A strong clear brand is an essential part of every commerce, not only is it the face of the company but it should represent the ethos and ‘feel’ of the business….it is what connects your product or service to your customer. A brand is not one single element, nor is it created within a few weeks but here are a few tips on how to create a successful one.
1. Research and Ideas
As with all aspects of business research is and should be the first port of call, being aware of what others are doing is vital. From researching your competitors to gathering a variety of ideas, photography, samples, Pintrest pins to materials and text will help to give you a clearer idea of the direction you want to take.
2. Audience and market
Knowing your audience is also essential before you start your branding journey, the market and the audience that you want to engage will influence every aspect of the brand for years to come. Market research is also advisable at this stage to get a feel for your typical customer, conducting a survey or a focus group could give you some beneficial data.
3. Descriptive words
Alongside the mood boards a brainstorm of descriptive words are also essential to the branding process. Words associated with the company, brand, product and or service can help with creating strap lines, text for the website and text required for any branding or marketing literature.
4. Mood boards
Mood boards are a great way to combine and collate all the research, ideas, samples, text, materials and images. Mood boards not only help visually to create structure but are very important when it comes to showing clients and for when you eventually produce various branding concepts.
5. Typography and colours
The world of typography and colours is incredibly vast and trends, technologies not to mention the industry you are in will help you to narrow down the selection. Most brands incorporate primary and secondary typefaces and each of those can have up to 40 variables these will all help to tweak and create a bespoke style. Typefaces may be adjusted from time to time to suit the theme of your advertising or promotional campaign. For example for our food newsletter I alter the typeface and colours by using ‘foodie colours’ making the design appear tasty!
6. Imagery
Imagery is integral to branding it can illustrate the product, create a mood or feeling as well as transmit a story. Imagery can also explain the brand values and the message that you are trying to convey. For example at Clip our designers recently worked on a branding project for a crab product package, the designers created various concepts that all included imagery or illustration, each one told a different story and transmitted different brand values.
7. Photography
Photography is also a crucial element within the branding process, photography can be used to give products and service a more personal or professional edge. Photography can capture details, people and professional settings which can be used alongside other elements of the brand within marketing literature, advertising, stationary, websites and much more. For example for our U.S food client they opted for a straightforward photograph of their food product which was supported by subtle typography giving the packaging a high-end, clean and fresh look.
8. Visual elements
Visual elements encompasses a list of techniques and processes that can include graphics, colours, gradients, shapes, blends, margins as well as use of space. Visual elements are usually the refining process of the branding stage and combines the typeface, images and illustrations.
9. Marketing and promotion
Once the branding is nearing to completion the next stage should be marketing and promotion. If time and effort has been spent on fantastic branding then it needs to be shouted about! For example a lot of our design clients combine our PR services to ensure their peers and target audience are aware of the new brand as well as their products and services.
10. Passion
Enthusiasm is essential to creating an iconic brand, whether you are the owner, designer or marketing profession without passion for the company, product or service the brand will never fulfil its potential.
When it comes to branding I like to think there is a secret formula, however in reality branding really is a journey. If all the processes that lead to the final brand have been completed thoroughly and with passion then the end result will be faultless.
External factors such as design, fashion, lifestyle, tastes, ethics and other economic factors will impact your brand and as a business it is necessary to evolve so that your brand stays connected with your target audience. This does not necessarily have to result in a complete re brand, the fundamental elements of your brand can remain. However your secondary colour pallets, typography, graphical elements, imagery, art direction and public relations can all help your brand to remain at the forefront of its field and stay ahead of the competition.
Using all of these elements will transmit your business’s values, beliefs and ethos to the rest of the world and give your company ‘personality.’ Your brand will become a very valuable asset not only in creating awareness for your new products or services, but will also help you win new business, customers and ultimately be an intellectual asset.
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