing all their money at some guru, finally ready for your help but without the budget to pay you. 🤬

  • You’re trying so hard to show up looking like a pro and just can’t figure out what that magic “something” is that makes stuff look good.

  • You screw around in Canva way too much and still don’t feel like you’ve got a recognizable brand, much less one that makes people want to chase you down in the street so they can throw money at you.

  • You’ve spent 387 hours scrolling through a zillion designs on Etsy and you still have no idea what’s going to work for you.

  • You keep buying all these templates and trying to cram the sheer gloriousness of you into their little beige boxes, and you just end up looking the same as everyone else.

  • Nothing looks right or feels like you but you can’t figure out how to get something that does.

  • You’d rather stick a fork in your eye than do another “ideal client” exercise or work through a bunch of branding questions that leave you feeling like you don’t know shirt about fork - how in the flying forkweasels are you supposed to get started if you have to already know everything before you can get started?


    (Spoiler alert - with our method you hit the ground running from right where you are, no perfect plan required.)

Here's the thing: You’ve gotta look like an expert to get paid like one.

People believe what they see. If you look like a clunky amateur, a noob, or pretty much indistinguishable from the 6,073 other people doing exactly what you do online, guess what? You’re on the struggle bus for life.

Buuuuuuut, hiring a pro designer to whip you up an awesome brand makes ZERO sense when the money isn’t there yet.

On the flip side, how are you supposed to make the money when people take one look at your clunky-ass brand (or lack thereof) and run for the stylish-yet-empty promises of the competition? Or WORSE, glaze over and forget you even exist?

You’re gonna need a starter brand that conveys your awesomeness without spending a shit-ton of time pulling your hair out trying to get it right.

Because getting stuck here means you’ll never get your thing out into the world.
I'm an expert and it's about freaking time I looked like one!

Why not just grab a logo design template & go with that?

Templates are great. They also suck.

They’re great for getting started fast - just pop your name in and go, right? But here’s the thing with templates: If you’re not super clear on what your brand vibe wants to look like visually, it’s hard to pick from the bazillion templates out there. 

Worse - they’re not made to fit you. You end up making yourself fit the template instead of the other way around. 

But once you actually get your design vibe, it doesn’t even matter whether you DIY, work from a template, or hire some help. You’ll know what to pay attention to and how to wind up with a result that makes your dream audience swoon.

You don’t have to spend eight thousand thirty-seven hours learning to be a designer. You don’t even have to learn how to draw a straight line. You just have to learn what matters - and what doesn’t - to make you look awesomely YOU from the word go.

That’s what you’ll do in Renegade Brand™ Academy .

Introducing:
Renegade Brand™ Academy

For the overlooked expert who’s ready to look the part already

I've got 3 deliciously doable goals for you in this course:

Your irresistible brand vibe

Let's hook you up with a totally rock-solid brand foundation that feels SO YOU and looks like a million bucks.

Your no-brainer brand system

Hit the ground running: Get your brand system set up fast and be SUPER clear on what's on-brand for you and what isn't.

Your juicy brand collateral

Get your ideal set of templates & assets together so you have exactly what you need to grab those dream clients by the eyeballs!

You'll learn all you need to know about:

  • How design works to lead, to woo, to enter through the eyeballs in a way that digs all the way to the heart.

  • How to create a visual mood that feels like you want to live there forever, so your brand becomes deliciously motivating to your dream clients AND to you.

  • How to make brilliant design decisions that build your brand, and make ‘em faster, better, and more confidently.

  • How to curate exactly the assets you need, so design never becomes an excuse to give up and go marathon the Star Wars prequel trilogy just so you can feel like there’s something even worse than your marketing.
And you’ll use that newfound genius to brand your new thing FAST so you’re out there making an impact while you test, refine & grow.

The secret? Real world results.

It doesn’t matter how sexy your brand style guide is if nobody freaking knows how to use it.

With the Renegade Brand™️ method, you’ll...

  • Figure out your brand’s core personality & heart - and how to express it visually - in a fun, playful way.

  • Whip it all into a simple but powerful visual system that’s usable from day 1 and made to grow with you.

  • Understand how your brand style applies in the actual world so you can use it everywhere and communicate it with your audience, and then as you grow: your VA, your stylist, your designer, your copywriter, your foot masseuse, your web team, and your nacho concierge.

  • Know your brand is out there making you look like a freaking superhero even on days when you’d rather be curled up under the blankets re-watching all 8 seasons of Psych with a dog (or a weasel, or a giant stuffed dinosaur, we don’t judge) under one arm and a jumbo bag of Cool Ranch Doritos in the other.

All without having to...

  • Have mad (or any!) artistic skills. This is for you even if stick figures actually make fun of your drawing ability.

  • Slog through page after page of ideal client profiles and branding exercises that make you want to stick a fork in your eye.

  • Learn a bunch of advanced design skills & complicated software you don't need.

  • Have all the answers already figured out about this thing you want to launch.

What's inside:

Here's the coolest thing about joining the beta round: your experience will help shape the curriculum. I'll flesh out the details based on what helps you absolutely nail it.

Your irresistible brand vibe:

Get to the juicy beating heart of what makes your Renegade Brand™ so awesomely you & learn how to express it visually. (Warning: I’m gonna make you throw a lot of what you think should go in there out the window.)

Your no-brainer brand system:

Where the pedal meets the metal, bay-bee! Here's where you'll take that brand vibe and make it look totally pro. Colors, fonts, photo styles, backgrounds, and yes, your killer new logo, all set up to make you look like a million bucks everywhere you show up. 

Your juicy brand collateral:

Curate your assets off. Pick the right templates to get started, and tweak them till they’re unmistakably you instead of barely distinguishable from the other 37,861 people using that same template on Instagram. (Hint: it's more than just swapping fonts & colors.)

How it works:

This is the best part: you don’t have to show up on anyone else’s timeline. You can do these lessons whenever, wherever you want. 

Sitting in a cafe in Minsk. Lounging in your living room. Hiding under your desk until the Jehovah’s Witnesses knocking at the front door go away. Hanging out in your bat cave in furry lime green chaps. 

Whatever. It’s all happening online, at your own pace.

Every couple of weeks, a new module is available in your account. Since this is a beta course, I’m still working on shmancy video walkthroughs - but you’ll have the text and images to get through the material & get what you need. And I’ll be checking in to answer questions and help with feedback so you’re never stuck spinning your wheels!

By buying in the beta round, you're getting the special first-dibs price, plus you’ll get every new module, video walkthrough, template & expansion without paying one extra penny, even when the price goes up.
(you had me at "bat cave")

Don't wait. There will never be a better time to make your mark on the world. We need you now.

Grab Renegade Brand™ Academy and craft a brand that positions you like a pro while you let your freak flag fly.

Leave boring behind, grab dream clients by the eyeballs and woo your way into their hearts.
YES! I'm ready to make my mark!

About your instructor

Hi, I'm Tracy Lay, founder of Snark & Magic, 20+ year design pro currently making brand magic at digiVisual design, and the instructor of Renegade Brand™️ Academy.

My background spans work with hundreds of clients in both corporate and 1:1, designing brand & marketing materials for solopreneurs, multi-million dollar companies, individuals & teams, making designs that work for everything from websites & digital marketing to business cards, brochures & billboards.

I'm also a weird introvert obsessed with typography & layout, sci-fi, books, puns, wordplay, and the osprey cams on explore.org.
I am 100% convinced that your brand can be both simple and packed with personality, and that once you know why your design works, you’re unstoppable.

FAQ:

How long will I have access to the course?

There's no time limit on your access. You'll get every new module and upgrade as we expand. These concepts stick with you for life - branding is never a one-and-done thing, and you can revisit this material every time you launch a new product, make a pivot, or just realize it’s time for a brand refresh.

Am I going to have to buy & learn complicated design software? (ugh) 

Nope. Eventually you may want to hire a pro like me to make you a super custom logo in Adobe Illustrator, but I promise you can get started without that - and you definitely don't have to learn it yourself. 

You can do everything you need right now in Canva. I do recommend upgrading to Canva Pro because it will make your life so much easier.

What if I buy the course and I hate it?

I'd like to think that won't happen, but if you buy the course and you truly don't think it has any value for you, that's what the 30-day refund policy is for. No questions, no "show your homework". No hassle.

What the heck is that thing on the left? 

It's a chameleon on a tulip. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Design a brand that crackles with personality AND expertise

Grab Renegade Brand™ Academy and craft a brand that positions you like a pro while you let your freak flag fly.

Leave boring behind, grab dream clients by the eyeballs and woo your way into their hearts.
YES! Help me grab dream clients by the eyeballs!