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BeginnersGuidetoBranding PDF
BeginnersGuidetoBranding PDF
Inside
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INTRODUCTION TO BRANDING
You probably hear the term branding being tossed around a lot.
But, what exactly does it mean? This chapter includes insider
advice for developing strong branding elements.
5
WHATS IN A NAME
Struggling to come up with a name for your new product or
service? Learn how to brainstorm potential name ideas and
choose well with these actionable tips.
9
DESIGNING A BRAND IDENTIT Y
One of the most interesting projects that a graphic designer can
take on is designing a logo. This chapter helps you understand
the difference (and relationship) between a brand, an identity
and a logo.
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CHOOSING COLORS & T YPOGRAPHY
Select brand-appropriate color schemes and fonts that help
convey your message. Certain hues carry powerful associations
that send certain signals to your users. Learn essential color
tricks from top designers.
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CREATING BRAND APPLICATIONS
Ready to go live? Differentiate your brand from competitors with
a unique personality. Learn how to incorporate a genuine voice
and turn your online presence around in no time.
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Readers are saying...
From naming your brand identity, to selecting a color palette, the Beginners
Guide to Branding is an easy-to-follow, comprehensive tool, designed to help
you cultivate consistent and timeless branding - a highly recommended read.
Callie Hegstrom
It felt like a 6 month design course that got absorbed, comprehended and
appreciated in 30 minutes flat. All in all, a beautifully presented stash of
invaluable design wisdom Its a keeper. Its gonna live on my desktop.
Nicky Laatz
Simon Stratford
This wonderful guide is not only for beginners, but for experienced designers
and customers. Everything in this ebook is written in a specific sequence,
which makes this comprehensible and useful. I would like to see this ebook in
my library! Great work!
Julia Baranova
After working in branding for a number of years this is a great tool and really
useful go-to guide that can be used by not only designers looking to create
an effective brand identity but also by business owners wanting to get a better
understanding of what branding entails before embarking on a branding
project for their business. I would definitely recommend it.
Rene Murray
Introduction Everything counts.
to Branding
Keeping your brand consistent is key.
That means that the graphic elements,
copy, and any type of content all
must be part of the same concept.
zack onisko
Each one needs to be tailored to the
@zack415
preferences of your target consumer.
Creative Market
If you are going with a streamlined,
tech-obsessed look, for example,
you should concentrate on finding
angular (but legible) font styles that
complement that contemporary style.
Zack Onisko is the Chief Growth
Officer at Creative Market. He is an
You probably hear the It might also be a good idea to avoid
analytical thinking product growth term branding being pastels in favor of working with more
strategist with over a decade dramatic colors. Similarly, make sure
experience building fast growth tossed around a lot. any promotions, whether on email or
start-ups. Hes also a husband, dad
and guitar noodler.
But what exactly does social media, reflect that identity.
it mean?
Memorable is vital.
In brief, branding refers to the
elements that define the image, Standing out in the crowd is the only
ethos, and tone of your company way to get your brand noticed. Taking
and its products. Think about iconic some calculated risks can make
branding elements like Apples logo that happen. If you are working on a
or Taco Bells slogan. Hear or see portfolio site, going for monochrome
those things and youll instantly know can pay offits dramatic and can
what the brand truly stands for. help highlight the images. Or, you
can embrace your own creativity
As you read this ebook, remember and create an immersive site where
these three pieces of advice: each element reflects a different
time period or looks like a landscape,
Know your audience. among other examples.
Understand who you want to get These are a few important points to
your brand. The user who gets excited bear in mind when creating a brand.
about an app that can automatically Consider making a paper sketch of
help sort emails would look for a branding ideas to get a sense of how
very different kind of branding than they look on the page before you
someone looking for a mobile game actually create it.
to pass the time. Identify your target
market, not just by demographics Try to review concepts from a
but also by tastes. Is it quirky? consumers point of view. Would the
Businesslike? Cutting-edge? Retro? brand identity & message youve
Once youve figured that out, you can created interest you? Are you the
start to create an identity that draws brands target audience?
their attentionand business.
4
Whats in a Name?
Crucial Steps to Take Before Naming Your Brand
OWEN ANDREW The wrong brand the top of your head, but it could turn
@owenandrew7 out to violate trademark laws or have
name choice can sink suggestive connotations. Taking the
your ship before you time to come up with the right brand
name will inevitably save you money
even set sail. in the long run. Rebranding is an
Owen Andrew is a journalist and We are building brands in the age of expensive process and potentially
tech enthusiast from Southern technology. Because of the times we risky for business.
California. When hes not writing
live in, public opinions of any given
or obsessing over the latest Apple
product are subject to the whims A handy article from Entrepreneur
product, he enjoys hanging with his
of first impressions and search Magazine outlines a step-by-step
three kids.
engines. While brand loyalty extends process for naming your business:
beyond the brand name itself, the
attractiveness of a company or
product is often complemented by 1. Decide whether you
effective brand names that attract will consult the experts.
different kinds of customers. The
trouble is, the naming and branding There are plenty of branding firms
process can be difficult and time- out there that are willing to help you
consuming. to come up with the right name.
However, it depends on what youre
Brand names, like any other attribute willing to invest in the process. Using
of a business, require brainstorming a firm is expensive. Only you can
and work-shopping before the right decide whether your team can come
idea turns into the right concept. Its up with a brand on its own or you
incredibly easy to pick something off need to enlist help.
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2. Come up with a goal also have to perform according to
for your brand name. your brand name.
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Completely uninspired?
Check out Naminum, an
online name generation
tool that helps you discover
interesting options to get
your creative juices flowing.
Naminum.com
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Brainstorming a Name
A simple 6-step process to come up with 100 ideas
1 Comp etitors
What name/s are your
2 Va lue
What words encompass
competitors using to the most important thing
brand their products? your product does for
Include substitutes. its users? Use verbs.
3
Literal
Which words come to
4 Abs t ract
Which words related
mind when thinking to feelings or emotions
about your products best convey your
physical characteristics? products key functions?
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Combinatio ns
How could you combine
6 Synonym s
Find synonyms for the
(either by prepending best 25 words that you
or appending) any of came up with in points
the words in points 1-4 1-4. Spend more time on
to form a new name? your strongest ideas.
Brand Identity
brand is the one Seth Godin gave:
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Crafting an Identity
Designing a brands visual identity is a
fascinating 3-phase process:
Has the audience,
market or your own
brand shifted? Is it
time for a change?
How will you
represent this brand
visually? Once you
have a logo, how
will you translate it
into various design
pieces? What will &
should your overall
identity look like?
Phase 3:
monitoring
How is the brand
& rebranding
perceived &
positioned? Whats
your heritage? Who
is your audience and
with which values
& beliefs do you
enter the market? Phase 2:
Logo,
Identity &
Guidelines
Phase 1:
Research,
Vision &
Design Brief
Vision & Design Brief Other brand image concerns:
market awareness, emotional
This phase should be as thorough as associations, value to the
neededdepending on the depth of consumer, brand perception vs.
research and size of the company. consumer behavior, changes
Its the most crucial part of the desired in the brand-consumer
overall process, and should result in relationship over time.
a design brief that guides the rest of
the project. As you can tell, its complicated. Two
agencies who I think do a good job
Below is a list of foundational questions with their brand research are Landor
and key dynamics to explore and and Fi. It shows in the way that they
document through qualitative and describe their completed work as
quantitative methodologies. (Note: challenge-and-solution projects.
This is only a quick overview of the
most complex part of this process.) The design brief
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The logo
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The identity system
13
The style guidelines
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Phase 3: Monitoring Learn more about each of these
& rebranding branding projects: Emma, Bishop of
London, Apple Worldwide Developers
Lastly, after a new brand identity has Conference 2013, Cancer Research
launched, its important to monitor UK, and Google SketchUp.
and care for it, as its a living and
breathing thing that interacts with Resources for brand
your customers. Honestly, thats a identity design
loaded statement as there are many
ways to properly care for a brand. If youre starting a new brand identity
Regardless, over time, if your target or rebrand project, weve collected
audience shifts, the market evolves, some Creative Market resources that
or the brands products and services might help get you started. Check
change, it may be time for a rebrand. them out in the next page.
The main challenge with rebranding
is trying to maintain familiarity and
consistency so that your customers
will remember you.
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The 5 Steps to
COLORS
Visual Branding
thing you pick out. Colors are the best
starting point towards conveying
the mood you want. As you do so,
make sure you keep the common
c.s. jones meanings of each color in your mind
@thecsjones so that you can tap into them: bold,
Webcomicry
bright colors symbolize energy and
dynamism. More subdued pastels
calm the viewer. Warm colors and
earth tones radiate down-to-earth
comfort. Cool colors calm the viewer
C.S. Jones is an installation
manager for an ISP by day and
Your whole company and subliminally inspire trust. Pinks
a writer, artist and photographer is your brand, from and purples can symbolize sensuality
by night, contributing regularly to and opulence.
Creative Market and various other the lowest-ranking
arts and design blogs. He also has
his own, which can be found at
employees uniforms Once you have a general idea as
to how the CEO to which colors you want to use,
Webcomicry.com.
you need to figure out what shades
communicates. of them will best complement
each other. There are many online
There are many different ways to generators, like Adobe Color CC,
define a brand. Enterpreneurs John Palleton, and Color Hunter that you
Williams calls it your promise to your can use to explore different hues.
customer. Copywriting legend David Alternatively, pick out a pre-made
Ogilvy described it as the intangible library from a searchable database
sum of a products attributes. via a site like COLOURlovers.
re:Designs Paul Biedermann gets a
little more philosophical, defining it As a final tip, once youve selected
as the essence of ones unique story. your colors, arrange them with the
ones you expect to use the most first.
In my opinion, its everything. These will serve as your base colors,
Your whole company is your and the rest will complement them.
brand, from the lowest-ranking
employees uniforms to how the CEO
communicates. But one of the most
important aspects is visual branding:
the overall appearance of your
company.
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ICONOGRAPHY TYPOGRAPHY
In the words of Peter Gould: the logo Like iconography, typography should
is not the brand, it is the gateway to also symbolize your companys
the brand. It should hopefully offer overall feel. As an example, look at
a preview of the kind of experience Caterpillars solid, robust logo.
the customer will get from using your
products. Generally, you also want to
keep your iconography as clean and
simple as possible, with a distinctive
design that can be easily identified
from far away. In an increasingly
saturated world, design is trending Now contrast that with Hallmarks
toward the simple, the reader friendly, script font that suggests handcrafting,
and the straight-to-the-point. sensitivity, and sentimentality.
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If your business sells the kind of cohesiveness
products that need to be designed,
it goes without saying that this is a As we mentioned in the brand
crucial component to your brand. identity article, the first step towards
You should go out of your way to creating an identity is to come up
make sure that the aesthetic quality with a brief that sums up what youre
of the products is in line with the trying to achieve in your design
experience that the customer will get scheme. Thats because, in order to
by using them. be effective, all your design elements
have to work together to tell the same
message, and should look like they
are all part of the same whole.
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Choosing Color & Type
Building the Foundation of a Brand Identity System
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the interior design rule that is pretty
much applicable to graphic design
too: 60% dominant color, 30%
secondary color, 10% accent color.
If youd like to introduce a fourth (and
so on) color, split the secondary color
(or perhaps the dominant but never
the accent).
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6. Bring in colors from nature. German, a Chilean graphic designer
who owns a typography shop at
Our eyes are used to admiring natural Creative Market, recommends using
color schemes. If you take your three colors to make your graphics
inspiration from the environment, look cleaner. When using more than
suggests Gary from the CO-OP, The three, he suggests adding textures
color combinations are endless. to tone down some of the additional
Landscapes, foliage, fruit, among colors.
others are all amazing sources of
inspiration. Gary designs in South
Africa, where he built his online shop,
and is constantly influenced by the
bright South African sunshine. The
colors are warm and striking.
7. Stick to 3 or 4 colors.
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9. Search Pinterest for
themed palettes.
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Choosing the
not only ruin the entire design, it
also ruins the entire message. You
wouldnt want to trust your taxes to
Right Typeface
an auditing firm whose name uses a
font like Comic Sans or Chiller, would
you? I mean, how in the world could
you take them seriously?
Igor Ovsyannykov
@inspirationf Before you choose a typeface you
Inspiration Feed must ask yourself a few important
questions. The answers to these
questions will lead you in the right
direction to finding the perfect
typeface.
Igor Ovsyannykov is a blogger,
designer and technology geek.
A strong typeface
He runs InspirationFeed.com, a dictates what message Is it legible enough?
site that aims to inform, educate
and inspire people in topics like
your brand is trying to Lets face it, fonts were created to
design, entrepreneurship and self- convey, what the tone give life to the text, but there are
development. times when font designers overdo it
is, and even who its and end up creating typefaces that
creators are. can barely be read. Some fonts may
also be too thin to read, while some
Its funny how many fonts there are may be so bulky that its hard to
out there, but people still end up using distinguish one letter from another
inappropriate typeface all the time. when an entire word is spelled out.
Anything that uses letters, numbers,
and symbols, whether its a sign Make sure that the font is legible by
outside your store or the report you checking if each and every letter
need to submit to your boss, requires can be easily read, and if they can
a specific typeface that makes all the still be distinguishable should they
difference. be placed beside other letters. Is the
shape taking up too much space? Do
Some fonts may come across as the strokes lack definition?
casual, while some may look formal
and professional. Others show a fun If legibility is your goal, here are some
and carefree identity, while some great, easy-to-read fonts that come
give you an impression that theyre in a variety of weights:
meant to be used for more serious
things. This is what typefaces do. How much emphasis
They give any text they are used on do you need?
its own personality, allowing people
who read it to identify with it more Some fonts give more emphasis to
effectively. text compared to others. The font
Impact, for example, stays true to its
Questions to ask when name as its width makes the letters
choosing a typeface stand out over other typefaces. Some
fonts also come in varied styles to
Great text using the wrong font does allow you to lessen or improve the
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amount of emphasis that it gives. Roman as a default. The font has
Helvetica Neue, for instance, also been overused and comes across
gives you options for light and ultra as boring and devoid of creativity.
light, aside from the usual bold and Now look at Apple Garamond and
italic styles. compare it with the previous font.
Isnt the second one friendlier to look
How do you know what kind of at, and a lot more stylish? However,
emphasis you are looking for? Figure this font is associated with the Apple
out where the text will be placed. brand, as its the one they used in all
Is it going to be used for the brand their marketing materials. So if youre
name? Then choose something that speaking to a loyal Samsung crowd,
would be easily distinguishable. And then this would be the worst choice.
if youre looking for a font to use for
the tag line beneath that brand name, Does it represent your
then make sure that there is just brand and goals?
enough emphasis for it to be noticed
without overshadowing the name If you are designing material for
above it. a learning center for toddlers, do
you think fonts like Garamond or
Is it appealing to the audience? Baskerville would be appropriate?
Definitely not. Because you want
In choosing the right font, you have to have a colorful, fun, and lively
to figure out what personality your faade, you could be better off with
audience has. What would appeal something that would show just that.
to them the most? Whats their age
bracket? Are they the fun type, or Go back to the brand and what it
are they the serious type? Once you represents. What are your goals?
have this all figured out, you could What image do you want the brand
finally choose the kind of font that to have? What do you want your
you believe would appeal to them the audiences to think the moment they
most. see the final design? If the font you
choose aligns with your brand and its
The font Gotham has a beautiful goals, then this is the perfect font for
contemporary design perfect you.
for audiences who are modern,
confident, and secure. However, this Once these questions have been
font is also President Obamas favorite answered, then you may be on your
font, with all his banners, flyers, and way to achieving the design that you
other campaign material using this want.
specific typeface. So you may want to
use this if you want a contemporary If youre looking for fonts that are
look, but think twice if you think the uniquely appealing, check these out:
association with the person using it
a lot may not be fitting for what you Criteria to use when
need. choosing a typeface
for your brand
If youre looking for a professional
look but would still want your text And so, once you get to the drawing
to pop out, avoid using Times New board and start creating the design
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that you need for your brand, have a Tracking
checklist ready for the things that you
must consider. If leading decides how much space
there is between lines, then tracking
Pairing decides how much space there is
between letters. The spaces should
You will need more than one font to not be too small that it becomes hard
make a design work, especially if to make out one letter from another,
youre working on a brand application but not too wide that a single word
like a webpage. This is why pairing takes up a whole lot of space even if
matters. You have to make sure it uses a smaller font.
that the fonts you use are similar
enough to complement each other, Color
but different enough to show the
distinction between them. Of course, color is not exactly one
of the main aspects that comes with
Size choosing a font, but it greatly affects
the end product, so this should also
Better readability would also mean be given serious consideration. If
using larger sizes. Brand names your font is already light enough as
would have to be large enough to it is, then avoid using light colors and
be noticed, but not too large that go for more solid ones.
they overpower the tagline (if it
exists). Text bodies would have to be Always have this checklist handy
readable enough, but should not be when designing your brands identity
so large that they start taking up too system.
much space on the page.
Final thoughts
Hierarchy on finding the
perfect typeface
Every design involves hierarchy. For
example, a brands name should have Here are a few final words that could
the top rung of the ladder, and often help you decide what font or typeface
has the most emphasis. Taglines you need for your design:
should be less prominent than the
name, but not too small that all Have an outline of the identity
emphasis is taken away from them. system that youre building
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the right choice of font creates a
masterpiece. Find some of them
KNOW YOUR TERMS
and use them for inspiration. Heres
a great resource to do just that:
Design Inspiration: Sites and Tools
for Boosting Creativity
Avoid clichs.
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Creating Brand Applications
What happens when your brand goes live?
29
Social Media & Other Forms of
Content Marketing Customer What it Sample brand
Lifecycle entails applications
Stage to create
Packaging
GET Generating Ads, merchandising,
Online/Offline Ads
awareness, interest, business cards, event
consideration, displays, signage, flyers,
Annual & Other Types of Reports
and purchase. and brochures, menus
and catalogs, content
Merchandising
marketing imagery
Uniforms (blog, social media, etc.),
websites and landing
Tradeshow/Event Displays pages, among others.
30
Who is the audience for Thinking about the actual function
each of these potential of these brand applications will also
applications? Customers? strengthen the business case for
Investors? Suppliers? hiring your services in the future.
Partners? Employees?
31
Checklist
Make sure you think about these brand applications
Signage collateral
Outdoor Menus & catalogs
Website Ebooks
Badges advertising
Banners Online ads
Email
for team use
stationEry Annual reports
Stamps Handbooks
Invoices Uniforms
MERCHANDISING PACKAGING
Stickers Bottles, boxes & bags
Swag Tags
Designing With
for them, that is. Us? We are
responsible for doing whatever it
takes to provide such an experience
33
traditionally used to describe human How would my brand speak to
personalities, you can build a more users during the different stages
relatable story that consumers will of their experience?
engage with.
What does it hate?
In other words:
What does it absolutely love?
People relate to people, and if your
brand feels like people, theyll relate Try some lateral thinking: What
to you, too. is your brands favorite drink/
meal? Why?
VOICE: A simple template
Once you have come up with answers
to define your tone
to these questions, it is important
that you put your newly-defined
Defining our brand personality gives
brand voice on paper. Creating a set
us a better idea of how we should
of guidelines and examples will help
face the user. It elucidates what is the
everyone on your team align around
voice telling the story. Keep this idea
a common language. Take a look at
of brand voice close to heart, as it will
Mailchimps Voice & Tone site for
help you make that crucial translation
an outstanding example of such a
from robot-speak to human. A well-
handbook.
defined voice will impact the different
stages of your users experience with
the product, and will also become an
essential asset for sales collateral,
social channels, and even customer
support.
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Template
Create & express a genuine brand voice
Excitement
Encouragement
Concern
Regret
Gratitude
TRANSLATION: 10 ways
to bring your brand
voice into designs
1. PicMonkeys Creative
Preloader Text 4. Pandoras Touch
Station Intro
The lesson: If your brands pet is
a tech-savvy monkey, feel free to The lesson: If youve gone through the
let him focus a diffractor beam to trouble of building a highly complex
compress your users files. algorithm (Music Genome Project),
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you might as well start a conversation 7. Wazes Thoughtful Advice
with me about why that matters.
The lesson: Let users know you have
their best interest in mind. Especially
when theyre messing up and your
app needs to toss out a panic alert.
8. Mailchimps
Glorious Reminder
5. Buffers Candid Notifications
The lesson: Sometimes a line of code
The lesson: Use successful actions that reads success can mean so
as an opportunity to celebrate your much more for your user. I mean, yes,
brands personality. And if that your app did manage to send out an
happens to be quick-witted and email, but whats behind that? Take
funny, then so be it. some time to celebrate your user
instead of your skills. This is their
moment of glory!
6. Slacks Refreshing
Welcome Message
37
Thanks!
COVER DESIGN Zach McNair
WEB DEVELOPMENT Stephen Hallgren
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Laura Busche
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Gerren Lamson
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Zack Onisko
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR C.S. Jones
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Owen Andrew
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Igor Ovsyannykov
PROJECT MANAGER Priya Kothari
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
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