BeginnersGuidetoBranding

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Inside4 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 WHAT’S 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 IDENTITY20 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. CHOOSING COLORS & TYPOGRAPHY 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.29 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. 2

Readers are saying... From naming your brand identity, to selecting a color palette, the Beginner’s 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… It’s a keeper. It’s gonna live on my desktop. Nicky Laatz Learning about branding can be really confusing, But it doesn’t have to be— this ebook cuts through the jargon and offers real advice to help build your brand. 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. zack onisko That means that the graphic elements, @zack415 copy, and any type of content all Creative Market must be part of the same concept. Each one needs to be tailored to theZack Onisko is the Chief Growth You probably hear the preferences of your target consumer.Officer at Creative Market. He is an term branding being If you are going with a streamlined,analytical thinking product growth tossed around a lot. tech-obsessed look, for example,strategist with over a decade But what exactly does you should concentrate on findingexperience building fast growth it mean? angular (but legible) font styles thatstart-ups. He’s also a husband, dad complement that contemporary style.and guitar noodler. In brief, branding refers to the It might also be a good idea to avoid elements that define the image, pastels in favor of working with more ethos, and tone of your company dramatic colors. Similarly, make sure and its products. Think about iconic any promotions, whether on email or branding elements like Apple’s logo social media, reflect that identity. or Taco Bell’s slogan. Hear or see those things and you’ll instantly know Memorable is vital. what the brand truly stands for. Standing out in the crowd is the only As you read this ebook, remember way to get your brand noticed. Taking these three pieces of advice: some calculated risks can make that happen. If you are working on a Know your audience. portfolio site, going for monochrome can pay off—it’s dramatic and can Understand who you want to “get” help highlight the images. Or, you your brand. The user who gets excited can embrace your own creativity about an app that can automatically and create an immersive site where help sort emails would look for a each element reflects a different very different kind of branding than time period or looks like a landscape, someone looking for a mobile game among other examples. to pass the time. Identify your target market, not just by demographics These are a few important points to but also by tastes. Is it quirky? bear in mind when creating a brand. Businesslike? Cutting-edge? Retro? Consider making a paper sketch of Once you’ve figured that out, you can branding ideas to get a sense of how start to create an identity that draws they look on the page before you their attention–and business. actually create it. Try to review concepts from a consumer’s point of view. Would the brand identity & message you’ve created interest you? Are you the brand’s target audience? 4

What’s in a Name?Crucial Steps to Take Before Naming Your BrandOWEN ANDREW The wrong brand the top of your head, but it could turn@owenandrew7 name choice can sink out to violate trademark laws or have your ship before you suggestive connotations. Taking theOwen Andrew is a journalist and even set sail. time to come up with the right brandtech enthusiast from Southern name will inevitably save you moneyCalifornia. When he’s not writing We are building brands in the age of in the long run. Rebranding is anor obsessing over the latest Apple technology. Because of the times we expensive process and potentiallyproduct, he enjoys hanging with his live in, public opinions of any given risky for business.three kids. product are subject to the whims of first impressions and search A handy article from Entrepreneur engines. While brand loyalty extends Magazine outlines a step-by-step beyond the brand name itself, the process for naming your business: 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 you’re 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. It’s up with a brand on its own or you incredibly easy to pick something off need to enlist help. 5

2. Come up with a goal also have to perform according tofor your brand name. your brand name.Decide exactly what you want to Avoid brand namecommunicate to potential customers. missteps.It should relate to what you do andhow you do it. What makes you stand With so many bad names out there,out from other businesses? it can be difficult to point out what exactly is wrong. However, there3. Brainstorm different names. are some attributes, which when combined, make an exceptionallyThe best brand names evoke an bad brand name:emotional connection and impartlogical information at the same time. 1. Representing it withTry brainstorming from different the wrong imageangles. One of the biggest branding mistakes4. Check for trademark was committed by Burger King, whichviolations. used an actor wearing a king mask in their commercials. They thought itThere are simply so many trademarks would be funny, but it just came offin existence that you will have to as creepy. Be careful when selectingcheck each of your top names to imagery to go along with your brandmake sure it isn’t already taken. You name.can work around trademarks bycoining a new word or name. 2. Imitators5. Create a brand image Consumers need to be able to trustfor each idea. your brand. If you imitate another brand, they will assume your servicesOnce you have settled on a few are also mere imitations.different options, create boards withdesigns for each brand name. Seeing 3. Puns that are funnythe visual concept will help you only to youdecide. Obscure names are obnoxious, and6. Make the final decision. they’re even more obnoxious when they are turned into puns.Whether the decision is an executiveone or a democratic one, you will 4. Misspellings orhave to choose the name that fits strange spellingsyour business best. A brand name should still beAfter determining your new brand recognizable as a word. Companiesname, you should pair your brand- like Apple, Google, and Twitter havenaming strategy with a marketing achieved visibility through accurateand ecommerce strategy to attract spellings and simplicity. Is your namethe right crowds. Your brand name easy to pronounce?should attract the masses, but you 6

Completely uninspired?Check out Naminum, anonline name generationtool that helps you discoverinteresting options to getyour creative juices flowing. Naminum.com 7

Brainstorming a NameA simple 6-step process to come up with 100 ideas1 Competitors 2 Value What name/s are your competitors using to What words encompass brand their products? the most important thing Include substitutes. your product does for its users? Use verbs. Write down 15 words. Write down 15 words.3 Literal Which words come to 4 Abs t ract mind when thinking about your product’s Which words related physical characteristics? to feelings or emotions best convey your Write down 15 words. product’s key functions? Write down 15 words.5 Combinations 6 Synonym s How could you combine (either by prepending Find synonyms for the or appending) any of best 25 words that you the words in points 1-4 came up with in points to form a new name? 1-4. Spend more time on your strongest ideas. Write down 15 combinations. Write down at least 25 synonyms.

Designing a customers are having with each otherBrand Identity about the company, and how that spreads. My favorite definition about Gerren Lamson brand is the one Seth Godin gave: @gerrenlamson Creative Market A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationshipsGerren Lamson is an Austin- One of the most that, taken together, account for abased designer, illustrator, and interesting projects consumer’s decision to choose onetypographer. He is the Head of that a designer can product or service over another. If theDesign & Community at Creative take on is designing a consumer (whether it’s a business,Market, where he is a strong logo. a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’tadvocate for fellow makers. Gerren pay a premium, make a selection, orco-created Satchel & Sage in 2010 It can be daunting and stressful to spread the word, then no brand valuewith his wife Morgana. come up with logo options based on exists for that consumer. market research, and stumble upon some “design magic” through the An identity describes the visual exploratory process. Narrowing it devices used to represent the down to a final, approved logo and company. Identity systems are then seeing it out in the world can visual components packages that be a very rewarding experience for a are paired with style guidelines and designer. used as a framework to ensure the corporate image is cohesive and However, most of the time, a logo consistent. Some of the visual devices is not enough. Large organizations that leverage the brand elements with layers of management require a and style guidelines are as follows: thorough brand identity system that stationery, marketing collateral, provides a unified vision and tools packaging, signage, messaging, and that help everyone build the brand. digital projects, among others. But before we dig in, let’s define the difference (and relationship) between A logo is the central, identifiable a brand, an identity, and a logo. visual element that helps customers discover, share, and remember a Brand vs. Identity company’s brand. Usually it’s in the vs. Logo form of an icon (mark or symbol), logotype, or combination of the A brand or branding refers to the two. The main purpose of a logo perceived image and subsequent is summed up nicely as the five emotional response to a company, principles of effective logo design in its products, and services. It also this Smashing Magazine article. represents the conversation that Phase 1: Research, 9

Crafting an IdentityDesigning a brand’s visual identity is afascinating 3-phase process: How will you Has the audience, represent this brand market or your own visually? Once you brand shifted? Is it have a logo, how time for a change? will you translate it into various design Phase 3: pieces? What will & monitoring should your overall & rebranding identity look like?How is the brand Phase 2:perceived &positioned? What’s Logo,your heritage? Who Identity &is your audience and Guidelineswith which values& beliefs do youenter the market?Phase 1:Research,Vision &Design Brief

Vision & Design Brief • Other brand image concerns: market awareness, emotionalThis phase should be as thorough as associations, value to theneeded—depending on the depth of consumer, brand perception vs.research and size of the company. consumer behavior, changesIt’s the most crucial part of the desired in the brand-consumeroverall process, and should result in relationship over time.a design brief that guides the rest ofthe project. As you can tell, it’s complicated. Two agencies who I think do a good jobBelow is a list of foundational questions with their brand research are Landorand key dynamics to explore and and Fi. It shows in the way that theydocument through qualitative and describe their completed work asquantitative methodologies. (Note: challenge-and-solution projects.This is only a quick overview of themost complex part of this process.) The design brief• How is the brand perceived It’s important to have a design (or against competitors in the creative) brief if the brand identity market for products and services project is bigger than one designer you’re looking to provide? doing work for a small local business.• What is the positioning A truly effective design brief should statement of your brand? Answer contain summaries from the research the what, how, to whom, where, phase, such as: target audience(s), why, and when questions. messaging objectives, values and mission of the brand, and the brand’s• What is the heritage of your products/services offering. It should product type, and the origin(s) also include budget, project schedule, of its ingredients and fabrication file formats for delivery, and other process? practical needs.• Who is your audience? Are they If you’re looking for tools and help on digitally savvy? Where will your how to write a design brief for a brand products/services have contact identity project, explore the following: with them? How do you want Logo Design Brief, 99designs, and that contact experience to make Just Creative. them feel, take action, and think about your brand? Phase 2: Logo, identity, & guidelines• What values and beliefs should the brand have about the After the research phase is complete business and its mission in the and a design brief has been created, world? If the brand was a person, it’s time to start designing the logo what would its personality be? and identity system. How would it look, act, and talk?• What benefits do you want customers to associate with your brand? What is the vision of the brand that you want to create? 11

The logoThere are many ways to startdesigning a logo, but most oftenyou’ll see designers begin bysketching out dozens if not hundredsof iterations on paper. The process ofgetting concepts down on paper andcreating variations of those ideas canunlock new directions to explore andfinal solutions that you wouldn’t havenormally arrived at when starting onthe computer. After selecting yourbest sketched concepts, you shouldstart iterating on them digitally.Here’s a peak behind the curtain ofa few logo concept sketches as theybecame final digital solutions: ITV logo by Matt Rudd of Rudd StudioFirefox Logo by Martijn Rijven of Bolt Graphic, art direction by Wolff Olins Greenpeace Airplot Logo by Airside 12

The identity systemThe identitysystem usuallystarts afterthe logo is complete. The purposeof the identity system is to form asystematic visual language aroundthe logo—one that complements thedesign thinking of the logo and offersa family of useful, flexible elementsthat will help to design marketingand business collateral. Here aresome examples: Patina Restaurant Group by Mucca Design Fortaleza 2020 by GuivillarHandsome Coffee Roasters by Ptarmak 13

The style guidelinesThe style guidelines contain andprescribe the logo usage rules,typeface system, color palette, layoutguidelines, and more. They existso that others can create designcollateral and marketing materialsthat will have a cohesive look andvoice.Style guidelines have traditionallybeen produced as print and web-ready PDFs. They’re the core ofthe identity design, and usuallyaccompany the logo, templates,fonts, and other resources packagedtogether to make designing for thebrand easier. Style guidelines are in-depth rules about logo usage, styling,and layout, and are always interestingto browse through.Here are a few style guidelines ofpopular brands:• Skype (pdf, brand page) These days, the documentation that• BestBuy (Euro Guidelines) a designer must deliver has a heavy• BBC digital skew, with an emphasis on• Adobe development-ready files, such as• Apple Style Tiles, Element Collages, Style• Google Prototypes, SASS documentation, a• Walmart logo/brand download page, among others.Looking for more? Dig into this list byLogo Design Love. Don’t forget to check out our simple Creative Market brand page, and download the logo if you want to promote and share Creative Market. 14

Phase 3: Monitoring Learn more about each of these& rebranding branding projects: Emma, Bishop of London, Apple Worldwide DevelopersLastly, after a new brand identity has Conference 2013, Cancer Researchlaunched, it’s important to monitor UK, and Google SketchUp.and care for it, as it’s a living andbreathing thing that interacts with Resources for brandyour customers. Honestly, that’s a identity designloaded statement as there are manyways to properly care for a brand. If you’re starting a new brand identityRegardless, over time, if your target or rebrand project, we’ve collectedaudience shifts, the market evolves, some Creative Market resources thator the brand’s products and services might help get you started. Checkchange, it may be time for a rebrand. them out in the next page.The main challenge with rebrandingis trying to maintain familiarity andconsistency so that your customerswill remember you.There are two exciting sites that givean inside look at what happens whenprominent brands get rebranded:Rebrand and Under Consideration’sBrand New. Here is a quick samplingof their short before and after casestudies: 15



The 5 Steps to COLORSVisual Branding Your color palette should be the first c.s. jones thing you pick out. Colors are the best @thecsjones starting point towards conveying Webcomicry the mood you want. As you do so, make sure you keep the commonC.S. Jones is an installation Your whole company meanings of each color in your mindmanager for an ISP by day and is your brand, from so that you can tap into them: bold,a writer, artist and photographer the lowest-ranking bright colors symbolize energy andby night, contributing regularly to employees’ uniforms dynamism. More subdued pastelsCreative Market and various other to how the CEO calm the viewer. Warm colors andarts and design blogs. He also has communicates. earth tones radiate down-to-earthhis own, which can be found at comfort. Cool colors calm the viewerWebcomicry.com. There are many different ways to and subliminally inspire trust. Pinks define a brand. Enterpreneur’s John and purples can symbolize sensuality Williams calls it “your promise to your and opulence. customer.” Copywriting legend David Ogilvy described it as “the intangible Once you have a general idea as sum of a product’s attributes.” to which colors you want to use, re:Design’s Paul Biedermann gets a you need to figure out what shades little more philosophical, defining it of them will best complement as “the essence of one’s unique story.” each other. There are many online generators, like Adobe Color CC, In my opinion, it’s everything. Palleton, and Color Hunter that you Your whole company is your can use to explore different hues. brand, from the lowest-ranking Alternatively, pick out a pre-made employees’ uniforms to how the CEO library from a searchable database communicates. But one of the most via a site like COLOURlovers. important aspects is visual branding: the overall appearance of your As a final tip, once you’ve selected company. your colors, arrange them with the ones you expect to use the most first. In this article we’re going to break the These will serve as your base colors, process down to the basics, analyzing and the rest will complement them. each major component and how it fits into the whole. This brand proposal for nutrition supplement company Nativetech makes Let’s start with... brilliant use of bold colors arranged in simple, geometric shapes. 17

ICONOGRAPHY TYPOGRAPHY Like iconography, typography shouldIn the words of Peter Gould: the logo also symbolize your company’sis not the brand, it is the gateway to overall “feel.” As an example, look atthe brand. It should hopefully offer Caterpillar’s solid, robust logo.a preview of the kind of experiencethe customer will get from using your Now contrast that with Hallmark’sproducts. Generally, you also want to script font that suggests handcrafting,keep your iconography as clean and sensitivity, and sentimentality.simple as possible, with a distinctivedesign that can be easily identifiedfrom far away. In an increasinglysaturated world, design is trendingtoward the simple, the reader friendly,and the straight-to-the-point. For a stunning example of hard-hitting Once you’ve picked out your header and focused design achieved through text, you’ll need to choose tasteful body fonts that complement it while simplicity, check out this concept ad continuing to contribute to your campaign for the French Postal Service. brand image. A thorough guide to that process can be found here. TheHowever, don’t take these as universal short version, though, is that whilecommands. Plenty of businesses, you want your header text to be big,especially ones that pride themselves bold, and jump out at you, body texton luxury and craftsmanship, are still is meant to stay subdued and in theable to draw customers into their background.detail-oriented worlds with lush andornate design. PRODUCT & ENVIRONMENT DESIGN Designer Ben Johnston is making quite aname for himself with his stunningly detailed Web design is primarily composed and intricate illustrations and ad campaigns. of shapes, colors, and type, so that is essentially covered by the last three entries. Where design enters the real world, however, is a whole different animal, requiring the consideration of layouts, textures, and three- dimensional shapes. 18

If your business sells the kind of cohesivenessproducts that need to be designed,it goes without saying that this is a As we mentioned in the brandcrucial component to your brand. identity article, the first step towardsYou should go out of your way to creating an identity is to come upmake sure that the aesthetic quality with a brief that sums up what you’reof the products is in line with the trying to achieve in your designexperience that the customer will get scheme. That’s because, in order toby using them. be effective, all your design elements have to work together to tell the same Apple’s products are clearly all message, and should look like they designed with sleek simplicity are all part of the same whole. in mind. From The Week One of my favorite examples of harmony in design is in Eight O’ClockThe same goes for your brick-and- Coffee, whose website, packaging,mortar store, if you’re the kind of and advertising are bold, modern,business that requires one. Where and lively. Just like the product.possible, everything from thefurniture to the lighting to the way the From Double Take Studioscustomers move through the storeshould go to enhance their brand Finally, feel free to break any ofexperience and get them into the these rules in the name of interesting“mood of the company.” design, but you should at least know them beforehand so you can break them with a purpose. This concept shoe store turns a mundane shopping experience into a futuristic escape from reality.That leads us to our final entry, theelement that doesn’t quite fit withthe others, but makes them all fittogether: 19

Choosing Color & TypeBuilding the Foundation of a Brand Identity SystemLAURA BUSCHE Colors can evoke increasingly easier, while making@laurabusche different emotions, deciding infinitely more complex.Creative Market associations, and With such an overwhelming responses that affect amount of color options, selectingCreative Market is a platform for how your brand is a palette for a design project hashandcrafted, mousemade design perceived. become excruciating, to say thecontent created by independent least. The Colourlovers communitycreatives around the world. “Color: what a deep and mysterious has indexed nearly 8 million user- language!” (Words from French artist named colors, while there are over 16 Paul Gauguin) Put simply, color million possible hexadecimal color choices can make or break a design. combinations. In fact, research has shown that color can increase brand recognition (by up Overwhelmed yet? No need to to 80%), memory, engagement with worry. We asked top designers from a design piece, text comprehension, the Creative Market community to among many other factors. share their best tricks and advice for creating stunning color palettes. Take Fortunately, we are far from the times note of these 10 insider secrets and when our color choices were limited bring them into your next branding to a small batch of natural pigments. project: Our options are no longer whatever colors minerals, animals, and plants 1. Capture inspiration on the go. had to offer. Synthetic pigments and the screen have made our lives Callie Hegstrom, the talented designer behind Make Media, suggests: “I snap photos of gorgeous color schemes (like flowers, or sunsets), 20

and later sample those colors directly directly opposite each other on thein Photoshop or Illustrator. It’s also a wheel.great way to match text or graphicswith any photo you’re working with to Cindy Kinash, the Vancouver-basedmake sure your work is cohesive.” designer behind Cultivated Mind, explains, “When painting watercolorTools like Photocopa make it easy to flowers, a good way to show shadowsturn your photos into color palettes. is to add an analogous color.”Just upload and explore the differenthues used in the image. Callie Hegstrom (@MakeMediaCo) gets her In this piece by Cindy Kinash, light inspiration from real-life color palettes. blue is paired with darker blue and purple to create a sense of depth.2. Use your color wheel. This tip works for almost everythingArtist Marc Chagall came up with a else you can think of. Play withpretty amazing quote to remember analogous color schemes to addwhat works in terms of color shadows to your titles or borderscombinations: All colors are the to your backgrounds. These colorsfriends of their neighbors and the usually blend well because theylovers of their opposites. In the quote, are closely related. Find uniquefriends stand for analogous colors, combinations by simply matchingthose that are side by side on a 12- colors to their neighbors on the wheel!part color wheel. On the other hand,Chagall refers to complementary 3. Borrow from interior design.colors as Lovers, tones that are Different design fields share common challenges when dealing with color. Interior designers have to harmonize spaces using textures, objects, and color schemes that blend well together. In this respect, British designer Elena Genova (from MyCreativeLand) offers some key advice: I do like 21

the interior design rule that is pretty Nicky keeps a Palettes board in hermuch applicable to graphic design Pinterest profile, where she storestoo: 60% – dominant color, 30% – attractive color schemes for later use.secondary color, 10% – accent color. You can see the relationship betweenIf you’d like to introduce a fourth (and the inspiration she gets from pinsso on) color, split the secondary color like “14 Citrus Color Palettes” and(or perhaps the dominant but never the color schemes in products likethe accent). Vanilla Frosting.4. Save what works. 5. Break out the trusty Pantone set.Nicky Laatz, who owns a typographyand design shop at Creative Market, Sometimes a digital color wheel justshares how she stores stunning color won’t cut it. It can be inspiring to lookpalettes for later use: at a physical color swatch, and that’s exactly what Pantone sets provide.Whenever I see a picture or photo Designer Callie Hegstrom breaks outwith colors that I love, or that really her trusty Pantone Color Bridge setseem to go well, I screenshot it or whenever she wants to select colorspin it for later. Then, when it’s time to the old-fashioned way. She explains,find a good color palette, I go to all “Sometimes it’s nice to have a physicalmy saved images for inspiration and guide that doesn’t just rely on screenI always find something appropriate. colors. It’s also helpful if a client has a very specific color need, and they want to see physical samples.”Vanilla Frosting, one of Nicky’stop fonts, features this colorful image inspired by bakeries. The nice thing about Pantone swatches? Not so old-fashioned after all! Every Pantone color comes with its HEX equivalent. You can use hexadecimal colors in any color picker. 22

6. Bring in colors from nature. German, a Chilean graphic designer who owns a typography shop atOur eyes are used to admiring natural Creative Market, recommends usingcolor schemes. If you take your three colors to make your graphicsinspiration from the environment, look cleaner. When using more thansuggests Gary from the CO-OP, “The three, he suggests adding texturescolor combinations are endless.” to tone down some of the additionalLandscapes, foliage, fruit, among colors.others are all amazing sources ofinspiration. Gary designs in SouthAfrica, where he built his online shop,and is constantly influenced “by thebright South African sunshine. Thecolors are warm and striking.” Colored backgrounds like Forest Green, In this piece for his Marty font, Rodrigo Fire Red, and Apple Green are examples of sticks to three main colors: pink, black and green. He also plays with texture to Gary’s technique. Bringing in tones from achieve the right amount of contrast. nature, he created 60 watercolor textures. 8. Match color to your7. Stick to 3 or 4 colors. brand’s mood.Unless you’re going for a full-on Consider the topic that you are tryingrainbow look, avoid combining an to portray in your brand identityexcessive amount of colors. Rodrigo project. Is it sports, fashion, beauty, or business? From there, think about a specific mood that you would like to associate with the activity. Is it a cute fashion flyer, or an aggressive sports brochure? Is it feminine, cheerful, serious or elegant? Salome, the designer behind Graphic Box, suggests coming up with a rough definition of the color theme before you go ahead and work on the details. For example, I need a romantic purple or I want a cute pink. For her fall graphic kit, Salome relied on earthy greens and worn-out reds. 23

9. Search Pinterest forthemed palettes.Pinterest holds an impressive amountof color palettes curated by creativesall around the world. Ian Barnard,creator of Vintage Design Co.,explains his search process below:“If I was doing a design for a beach-themed poster, I would do a simplesearch under ‘Summer Color Palettes’and choose one.”This is what a simple search for“Summer Color Palettes” looks likeon Pinterest. The best part? You’ll getcolor inspiration from different designfields: interiors, fashion, graphic, andeven event design.10. Follow sites for color lovers.Colourlovers is a creative communitywhere people from around the worldcreate and share colors, palettes, andpatterns. Join the site and exploreover 3.7 million user-created colorpalettes to inspire your ideas. 24

Choosing the not only ruin the entire design, itRight Typeface also ruins the entire message. You wouldn’t want to trust your taxes to Igor Ovsyannykov an auditing firm whose name uses a @inspirationf font like Comic Sans or Chiller, would Inspiration Feed you? I mean, how in the world could you take them seriously?Igor Ovsyannykov is a blogger, A strong typefacedesigner and technology geek. dictates what message Before you choose a typeface youHe runs InspirationFeed.com, a your brand is trying to must ask yourself a few importantsite that aims to inform, educate convey, what the tone questions. The answers to theseand inspire people in topics like is, and even who its questions will lead you in the rightdesign, entrepreneurship and self- creators are. direction to finding the perfectdevelopment. typeface. It’s funny how many fonts there are out there, but people still end up using Is it legible enough? inappropriate typeface all the time. Anything that uses letters, numbers, Let’s face it, fonts were created to and symbols, whether it’s a sign give life to the text, but there are outside your store or the report you times when font designers overdo it need to submit to your boss, requires and end up creating typefaces that a specific typeface that makes all the can barely be read. Some fonts may difference. also be too thin to read, while some may be so bulky that it’s hard to Some fonts may come across as distinguish one letter from another casual, while some may look formal when an entire word is spelled out. and professional. Others show a fun and carefree identity, while some Make sure that the font is legible by give you an impression that they’re checking if each and every letter meant to be used for more serious can be easily read, and if they can things. This is what typefaces do. still be distinguishable should they They give any text they are used on be placed beside other letters. Is the its own personality, allowing people shape taking up too much space? Do who read it to identify with it more the strokes lack definition? effectively. If legibility is your goal, here are some Questions to ask when great, easy-to-read fonts that come choosing a typeface in a variety of weights: Great text using the wrong font does How much emphasis do you need? Some fonts give more emphasis to text compared to others. The font Impact, for example, stays true to its name as its width makes the letters stand out over other typefaces. Some fonts also come in varied styles to allow you to lessen or improve the 25

amount of emphasis that it gives. Roman as a default. The font hasHelvetica Neue, for instance, also been overused and comes acrossgives you options for light and ultra as boring and devoid of creativity.light, aside from the usual bold and Now look at Apple Garamond anditalic styles. compare it with the previous font. Isn’t the second one friendlier to lookHow 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 Appleout where the text will be placed. brand, as it’s the one they used in allIs it going to be used for the brand their marketing materials. So if you’rename? Then choose something that speaking to a loyal Samsung crowd,would be easily distinguishable. And then this would be the worst choice.if you’re looking for a font to use forthe tag line beneath that brand name, Does it represent yourthen make sure that there is just brand and goals?enough emphasis for it to be noticedwithout overshadowing the name If you are designing material forabove it. a learning center for toddlers, do you think fonts like Garamond orIs it appealing to the audience? Baskerville would be appropriate? Definitely not. Because you wantIn choosing the right font, you have to have a colorful, fun, and livelyto figure out what personality your façade, you could be better off withaudience has. What would appeal something that would show just that.to them the most? What’s their agebracket? Are they the fun type, or Go back to the brand and what itare they the serious type? Once you represents. What are your goals?have this all figured out, you could What image do you want the brandfinally choose the kind of font that to have? What do you want youryou believe would appeal to them the audiences to think the moment theymost. see the final design? If the font you choose aligns with your brand and itsThe font Gotham has a beautiful goals, then this is the perfect font forcontemporary design perfect you.for audiences who are modern,confident, and secure. However, this Once these questions have beenfont is also President Obama’s favorite answered, then you may be on yourfont, with all his banners, flyers, and way to achieving the design that youother campaign material using this want.specific typeface. So you may want touse this if you want a contemporary If you’re looking for fonts that arelook, but think twice if you think the uniquely appealing, check these out:association with the person using ita lot may not be fitting for what you Criteria to use whenneed. choosing a typeface for your brandIf you’re looking for a professionallook but would still want your text And so, once you get to the drawingto pop out, avoid using Times New board and start creating the design 26

that you need for your brand, have a Trackingchecklist ready for the things that youmust consider. If leading decides how much space there is between lines, then trackingPairing decides how much space there is between letters. The spaces shouldYou will need more than one font to not be too small that it becomes hardmake a design work, especially if to make out one letter from another,you’re working on a brand application but not too wide that a single wordlike a webpage. This is why pairing takes up a whole lot of space even ifmatters. You have to make sure it uses a smaller font.that the fonts you use are similarenough to complement each other, Colorbut different enough to show thedistinction between them. Of course, color is not exactly one of the main aspects that comes withSize choosing a font, but it greatly affects the end product, so this should alsoBetter readability would also mean be given serious consideration. Ifusing larger sizes. Brand names your font is already light enough aswould have to be large enough to it is, then avoid using light colors andbe noticed, but not too large that go for more solid ones.they overpower the tagline (if itexists). Text bodies would have to be Always have this checklist handyreadable enough, but should not be when designing your brand’s identityso large that they start taking up too system.much space on the page. Final thoughtsHierarchy on finding the perfect typefaceEvery design involves hierarchy. Forexample, a brand’s name should have Here are a few final words that couldthe top rung of the ladder, and often help you decide what font or typefacehas the most emphasis. Taglines you need for your design:should be less prominent than thename, but not too small that all Have an outline of the identityemphasis is taken away from them. system that you’re buildingLeading Having a clear outline of the entire project on a page can help you planLeading is the amount of space given the number of fonts that you need,between each line of text. Figuring as well as how you are going to layout how much leading you need everything out.would depend on the font you use.The smaller the font, the less leading Look at other designsrequired between the lines. Bigger for inspiration.fonts require larger leading. There are so many amazing creative designs out there that show how 27

the right choice of font creates a KNOW YOUR TERMSmasterpiece. Find some of themand use them for inspiration. Here’s 28a great resource to do just that:Design Inspiration: Sites and Toolsfor Boosting CreativityStand out to be noticed.Of course, getting inspiration fromother designs does not mean that youwill make your design very similarto it. You have to find ways to makeyour design stand out. Don’t be afraidto experiment and be bold with yourchoices.Do research about the font.Make sure you do some researchabout the font you’re using. UsingTrajan as a font for a page thatdiscusses Ancient Greece, forexample, would be a little awkwardonce you’re asked to explain yourchoice. This is because Trajan wasactually a Roman Emperor that camemuch, much later than the period ofAncient Greece.Avoid clichés.Stop using Comic Sans for funny text,and stop using Papyrus for anythingrelated to Ancient Egypt. This makesthe entire design too predictable, andmakes it appear to lack creativity.(Actually, stop using Comic Sans andPapyrus altogether.)With this guide on choosing theperfect typeface for your project, areyou ready to create a masterpiece?

Creating Brand ApplicationsWhat happens when your brand goes live?LAURA BUSCHE As beautiful as your a lasting, positive impression.@laurabusche identity design may Sometimes the first impression is theCreative Market look in a retina display, only one you’ll ever get to make. brands only come aliveLaura Busche is passionate about when their audiences Leave your logo aside for a second andconsumer research, design get to interact with start thinking how you will actuallythinking, branding, and their them. put it in front of your audience.exciting crosspoints. She is the Rather than operating alone, yourauthor of O’Reilly Media’s Lean Applications in various mediums identity system must come throughBranding book. Laura is a Brand (paper, screen, billboards, etc.) often via a variety of vehicles. Take a lookContent Strategist at Creative mark the beginning of a customer’s at some of the most popular brandMarket and regularly blogs relationship with a brand. applications and think about how anyabout branding and business at or all apply to your current project:laurabusche.com/blog. Consider the first time you ever saw your favorite brand’s identity system. • Outdoor/Indoor Signage Were you biting that burrito when you spotted a logo on the wrap? Did • Websites & Landing Pages an amazing billboard in the subway surprise you? Received an impressive • Business Cards business card from someone who worked for the company? As you’ve • Letterhead & Stationery probably realized by now, creating pieces that truly represent your values • Menus & Catalogs and identity is key to generating • Flyers & Brochures • Email Headers & Signatures 29

• Social Media & Other Forms of Customer What it Sample brand Content Marketing Lifecycle entails applications• Packaging Stage to create• Online/Offline Ads GET Generating Ads, merchandising,• Annual & Other Types of Reports awareness, interest, business cards, event• Merchandising consideration, displays, signage, flyers,• Uniforms and purchase. and brochures, menus• Tradeshow/Event Displays and catalogs, content• Stamps & Stickers marketing imageryBrands in different industries will (blog, social media, etc.),face unique challenges when tryingto apply their identity system to websites and landinga specific set of instruments. Asyou build a strong set of brand pages, among others.applications, consider the followingquestions and tools. KEEP Doing everything Letterhead & stationery, GROW in your power to email headers & signature,With which applications of retain the customer: merchandising, reports,the brand will a potential loyalty programs, content marketingcustomer interact throughout product updates, imagery, among others.his entire experience? satisfaction surveys and check-in calls,Draw the entire customer life cycle among others.and figure out which touch pointsrequire branded instruments. A Generating Letterhead & stationery,useful graphic tool to think about additional revenue menus and catalogs,this journey is the Get-Keep-Grow from a single ads promoting discountsframework introduced by Steve Blank customer by for repeat buyers,and Bob Dorf in The Startup Owner’s stimulating upsell, landing pages thatManual: next-sell, cross- stimulate upsell for sell, and referrals. existing customers. 30

Who is the audience for Thinking about the actual functioneach of these potential of these brand applications will alsoapplications? Customers? strengthen the business case forInvestors? Suppliers? hiring your services in the future.Partners? Employees? While controversial, Airbnb’s new brandGet complete clarity as to who will identity was well implemented acrossbe looking at these applicationsand ask relevant questions about different channels. Innovative applicationsthis audience. Who are they? What like keychains were considered in addition toare they looking for? What kind ofvisual appeal and messaging would more traditional pieces like business cards.work best to convince them? Dothey have a preference for specifictypes of brand communications (e.g.online only, environmentally friendly,paper-based?)How will we preserve aconsistent, recognizable identityacross various applications?Look at your entire set of brandapplications holistically. Do thedifferent items preserve a certainunity? Does everything look likeit comes from the same brand?Consider how extensible your identitysystem is. Could we easily create newapplications based on the patternsthat we’re currently using?With which call to action is thisbrand application related? Is itbeing communicated clearly?“Design is not just how it looks, it’show it works.” (Steve Jobs). Considerthe practical value of the applicationsthat you’ve just designed. Yourorganization has decided to invest inthis project with a specific conversiongoal in mind. Figure out what thatgoal is and make sure that it translateswell in the different pieces that youhave created. Will they help achievethis goal? 31

ChecklistMake sure you think about these brand applicationsSignage collateral Outdoor Menus & catalogs Indoor Flyers & brochures Tradeshows / Events CONTENT MKTGWEB PRESENCE Social media profiles Website Ebooks Landing page/s Infographics Partner sites Blog headers Badges Banners advertising Sponsored sites Email Online ads Offline adsstationEry for team use Letterhead Business Cards Annual reports Stamps Internal memos Invoices Guidelines HandbooksMERCHANDISING Uniforms Stickers PACKAGING Swag Bottles, boxes & bags Tags

Designing With for them, that is. Us? We areYour Brand’s Voice responsible for doing whatever it takes to provide such an experience LAURA BUSCHE while differentiating our brand in a @laurabusche meaningful way. That means putting Creative Market in the extra hours to make sure that our product does not speak robot, but human. And, while this all sounds very complicated, I’ve narrowed it down to three simple steps: 1. Finding a Brand PersonalityLaura Busche is passionate about Why is it that some 2. Defining a Brand Voiceconsumer research, design brands take a piece 3. Translating it into Userthinking, branding, and their of our heart? What isexciting crosspoints. She is the it about their design Experienceauthor of O’Reilly Media’s Lean that makes us feelBranding book. Laura is a Brand connected, amused...Content Strategist at Creative delighted?Market and regularly blogsabout branding and business atlaurabusche.com/blog. There are now over 2 million apps Let’s go one step at a time: in the iOS and Google Play stores combined, and if that doesn’t make PERSONALITY: What makes your head spin, let’s talk about the your brand humane & 876 million websites and 212 major why does it matter? social networks competing for your users’ attention. The American Psychological Association (APA) has defined Fellow makers, it’s a challenging personality as the “unique market out there. As our generation psychological qualities of an becomes exposed to increasingly individual that influence a variety of amusing products, we cannot help characteristic behavior patterns (both but wonder how can our brand break overt and covert) across different through the clutter? Users are tired situations and over time.” of the lifeless language that a vast majority of products still force upon Our personality influences the way them. They are done with the tired we think, behave, and feel with regard interfaces that they’ve had to deal to everything that surrounds us. with for decades. Instead, users are Similarly, as users interact with your looking for genuine experiences that product, they are expecting a friendly bring comfort, ease and, why not, a language that guides them through sense of connection. a specific flow of events. By linking your brand with several traits that are Sophisticated consumers call for effortless experiences. Effortless 33

traditionally used to describe human • How would my brand speak topersonalities, you can build a more users during the different stagesrelatable 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 yourbrand feels like “people,” they’ll relate • Try some lateral thinking: Whatto you, too. is your brand’s favorite drink/ meal? Why? VOICE: A simple templateto define your tone Once you have come up with answers to these questions, it is importantDefining our brand personality gives that you put your newly-definedus a better idea of how we should brand voice on paper. Creating a setface the user. It elucidates what is the of guidelines and examples will helpvoice telling the story. Keep this idea everyone on your team align aroundof brand voice close to heart, as it will a common language. Take a look athelp you make that crucial translation Mailchimp’s Voice & Tone site forfrom “robot-speak” to human. A well- an outstanding example of such adefined voice will impact the different handbook.stages of your user’s experience withthe product, and will also become an I’ve created a template to help youessential asset for sales collateral, capture a language that reflects yoursocial channels, and even customer brand’s voice. To fill it out, definesupport. a list of words that you’ll use to express excitement, encouragement,Terms like voice, tone, and language concern, regret, and gratitude. Acan be confusing. Just bear in mind success message, for example, wouldthat voice is the overall style in which express excitement, while an alertyour brand expresses, while tone message would display concern. Alsois a variation in that voice to reflect come up with a few sample phrasesa particular attitude or respond to a that show how that word could bespecific situation. Language, on the used in context.other hand, refers specifically to youruse of words. In a nutshell, your brand Check it out in the following page.uses a specific language to addressdifferent situations with particulartones that reflect its overall voice.Based on the personality you justfound, take a few minutes to answerthe following questions about yourvoice:• What would my brand say and how? 34

TemplateCreate & express a genuine brand voiceBrand Voice TemplateVOICE TO EXPRESS WORD BANK SAMPLE PHRASES ExcitementEncouragementConcernRegretGratitude

TRANSLATION: 10 ways 2. Virgin America’sto bring your brand Witty Commentsvoice into designs The lesson: Humor helps ease tension, and some industries (like airNo matter which framework you are travel) could definitely use more of it.using to visualize the entire user And yes, Virgin, life isn’t a beach.experience (journeymaps, flowcharts,sitemaps, storyboards, and the like), 3. Hootsuite’s Ultra-your brand’s voice can and should be honest Sleep Modeincorporated in every stage. Here are The lesson: The user is drainingsome common places where you can unnecessary server resources. Takestart bringing in the vocabulary and a nap and let them know they’retone that you just defined: slacking off, in the nicest way possible.- Signup flow- Call-to-action 4. Pandora’s Touché- Onboarding Station Intro- Landing pages The lesson: If you’ve gone through the- Notifications trouble of building a highly complex- Emails algorithm (Music Genome Project),- Collateral- Support flowTranslating robot-speak can be adaunting task. You might feel likeyou are crossing the line more thanonce. Are we being too casual? Willthis scare users away? Is slang OKfor a purchase button? Going back tothe template above will help you stayon-brand, and regular A/B testingwill allow you to experiment withinreasonable risk limits.To inspire you, I’ve collected eightstellar examples of brand voicesthat have been translated into theuser experience flow. Most of thesefocus on microcopy, those seeminglylittle words and phrases that meaneverything to your user:1. PicMonkey’s CreativePreloader TextThe lesson: If your brand’s pet isa tech-savvy monkey, feel free tolet him “focus a diffractor beam” tocompress your user’s files. 36

you might as well start a conversation 7. Waze’s Thoughtful Advicewith me about why that matters. The lesson: Let users know you have their best interest in mind. Especially when they’re messing up and your app needs to toss out a panic alert.5. Buffer’s Candid Notifications 8. Mailchimp’s Glorious ReminderThe lesson: Use successful actionsas an opportunity to celebrate your The lesson: Sometimes a line of codebrand’s personality. And if that that reads “success” can mean sohappens to be quick-witted and much more for your user. I mean, yes,funny, then so be it. your app did manage to send out an email, but what’s behind that? Take some time to celebrate your user instead of your skills. This is their moment of glory!6. Slack’s RefreshingWelcome MessageThe lesson: Sometimes users areoverwhelmed. Face it, embrace it,and make it a part of your mission tobecome the best part of their day. 37

Thanks!COVER DESIGN Zach McNairWEB DEVELOPMENT Stephen HallgrenCONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Laura BuscheCONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Gerren LamsonCONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Zack OniskoCONTRIBUTING AUTHOR C.S. JonesCONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Owen AndrewCONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Igor OvsyannykovPROJECT MANAGER Priya Kothari CREDITS TIPS & ADVICE FROM Texta Font Family by Latinotype Callie Hegstrom Newslab Font Family by Latinotype Cindy KinashGraphic Design Tools Icons by Roundicons Elena Genova Multimedia Line Icons by Roundicons Nicky Laatz Co-op Goods Co Rodrigo German Graphic Box Ian BarnardBROUGHT TO YOU BY 38

Loved it?Share it clicking on the link below and download our free bonus pack, complete with 9 graphic kits to create your brand’s style guide, business cards, stationery & much more. 39