This session has been diligently dictated by Junebug of Simply Junebug.
Steph Calvert, the work-at-home mom, graphic and web designer and illustrator behind Hearts and Laserbeams, led a discussion on what branding is and isn’t. She can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
What is Branding?
– Icons – A visual representation of what/who you are. It shouldn’t change every 3 seconds.
– Fonts – Pick a font (as long as it is NOT Comic Sans) and be consistent. You want to make sure every letter in your title is readable. It needs to look good in black and white or color, big or small, etc.
– Colors – We all know Coco-Cola red and UPS brown. Find a color which represents your brand and stay consistent.
– Feelings – No one does feelings better than Disney. If the feelings toward your brand are negative enough, it is a good time to rebrand.
“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon
Now What?
The 3 areas to consider…
1. What do you like…
2. What do your customers like…
3. What does your competition like…
“Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” Oscar Wilde
At this point we reviewed a worksheet Steph had created as a great tool when working with a graphic designer. I’ll be adding the worksheet to this post later so please check back.
General discussion, points to ponder and questions:
Be consistent across all platforms.
Ask how do you do it differently?
One question was about how to point your customers from your brand to your new brand when you rebrand. Steph suggested everything should redirect to the new site automatically and on the new site a small tagline under the new name can read “formerly known as blah blah.” After a while the tagline can be dropped.
When choosing a new logo consider how it will translate across all mediums(online, on business cards, on t-shirts).
What words do you want the customers to feel about you when they see your brand?
When choosing a graphic designer get quotes from several designers and look at their portfolios.