Branding is the art of aligning what you want people to think about your company with what people think about it, and vice versa. And if you are planning to be successful at what you do, you should master that art. We talked to Bobby Hallas, Creative Director at IdeaPros, about creating innovative and memorable branding.
The Brand Book
Branding is a system for identifying a product, service, or company that makes it unique and differentiates it from the competition. Many elements make a successful brand. The best way to organize them into a system is with a brand book.
“Brand book is everything your brand is.” – Bobby Hallas
It contains the basic rules and guidelines about the things you want to create. You can easily share it with the people you work with, so they can emulate your brand correctly. Your designers and advertisers must have a clear idea of what message you are sending to the world. Consistency is important if you want people to remember you. But at the same time, you should be innovative, so your brand can evolve.
“Branding is constantly evolving.” – Bobby Hallas
The Logo
The brand book contains all the written, visual, and graphic elements that encompass your brand and enable you to have a consistent voice to the public and the most effective campaign. The initial logo with the tagline is on the first page.
Logos are Pantone Black and Pantone Red which is the format for print. Meanwhile, your digital formats are JPEG or PNG. You will use vector artwork as well, which can be scaled without losing its resolution. The balance and composition of the elements in your logo make all the difference.
Working with branding teams is super helpful because it helps create a brand your customers can emotionally connect with. The logo should have various formats for video, print, digital content, etc. You should specify the colors used to create it. The screens usually display colors in their RGB color values, while printers display them in CMYK values. Hex code is for the web only.
Specify the exact color values, tints, and shades you used for the logo so they can be replicated correctly and ensure your brand’s consistency. Add an area of isolation to your logo to make it look better and stop other elements from getting too close to it. The minimum logo size is 0.2 inches, while a favicon (the little image that appears in the search window) is around 15 pixels.
Branding Do’s And Don’ts
“You will have to adjust your brand over time, but a brand book helps you stay within the basic guidelines. “ – Bobby Hallas
It’s important not to change the color base or the position of the tagline in the logo. Make lines thicker, or rotate them. The most important rule that’s always broken is: “Do not reproduce the logo in low resolution.” Always use the correct file formats to get the clearest possible logo.
Connecting your brand to a specific font is branding 101. When creating text to accompany the brand, don’t just put any font. Choose the type and the size of the font wisely and keep it consistent. Always define which font goes into which elements of the branding. Put in your tagline what you want people to think about you.
So, go out there, get creative and make a brand your customers will love!
The “Idea Pros” at IdeaPros have the resources, experience, and tools to help you at this step or any step in the entrepreneurial journey.
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