What is Branding?

Branding is a often discussed by individuals in the marketing, advertising and design industries, but it is something that is rarely thought about by many small business owners. This is quite unfortunate since branding, if done properly, is one of the most important things a company can do to reach their target market, build recognition and develop customer relationships. Mistakenly, many businesses look no further than a logo when thinking about branding. The issue with this is that a logo cannot and does not exist on its own.  Rather, it is a core piece of the puzzle that also includes a wide range of other factors, including colors, patterns, typefaces, imagery, packaging, taglines, wording and more, all of which combine to create your company’s image.  The same attention devoted to your logo must be given to these other elements as well if a truly effective brand is to be achieved.

To demonstrate the power of branding, let’s change some popular and effective brands a bit and see if you can still recognize them.

Can you tell what products these are?

Even without their names, it should be easy to recognize the packaging of Snickers, Reese’s and Hershey’s.  This is the power of thorough and cohesive branding.  There is nothing earth-shattering about the Reese’s logo; in fact, it’s exceptionally simple and understated.  But when combined with other elements like the bright orange wrapper and the iconic shape of the candy, the Reese’s brand becomes immediately recognizable.  Ultimately, the goal is that all of these things become associated with your company to the point that they identify you equally as well as your name or logo.

So how does this translate to a small business? Surely this branding thing takes lots of money and effort, right? Wrong.  It is as simple as being consistent.

Brand consistency is not just for the big boys.  It is something that you can do in any stage of a business to define your identity and begin to build recognition. Let’s say you use a red line on your invoices to show a division between the top and bottom of the page.  In the future, if you use that same red line on other documents and keep its thickness, color and positioning consistent, it can become part of your branding.  This is a small detail, but the same principle applies across the board: choose carefully how you present your business, pay attention to the details and keep it consistent.

Effective branding can be invaluable for the growth and success of a business.  And it is something that can be as intensive and complex as your resources allow; the millions of dollars spent by large companies on industry research, consultants, focus groups, and so on demonstrate this.  However, at its core, it is really very simple, and it is something that businesses of any size can achieve.  At the end of the day, it comes back to one rule: be consistent.

J Ivy
Graphic Designer at Key Web Concepts

Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.
–Paul Rand

1. Create a Mood

The most effective designs have the ability to make us react a certain way, to feel happy or sad or comfortable or on edge or whatever the situation calls for.  With innate emotional connotations, the right colors can be the single most important factor in creating the right feeling for a particular project.

The McDonalds website makes great use of its iconic red color.  Red, besides being one of the colors most effective at stimulating the appetite, can also create a feeling of energy and happiness if used in the right palette.

The logo of the The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation uses a warm palette of orange, gold and pink to create a real feeling of positivity and energy, which combine with the lively icon to create a real message of forward movement.

2. Make an Association

In addition to making us a feel a certain way, the right colors can also make us think of and make associations with certain things, an important consideration if you really want to create the right look.

With its deep brown and dark rustic red, the Sky’s Guide Service website immediately makes you think of rough and tough outdoorsmen.  The rich textures enhance the site to create a great visual for the visitor.

Designed by Jacob Cass, one of our favorite reads on the web, the logo for UKE utilizes a strong, deep purple to make a visual connection with royalty.  Selling chocolate gift baskets to an upscale market, the logo effectively communicates a refined, sophisticated image.

3. Create Emphasis

Through brightness and contrast, color can also be valuable tool to create visual interest in strategic areas and direct the viewer’s focus.

The Taami Berry website utilizes a simple layout and soft, earthy, off-white background augmented with punches of red to direct the visitor’s eye to key elements such as the logo, slider and shopping cart.

The colors of the British flag are used cleverly in the UK Space Agency logo.  Juxtaposed with blue, a calmer, more static color, the powerful red directs your eye to the UK and the focal point of the upward-pointing arrow.

4. Unify a Design

One of the most important functions of a strong and consistent color palette is to unify a design, to give it the appearance of being a single, purposeful, cohesive unit.  Furthermore, across a variety of different materials, a consistent use of color can really strengthen a brand.

The Product Superior logo, website and business card all make use of a bright, distinctive blue and green to create a strong brand for the business.  Perhaps more importantly, these colors are used consistently across all of their materials to create a unified message.

5. Define Structure

Color can be used for organizational purposes as well, to define certain elements of a design and distinguish them from others.  Especially in web design, this can be a useful strategy for creating a clear site structure and hierarchy and for clearly communicating to the visitor where they are within your site.

Cubicle Ninjas has a collection of six different one-page websites, each devoted to a different type of print material. The sites make use of a common navigation across the top of the page, but each site is assigned a prominent background color to clearly separate it from the others.  We also see a good selection of color in terms of connotation and emotional reaction; the brown of the white paper site immediately communicates a more restrained, professional tone than the intense red or punchy blue of the poster and business card sites.

]]> http://keywebconcepts.com/blog/2010/07/10/5-ways-to-use-color-to-enhance-a-design/feed/ 2 http://keywebconcepts.com/blog/2010/07/06/how-do-i-look/ http://keywebconcepts.com/blog/2010/07/06/how-do-i-look/#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:53:16 +0000 J Ivy http://keywebconcepts.com/blog/?p=414

Note: this post was inspired by a post by Gareth from Down With Design, the original can be read here

Custom VS. Pre-Packaged Designs

Your logo is the first impression customers have of you. Maybe they see it on your website, or on a business card or mailer they received. Wouldn’t you want to be represented by something that says “you”? This is what branding is all about. You want imagery that is unique, interesting and memorable. You want something that will stick with your customers long after you have provided the goods or services they were looking for, so that in the future they will return and want to do more business with you.

On the Internet there are millions of images, clipart and pre-created logos just floating around. They were created by someone at some point to serve some purpose. The issue with these pre-packaged designs is not only are most of them copyrighted, but also they were created with someone else in mind…not your company.

It’s like walking into a bakery and looking for a wedding cake that will look beautiful, fit with the ceremony, make you happy and fulfill all of your needs but settling on that 3 day old doughnut. To get the cake of your dreams you would need to talk to the pastry chef. A pastry chef has studied cakes and knows exactly what to do to make your cake look and taste great. A pastry chef will take his or her expertise and work with you to make your dream come true. The two of you would sit down and plan: How many guests does the cake need to feed? What colors are in your ceremony? What ideas do you have as far as patterns and designs? And after that they would bake a cake just for you, not for Debbie down the street or Joe your plumber, but you.

Switching back to design….

This is where designers come in. We listen to your needs, and find how you want to be represented, and what demographic you want to appeal to. Then we create. We create things just for you. Whether it’s a brand new logo, business cards, brochure, or website, it being designed specifically for your needs. You’ll get that dream cake, not a stale doughnut.

J Ivy
Graphic Designer at Key Web Concepts

Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.
–Paul Rand

Branding is one of the single most important factors in determining how your company is perceived by potential customers.  Not a big surprise to most.  It will define your business’s appearance, its personality, its demographic and even its values.   Perhaps more than any other factor, the colors you adopt are central to creating this first impression.  And still it seems that color is not always given the attention it warrants by some business owners.

It’s easy to overlook.  After all, what’s so complicated about color?  Does it really matter if your marketing materials are green instead of blue?  Yes.  In fact, even the specific shade of blue you choose can make a big difference.  We attach all kinds of emotional and symbolic meanings to colors, sometimes consciously but most often without even thinking about it.  Needless to say, it’s important to be aware of these overtones and use them to enhance your message.

A new business owner has a lot to consider. With all the frenzy of starting a business, thinking extensively about a logo isn’t always a high priority. People know they need a logo, but they don’t fully understand what a logo is or what it does, and how to make it as effective as possible.

The best logos are deceptively simple. They’re clean, can be understood quickly and make an impact visually. They also need to be versatile, so they can be used in variety of marketing media.  But how can all of that be accomplished?  It’s easiest to make that point by explaining what a logo shouldn’t do.

Don’t Try to Say Too Much

The most common mistake made when thinking of a logo is trying to make it illustrate every aspect of a company, or show every product or service a company offers. A contractor may think s/he needs a hammer, tool belt AND ruler in the logo to communicate contractor; a lawyer might try to include a gavel and scales.

In these examples, those logos would just be too much. A logo doesn’t have to tell a story; rather, it should be used to build a brand. It’s a symbol to use to tie all your marketing materials together, and eventually a logo becomes synonymous with your business. Think about McDonald’s. Those Golden Arches don’t include a hamburger and fries, but we still know the business they represent and what that business offers us.

Your logo will usually only have a brief second to do its job, as someone passes your sign, glances at your postcard in their mail, or browses the Internet. The more detail someone has to process when looking at your logo, the longer it will take to read and stick in their memory.

Don’t Be So Literal

The contractor and lawyer logo examples illustrate another thing to avoid in logo design: being too literal. There’s no rule that a successful logo uses industry-specific imagery. Logos are almost always accompanied by other pictures or text, which explain what you do and why you’re good at it. Also, hammers, gavels and the like are so often used that, by incorporating them into your logo, you blend in with your competitors rather than stand apart.

A logo’s job is to provide a distinctive image that makes a company immediately identifiable. To stand apart, it helps to think more outside the box. The Nike “swoosh” is recognized throughout the world, and communicates athleticism and sports without using literal imagery like a basketball. The symbol’s sweeping curves, diagonal orientation and sharp edges communicate energy, strength, excitement, and edginess. It establishes a look and personality for the company—the ultimate goal of a logo.

Don’t Go Overboard

Remember, it’s best to aim for a logo design that is simple. Going overboard (too much imagery; too many different colors; etc.) ultimately hurts a logo. Too many elements in a logo make it look cluttered or disorganized. Also, with a large number of different visual elements competing for attention, it becomes much harder for people to quickly process and understand your logo.

Going overboard with colors is an especially risky thing to do. Colors can clash, weakening a logo’s readability. Colors communicate different moods, too, and affect how your business is perceived. A spa owner’s favorite color may be bright yellow, but a bright yellow logo may not appeal to the audience that spa is trying to attract. Instead, a subdued palette using blues or greens would be better, as they are more soothing, and suggest a calm, relaxing environment—perfect for a spa.

Simplicity is the key. Make smart choices about the images included, and use no more than two fonts and no more than two to three colors. In addition to visual simplicity, there’s economic practicality. The more complicated a logo is, the more expensive it becomes when reproducing it on brochures, using it in embroidery and so forth.

-Matt Leahy