As
a design agency in Houston, TX, we want to help people look and be
successful. Here are several helpful tips to establishing and
maintaining a successful brand. The first two need a lot of explaining,
the rest need little or no explaining. I have included a picture here of
everything NOT to do with a design. CLICK THIS LINK TO REVEAL THE MISTAKES!
When you can afford it, DO hire a professional to design your marketing materials.
There
is a reason why, as designers, we do things a certain way. We design
things sometimes, that clients take and try to do on their own, and end
up really messing up. The number one thing about your company's
marketing goal, is to establish a common, consistent appropriate look.
You can consistently design things that are messy and bad form, but bad
design form defeats the purpose and efforts of being consistent. The
truth is that they are co-dependent. You need to be consistent and have
good design form. This is why it's good to hire a professional who knows
what they are doing and how to properly implement design styles that
best reflect your image and match any existing styles you have. This
person or company is often independent of the agent producing your work.
If you have been sending your designs to multiple vendors or having
multiple vendors create your designs, chances are, you've been
self-appointed as brand manager, and your marketing approach is very
scattered, sub-par, and inconsistent. Why? because designing isn't your
job. Your job is to run your business, not design.
DO develop your brand standards before creating anything.
I
can't imagine what it would be like if the manager of every McDonalds
in the country ran their business the way they wanted to and not how
McDonalds corporate headquarters wanted. Many bad things would result.
Bad inconsistent customer service, loss in business revenue due to poor
planning, and ultimately a bad business model. Whether your a big fry or
small potatoes, you need to treat your brand and marketing materials
much like McDonalds approaches it's business and marketing - with a
process and with consist delivery. Before you design up your flyers,
business cards, banners, website make sure you establish standards so,
whether you design things yourself or have someone else do it for you,
at least everyone knows how your brand should be treated. Some questions
to guide you in establishing your key brand standards are:
- What are my exact official colors? Include PMS, RGB, HTML, and CMYK values.
- What is the font of my logo? - Install it in your system so you have it.
- How big should my logo be in relation to other elements in the design?
- What are the hierarchy of placement to optimize my brands visibility (1. top right, middle, bottom left, etc.)
- What is the minimum space that should be around my logo when placed on a document so things don't crowd it?
- How should my logo look on a white background, colored background, grey background, and black background?
- What colors best compliment my logo?
- How should my logo look as a one color version?
- How do I treat marketing slogans or additional company divisions in relation to my logo?
- In marketing materials, what font, style and color should I use for ALL my titles?
- In marketing materials, what font, style and color should use for ALL of my sub titles?
- In marketing materials, what font, style and color should I use for all my paragraph text?
DON'T use more than 2 font faces when designing a document.
DON'T use fonts that aren't in your brand standards, even if it looks cool.
DON'T use colors outside your brand standards.
DO leave lots of room (AKA "white space") in your design.
DO NOT let things run into the edge of the page.
DO put equal spaces between items.
DO NOT say everything. DO say only what is necessary.
DO NOT stretch things out of proportion.
