Where to begin – before you make a start on any design work for your business you need to establish your brand identity
and develop a brand strategy. To do this you must establish what it is
your business stands for, what makes you different from other
businesses, and the benefits that your product or service offers to your
customers. Once this is done formulate a communications plan that
enables you to highlight your offering and differentiates your service
or product from that of your competitors.
Establishing your brand values – it is really
important to establish a set of brand values that make up your company
ethos. They often include a mission statement, what the company stands
for, and how the company wishes to be perceived by the customer. These
are often incorporated into a brand story or history of the business.
Although they may not feature on smaller pieces of marketing material,
it is really useful to have established them in your branding process as
they are likely to be featured within website content or as part of
your company presentations.
Getting the logo right – it is essential that the
logo created to represent your brand is tailored perfectly to be a clear
icon of all that your company embodies. Firstly, you need to ensure
that any typeface you select has strong readability so that it clearly
communicates the name of the business. The next element to think about
would be a form of brand mark, such as an icon, image or abstract shape
that accompanies the brand name to give a greater sense of identity and
enables the brand to stand out and be easily recognised. Another element
to consider may be a strapline or statement about the business that can
be used as part of the logo. This could also be used separately as a
feature on any marketing collateral or stationery. Remember, this
strapline needs to underscore the benefit of the company to the
customer, not just remark on how great the company is; it needs to
clearly highlight what the consumer can expect of the brand.
Defining brand guidelines – it is really important
to define rules as to how your brand identity may be recreated, used and
applied, so that you retain consistency throughout all your branded
materials. This is necessary as any inconsistencies in your brand
application could serve to confuse the consumer and detract from the
credible and trustworthy impression you wish to create. These brand
guidelines need to include a breakdown of the logo, stating typeface
specifications, and any size restrictions. Guidelines should also denote
the colour references for your brand colours; the choices for your
scheme are key to creating the desired feel for your brand, colours can
convey a multitude of emotions and have certain specific connotations,
so you must select these very carefully. You may like to consider if
your logo can be used in other colour variations which might give a
little more freedom, or if repetition of a decorative element of the
logo could be used to create a brand pattern. Defining guidelines for
the style of imagery used within any of your branded material is another
way to ensure greater consistency throughout your marketing. Examples
of this may relate to the subject, feel or focus of any photography. For
icons it would be useful to decide whether these should be flat or used
with more of a 3D feel. If you wish to include more artistic
illustrations you should select a specific style for these in terms of
medium. A final suggestion for your brand guidelines would be to set a
tone of voice for any written communication. This tone of voice will be
determined by who your market is and your choice of strategy to best
communicate your message and product/services to them. So whether the
resultant tone is formal, relaxed, technical or quirky, you should
remember it must always remain consistent and stay true your brand
values to reinforce the brand identity.
Brand application – once you have decided on your logo and brand guidelines you can then begin to apply this to all your marketing collateral.
By applying your branding across all your company assets and
promotional material you create consistency which adds a real sense of
professionalism, quality and in turn credibility. Remember, applying
branding doesn’t necessarily mean placing your logo on everything, it
can be more subtle, such as through the use of a particular brand
colour, or it may be as simple as ensuring all typographic elements are
consistent with the brand fonts.
If you need any help with your branding or marketing communication please feel free to contact us.
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