About
Design first. Strategy and marketing made it work.
I started as a graphic designer, but I've never just been the person making it look good. Since graduating in 2021, research, positioning and running marketing inside a growing trade business have taught me how a brand has to work: on the van, the quote, the Google profile and in front of the right customers.
The short version
I'm Aisha Rain, a Perth based brand & marketing consultant, building brands with the people behind Perth's trade and service businesses, from the first logo to the marketing that follows.
Through strategy, research and design, I build brands with presence and personality, and the marketing support that holds up long after launch.
I've worked in design and marketing since graduating in 2021, most of that time with Smartfix: first as a freelance designer and then in-house as Brand & Marketing Manager. I looked after the brand through two chapters, and the marketing behind it: the website and search, campaigns, reporting and the team, as it grew into one of Perth's largest residential trade businesses.
More than the design
Marketing without a brand is a job with no scope.
Plenty of trade and service businesses spend on marketing before they've worked out what they stand for. The ads run, the flyers go out, and none of it quite adds up, because nobody wrote the scope.
I do both halves of the job. The research and strategy that work out who you're for and what to say, and the design that makes it visible: the logo, the guidelines, the van, the quote.
Then the marketing that puts it to work. Working inside a growing trade business taught me that the logo, the Google profile, the quote template and the follow-up email all belong to one system, so I build them to work together.
How I work
Four things I try to always do
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Understand before designing
I won't start on a logo before I understand the business, the customer and who you're up against. Research, competitors and positioning come first, and the first conversations are mostly questions.
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Every choice has a reason
Colours, type, imagery and words all trace back to your customers, your competitors and your goals, so you can explain your brand, not just show it.
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Built to be used
A brand only earns its keep in the marketing that follows: the quote, the flyer, the ad, the Google profile. Guidelines and templates your team can pick up on Monday, not a document that sits in a folder.
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You own it after handover
I explain the reasoning so you can brief anyone with confidence, and I stay on for the marketing questions that come up once the brand is out in the world.
Tools I work in
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Figma
- Framer
- Miro
- WordPress
- Mailchimp
- Meta Business Suite
- Google Analytics 4
- Asana
- Claude
What drives me
Learner first, with a useful pairing underneath
My top five CliftonStrengths
- Learner85
- Empathy78
- Achiever78
- Strategic78
- Developer73
Learning is what I get the most energy from. I enjoy getting better at something as much as the result, and that's a big part of why I like teaching what I've learned.
Empathy and Strategic sit side by side for me. I'm usually holding two questions at once: what does this person need right now, and what's the smart long-term move? That's the balance good brand work needs. The plan has to be right for the business, and it has to work for the person carrying it out.
Achiever is where I get my follow-through. I finish what I start and take ownership of it. But I've learned that moving fast only helps if you're solving the right thing, which is why I keep coming back to this:
“Understand the problem before deciding what it needs.”
Outside of work
Beyond the work
Outside of work, I’m usually finding somewhere good to eat, planning a trip, spending time with family and friends, or getting stuck into one of my own creative projects.
I’ve always liked making things and learning as I go, so I’m not particularly good at having nothing on. There’s normally an idea I’m playing with, somewhere I want to go, or something new I’ve decided I want to learn.
Kind words
What people say about working with me
Aisha provided us with several good options to consider. … Her professionalism and knowledge helped us to make our decision quickly and easily.
Aisha’s vast knowledge of branding, marketing, and strategy is very impressive. … I couldn’t ask for a more knowledgeable and supportive mentor.
Aisha has a really strong ability to bring together people, ideas and business needs, and then turn them into something clear and actionable.
When there were lots of competing tasks, she was good at breaking things down and helping the team work out where to focus.