Getting Started with Branding
Regardless of whether you are already in business or thinking about starting a business --- and remember, anything you hope to see a profit from, whether it is selling consulting services, your art work, or home-made pickles and preserves, is a business --- it is worth your time to do a little market research. Thanks to the internet this is easier than ever. Just Google your field of enterprise and you'll discover dozens, if not thousands, of people doing what you are doing. Spend some time and see how they are presenting themselves. Chances are you will see everything from the sublime to the ridiculous. Save the URLs of web sites you particularly like. Remember, there is no such thing as a totally new design --- all designs have come from somewhere.
Once you've decided on a look you like it is time to consult with your designer, or yourself, and work until you have a combination of colors, typefaces, and graphic elements that you like. For this blog entry I'm going to use the North Shore Arts Association as an example. The NSAA has been in continuous operation since 1922 and they had a logo that they liked. When they asked me to redesign their web site and create coordinating materials to go with it it took several versions before we settled on the current look. Because NSAA is located in a distinctive historic red building on Gloucester's Smith's Cove, a serene and lovely setting with incredible views that have appealed to painters for over 80 years, we decided to use those elements when creating their identity package. Their original logo, below left, was a good one and with very little modification we updated it, below right.
Once we had the logo and knew we wanted to stay with a deep red similar to their building and the serene blue of Smith's Cove, I created a little guide specifying the colors and typefaces we would try to keep to:
Then those colors and typefaces were used to create the home page on their web site:
From that point on creating their marketing materials was simple. Using the logo, colors, typefaces, and the iconic image of their building with the water in the foreground it became simple to create the rest of their marketing materials, all with a compatible look.
Tri-fold brochure:
eBlast ad:
Online ads for exhibitions:
Postcards for events:
This is just a beginning for a wide variety of printed collateral and web materials used by the NSAA. Recently, in keeping with their theme of being on the cove, we added an audio file to their web site that lets visitors to their web site listen to the same sounds they would hear from their parking lot --- gulls, ocean waves, and boat horns.
Every project is different but at Valentine-Design we look forward to creating something unique and personal for your business project --- elegantly and affordably.
Once you've decided on a look you like it is time to consult with your designer, or yourself, and work until you have a combination of colors, typefaces, and graphic elements that you like. For this blog entry I'm going to use the North Shore Arts Association as an example. The NSAA has been in continuous operation since 1922 and they had a logo that they liked. When they asked me to redesign their web site and create coordinating materials to go with it it took several versions before we settled on the current look. Because NSAA is located in a distinctive historic red building on Gloucester's Smith's Cove, a serene and lovely setting with incredible views that have appealed to painters for over 80 years, we decided to use those elements when creating their identity package. Their original logo, below left, was a good one and with very little modification we updated it, below right.
Once we had the logo and knew we wanted to stay with a deep red similar to their building and the serene blue of Smith's Cove, I created a little guide specifying the colors and typefaces we would try to keep to:
Then those colors and typefaces were used to create the home page on their web site:
From that point on creating their marketing materials was simple. Using the logo, colors, typefaces, and the iconic image of their building with the water in the foreground it became simple to create the rest of their marketing materials, all with a compatible look.
Tri-fold brochure:
eBlast ad:
Online ads for exhibitions:
Postcards for events:
This is just a beginning for a wide variety of printed collateral and web materials used by the NSAA. Recently, in keeping with their theme of being on the cove, we added an audio file to their web site that lets visitors to their web site listen to the same sounds they would hear from their parking lot --- gulls, ocean waves, and boat horns. Every project is different but at Valentine-Design we look forward to creating something unique and personal for your business project --- elegantly and affordably.
posted by Kathleen Valentine at
2:43 PM
