Tips for Creating a Professional Brand Identity for Your Small Business
This doesn't mean you have to use some Brand Design
agency that will cost you a second mortgage. Follow some of these simple steps
to keep you on the right track.
LOGO
As a starting point, one of the most important elements of your new
Corporate identity is your Logo. This is the part of your identity that is
worth investing in. Get a professional Graphic
Designer to create your Logo. Ask your friends and colleagues if they
know any post-graduate designers that are looking to expand their portfolio.
For a low cost, you could get
a newly qualified designer to create a great logo for you.
The best way to get the most out of any Designer is to brief them with as much
information as possible. Give them details about your company and what it aims
to provide. What is your companies unique selling point and what customers are you targeting. Try
to resist creating your draft logo using Word Art and Clip Art. Leave the
Designer free to be as creative as they want to be.
As part of your brief, ask the Designer if he could
provide the following information with your Logo. Most professionals would
include this info. but make sure you get everything
you need or might need in the future. This prevents
a situation where a Printer might be looking for a certain piece of
information and you don't have it, leaving you to dig the email out from that Designer
you used, who you find out has emigrated to Australia.
Colours
-
Ask for a breakdown of any colours that are used in the logo. Ask for a CMYK breakdown for Print and an RGB breakdown for the screen. Ask
for the appropriate Web Colours
and Pantone references. (If you don't know what any of these terms mean, don't
worry the Designer will.)
Fonts
-
If any fonts are used in the design of your logo ask the Designer to provide the names of these fonts
and where to locate them. Sometimes these are free to download, but some need to be purchased. You could
specify at the outset, as part of the brief, which you only want free fonts as part of your design. A lot of
Designers use Macintosh computers. Many Mac fonts are in a different format to
PC fonts. Therefore make sure that the Designer uses a font that is compatible
with both Mac and PC.
Formats
-
Ask the Designer to provide you with all these different formats so that you are covered for all uses.
Original
Logo artwork - This would usually be an Adobe Illustrator.eps file, or
possibly an Indesign.ind file or a Photoshop.psd file. If it is a Photoshop
file ask the Designer to provide you with the original 'layered' file so any
future Designers can make amends to the design if required. This file is what most future Designers or Printers
will ask for if you require any work completed in the future.
JPEGs
-
Ask for a High-Res and Low-Res Jpeg
of your logo. The High-res version can be sent to Printers for high-quality
prints. The Low-Res Jpeg can be inserted into your Powerpoint documents without
creating a massive presentation that you can't email to anybody.
PDF
-
Pdf files are handy to have as everybody
can open a PDF file by downloading Adobe Reader.
One
last thing: If you have a Colour logo then ask the
Designer to create a Black and White
version and provide in all the formats listed above.
NEXT
STEPS
So now you have a Logo and some colours and fonts to
work with. These are the elements that you should keep consistent throughout the rest of your promotional material. Depending on your budget you could request the Designer
to create a Branded stationary set
for you, including Letterhead, compliments slip and business card and possibly
a PowerPoint document template. If your budget doesn't stretch that far then
remember these tips to make your effective stationary.
Always make sure the logo is scaled in proportion. Depending on what program you are
using, this can be an easy mistake to make. If your logo is increased
vertically but not horizontally (or the other way around) the distortion will
look unprofessional. If a clear legible font is used with the Logo then use
this font throughout for your
stationary. As stated above, find out what this font is from your Logo
designer. If the logo uses a more abstract font that won't work in your body
copy then ask the Designer to recommend one. Yes, you could skip all this and
just use Arial. But Arial is what
everybody else in the world uses. Make your stationary unique and professional and decide upon a font
with your Designer.
Choose a dark legible colour from your logo design and
use this throughout the stationary. Again ask your Designer if he can recommend
a Brand colour for all your
body copy. Avoid bright colours such as red and yellow and stick to blues, dark
greens or tones of grey. Once you are finished your document, print it out at
the correct size and make sure
that both the colour and font size are legible. Also, print it in Black and
White and again make sure it's
legible. Not everybody has a colour printer and sometimes people still use fax
machines!
So that's it! Once you have a Logo and design template
pulled together just keep this
consistent throughout. Your stationary, your invoices, your website,
your emails, your Facebook page, your promotional T-Shirts, your tea and coffee
mugs. The list goes on. To learn more about how to make your business stand
out, take a look at our FREE EBOOK to help grow your business further.
Article Source: EzineArticles
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