How To Visually UPGRADE Your Music Brand: The Art Direction Playbook (Dom Dolla Edition)

Today we're going to talk about Domala

and the art direction behind his brand.

If you want to build a cult following,

tour the world, and create at the

highest level. In today's world, you're

going to need a strong visual identity

to do it. Even from the beginning, Dom's

identity was clear. And by having a

clear identity, he didn't just look like

a major artist, he became one. Over the

last 15 years, I've been a creative

director and art director for some of

the largest brands in music as well as

luxury fashion brands. and I found the

difference between a memorable artist

identity or brand lives in the details

and how it's put together. In this

video, I'm going to break down Dom

Doll's brand from an art direction

standpoint. Part of what made him ascend

to the peak of the music world at the

speed that he did was the strength of

his brand. Even from the beginning, it

felt expensive. It felt like he was

already a big artist. And that's a

secret not a lot of people talk about

that sometimes just looking the part

gets both fans and the industry to

believe in you. So, for today's video,

I'm going to look at key elements from

the art and creative direction world,

and break down how Dom's brand is a

masterclass in executing those elements.

Working with our agency, The Colt

Creatives, over the last decade, I've

seen artist careers change almost

overnight just by launching a new brand

identity. We actually have a free art

direction playbook with blank slides

that you can use to art direct the

different contractors for your own

brand. If you want that, comment cult

playbook and we'll send you the document

for free. No signups, no sales, no

newsletters. It's just something I

wanted you to have if you needed it. The

power of presentation is everything. It

doesn't matter how good the product is

if it's packaged wrong. I'll actually

give you some tips more towards the end

of the video to make sure that you avoid

your packaging being wrong. But first,

let's talk about identity from a high

level. Key number one, who are you? If

you don't know who you are, how can you

expect the audience to know? If you've

seen any of my other videos, you know

that I believe that modern brands are

movies or ongoing shows that the

audience is watching. And from the

beginning, Dom's movie, the character

the audience was watching, had a clear

point of view, and the movie had a

defined aesthetic. I have a longer video

on the Neighborhood Art Supply channel

that goes into defining your movie and

finding your brand personality

archetype. So, if you haven't seen that

yet, it might be worth checking out. So,

for Dom, his brand personality archetype

is the cool every man. He's cool and

confident, but he's also relatable. You

feel like if you bumped into him at a

bar, he'd be a great hang just to grab

beers with. If Dom was a product, which

he isn't, he's an artist. But if he was,

he'd be selling relatability. When you

become a Dom fan, you almost feel like

if you knew Dom in real life, you'd be

good friends. So then, what's the plot

of his story? I have another video on

Neighbor Art Supply that talks about how

to find your story's plot. But for Dom,

it's Rags to Riches meets Overcoming the

Monster. The classic Rags to Rich's arc,

a self-made artist who rose from local

DJ to global headliner. And then that's

layered into the overcoming the monster

plot where he defends against the noise

and mediocrity of the typical EDM scene.

He's using a higher standard, styling,

branding, and taste to beat the monster

that represents the typical EDM world.

Knowing who you are from a positioning

and story standpoint is key to building

a brand. But the story won't mean much

if there's not a defined look, which is

what we're going to talk about next. Key

number two, the look. If I were to say,

tell me about Domala's look. What's the

first thing that you'd say? Right, the

mustache. Now, we're in an era where a

lot of DJs have mustaches. But in the

dance world, when Dom arrived, he was

one of the only artists who had a

mustache and he repped it. It was a

defined, unique look. A concept we talk

a lot about at Colt is that if somebody

were to dress up as you for Halloween,

what would they wear? Would it be easy

for them to come up with the fit? So,

look at the weekends after hours era.

How many people ran that costume for

Halloween? It was instantly clear who

they were trying to be and what the

reference was. Or other examples, think

of dressing up as Steve Aayoki or Billy

Isish in the neon green era or Tyler the

Creator. Pretty quickly when you're

thinking about these artists, you might

start thinking about what fit you would

wear. So this same concept, use this

when you're art directing your look for

your different eras. Make it easy for

the audience to remember. If someone

dressed up as you for Halloween, would

we recognize it instantly? That's the

ultimate brand test for Dom. you know,

the mustache and his casual elevated

style. He wears brands, but the brands

don't wear him. For his styling alone,

there's a consistency that's there. And

in 15 years of doing this, I'd say

that's the thing that separates good

artists from great artists, consistency.

Key number three, consistency. So, the

third key is simple, but can be

catastrophic if you ignore it. Most the

artists I know hate consistency because

part of why they became artists was to

avoid being put in a box and they wanted

to explore different creative

curiosities. But consistency for your

artist project shouldn't be viewed as a

negative. There are ways to create a

consistent sandbox where as long as you

live inside that sandbox, you can create

infinitely. So look at Dom's visuals

across the board. Instagram, Spotify

banners, YouTube thumbnails, tour

posters, livestaging visuals. The vibe

is instantly recognizable. There's a

clear aesthetic and it feels like a

refined brand. And he's not just

creating posts, he's building a world

that fans can live inside. Shout out to

the sweat equity guys who coined the

concept that your brand should be a mood

board that the audience lives inside.

Nothing should feel like an afterthought

or thrown together. That's what creates

brand gravity. Fans feel that cohesion

on a gut level. They recognize the

artist brand even without a logo because

the feeling itself is consistent. So,

now you may be thinking, "Yes, I agree

with all this, but how do you actually

do that?" Well, that's what we're going

to talk about next. How to actually art

direct. Key number four, photo and video

art direction. A picture is worth a

thousand words. Dom doesn't just show up

in front of the camera. There's clear

art direction there. Every posted photo

looks like a still pulled from a real

moment in his life. There's thought

behind the mood, the scene, his posture,

and the context. It's not just posting

an iPhone photo backstage at one of your

shows. There should be a clear art

direction around the vibe. For example,

if you're an artist who's super

energetic and that's part of the

performance, it may be good to shoot

with a motion blur effect that feels

like you're capturing action in a

moment. Or if your brand is meant to be

more high-end and cinematic, you might

want to shoot with more high contrast,

dramatic lighting, and deep shadows.

When you work with a good photographer

or videographer, which if you're not

already, as soon as possible, you should

be. You're giving them strong art

direction via mood boards that show the

style that you're after with specific

callouts of exactly what you're looking

for. And if you're not entirely sure

what it should be, you can work with the

photographer or videographer to build