About Us
de la Riva Brands is the creative studio of Tony de la Riva, a multi-disciplinary, award-winning designer whose focus is brand strategy, identity, and web design. We connect brands with more of their target customers through solid strategy & really good design.
How We Got Started
In January of 2017, as a result of tremendous professional growth and several new outside opportunities to help clients with growing businesses, I left the agency world on the California Central Coast and started de la Riva Brands.
Over 5 years later, we are doing better work than ever and are serving businesses + organizations from San Luis Obispo County to across the state of California and beyond.
The products and services we offer
Recommendations Received (17)
"I have had a brief conversation with Tony and found that he is the consummate professional. He..."
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"I have had a brief conversation with Tony and found that he is the consummate professional. He allowed me to speak while he listened to my concerns! It's apparent this is who he is, just look at his testimonials from other very satisfied clients! Need to get your brand elevated, Tony will give you a hand with that!"
"Tony has great advice and how to boost your presence and build your Brand."
Products & Services
Pictured: Strategy-based brand tagline with rationale for Saints Barrel SLO. Link below.
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Who are you as a brand or organization? What do ...
Pictured: Saints Barrel SLO identity development. Link below.
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If strategy sets the direction, identity is where the magic happens. Identit...
Pictured: Triton website design. Link below.
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1) What is my business model and / or organizational goals?
2) In an ideal world, what wou...
Recommendations Given (7)
"Reggie is a first-class, top-notch guy. He's extremely generous and others-centered, and he works..."
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"Reggie is a first-class, top-notch guy. He's extremely generous and others-centered, and he works really hard to help people for the simple sake of helping them."
"Brandon is a solid guy, a great supporter of local business, and provides a really high-value..."
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"Brandon is a solid guy, a great supporter of local business, and provides a really high-value opportunity that (surprisingly) is really under-utilized these days."
Recent Activity
I use zoom a lot more, lol… We all have, of course, and it is a little bit of a joke, but using zoom for workshops, networking events, and even in place of simple phone calls was never even on my radar. Now I use it all the time because it's a great resource (and not just because govts are...
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I use zoom a lot more, lol… We all have, of course, and it is a little bit of a joke, but using zoom for workshops, networking events, and even in place of simple phone calls was never even on my radar. Now I use it all the time because it's a great resource (and not just because govts are telling us we can't meet in-person). So that's been really helpful.
It's hard to see the label from inside the jar. In nearly every case, it is impossible for a business or organization to brand themselves; we're just too close to be able to effectively determine what is communicative wheat and what is chaff.
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It's hard to see the label from inside the jar. In nearly every case, it is impossible for a business or organization to brand themselves; we're just too close to be able to effectively determine what is communicative wheat and what is chaff.
1 Reply
If all I'm looking at is aesthetics (and I am, because I don't know what the definite objectives were for your project), I would say that it's a little busy and somewhat generic. And I really do say that humbly and I don't mean to insult; if you weren't asking I would never offer it. Overall,...
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If all I'm looking at is aesthetics (and I am, because I don't know what the definite objectives were for your project), I would say that it's a little busy and somewhat generic. And I really do say that humbly and I don't mean to insult; if you weren't asking I would never offer it. Overall, I would say it's "nice;" it's obviously a more modern site; it's fast and the images are clean; nevertheless I would say that the CTA and messaging are somewhat generic. And I'm not trying to be critical or unsympathetic; it was this same, exact challenge that we really had to wrestle with on a real estate site we're wrapping up now (https://jeanettel6.sg-host.com...). How do you make a real estate website unique, and how can the firm utilize its website in a way that is unique but that still serves the firm and site users? It's a tough question. But overall the site is fine and it definitely will do the trick for you for a long time.
Good ol' regulation. Nothing like 2+ years of heavy-handed government overreaction to help the economy. Disappointing. As Thomas Sowell says, rhetoric is no substitute for reality.
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Good ol' regulation. Nothing like 2+ years of heavy-handed government overreaction to help the economy. Disappointing. As Thomas Sowell says, rhetoric is no substitute for reality.
Funny that I'm seeing this this morning. I just saw a really short post yesterday from an agency owner talking about how important it is to do just that. She said that unless you say 'no' to all other work except the one thing in which you specialize, you won't be able to scale, and—most...
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Funny that I'm seeing this this morning. I just saw a really short post yesterday from an agency owner talking about how important it is to do just that. She said that unless you say 'no' to all other work except the one thing in which you specialize, you won't be able to scale, and—most importantly—you'll miss out on the most effective means of building a network / word-of-mouth referral mechanism. It was very compelling and a little convicting. So why don't we do it? Why don't I do it? As some above have suggested, there is a quality factor; I personally have not been able to find people who (IMO) are doing sufficient quality work. But following that, partnering with those people who *do* do that level of work would put me price-wise in a competitive arena with agencies. I.e., if the client is paying me for a web design, and then their cost is doubled because they're also paying an equivalent- and agency-level copy writer for content, now all of the sudden we're talking about an agency-level price tag. But I don't want to compete with agencies; I like my halfway-between-freelancer-and-agency niche (plus I feel like I'm doing better work than most agencies—and I know b/c I came out of that environment). ¶ At the end of the day, it seems like the real question is, 'What are you trying to do?' I tried for years to build an agency-type model, but I found that I really enjoy doing the work myself and working directly with clients, and I'm ok not making $3m+ per year like an agency, because there's a lot of overhead and heartache represented in that number. At the end of the day, I'm just trying to provide for my family and do good work, and if (in my case) that means not outsourcing, then it is what it is, I guess… :/
1 Reply
☑️ I am a part-time pastor at a small church in a small community. When I arrived here less than 2 1/2 years ago, there were ≈35 people there from Sunday to Sunday. Today there are almost 200. Granting the sovereignty of God and the spiritual nature of so-called 'church growth,' two things are...
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☑️ I am a part-time pastor at a small church in a small community. When I arrived here less than 2 1/2 years ago, there were ≈35 people there from Sunday to Sunday. Today there are almost 200. Granting the sovereignty of God and the spiritual nature of so-called 'church growth,' two things are needed: First, you've got to be visible where people are looking. They've got to know you exist, or they'll never visit. Second, you've got to be clear about what you really do, what you truly value. I realize that sounds pragmatic on the one hand and insultingly-obvious on the other, but it's true. Do those two things, and (assuming there's an actual "market" for the second item) you won't only have plenty of visitors, but plenty of people who commit and stick around for the long-haul pursuit of the Lord Jesus with you.
☑️ The goal of a brand is to accurately communicate who you are + what you do to your target customer. In that sense, it's just as important to communicate 'quality' as it is 'cost-effectiveness' if that's what your brand does. I.e., it's very important.
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☑️ The goal of a brand is to accurately communicate who you are + what you do to your target customer. In that sense, it's just as important to communicate 'quality' as it is 'cost-effectiveness' if that's what your brand does. I.e., it's very important.
☑️ Strategy first, execute second. Measure a lot, cut once. Brands are design to say something definite to a definite audience. Once you know what that 'something' is and who that audience is, everything becomes clear—from brand aesthetic to brand messaging to marketing tactics.
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☑️ Strategy first, execute second. Measure a lot, cut once. Brands are design to say something definite to a definite audience. Once you know what that 'something' is and who that audience is, everything becomes clear—from brand aesthetic to brand messaging to marketing tactics.
☑️ A brand's intent is to communicate the organization/cause/business/etc. to its target customers. If that's true—and it is—then the most important thing in rebranding is making sure the strategic groundwork is right. You've got to make sure you're saying the right things to the right people and...
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☑️ A brand's intent is to communicate the organization/cause/business/etc. to its target customers. If that's true—and it is—then the most important thing in rebranding is making sure the strategic groundwork is right. You've got to make sure you're saying the right things to the right people and in the right venues. Strategy has to precede implementation if it's going to be right.
☑️ The main thing I would say is to make sure the foundation is right prior to execution——i.e., strategy first, implement second. Measure a lot, cut once. When you do that, your cuts are straight and right.
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☑️ The main thing I would say is to make sure the foundation is right prior to execution——i.e., strategy first, implement second. Measure a lot, cut once. When you do that, your cuts are straight and right.
