Are you making the most of your customer contacts?
In a utopian society, books would not be judged by their covers, people would not be stereotyped by their appearance, and companies would not be valued by their logo.
We're a long way from utopia, however. My flowing white robe and tambourine remain firmly locked in the basement, and the hard facts of business remain close at hand.
So it is that most successful company directors set great importance on their corporate branding. And rightly so: every time someone sees your logo, they form an implicit character judgement on your organisation, your products, and you. The effect of a professional logotype is like a little calming voice in your customers' minds:
"This company is a credible, professional outfit, and I feel proud to be associated with them."
This is simply a product of the "feelgood" factor created by quality design, as was recently
scientifically proven by a research team Stamford University in the US*. It shows that people judge the credibility of a website by the quality of its design, as quality design demonstrates investment, financial stability, and maturity.
The effect of an unprofessional, hastily designed, ineffective logo gives rise to a more insistent voice in your customers minds:
"This is a couple of teenage kids in pulling a scam in their back bedroom. They will disappear as soon as they get busted by their mum. Don't give them any money."
Even if you are a couple of kids pulling a scam in your back bedroom, you probably don't want to give that impression.
A quick guide to terminology
- Branding is the act of creating a complete statement of the identity and philosophy of a company. A company's brand should connect to something larger in their customers that motivates them to buy the company's product, above those of their competitors.
- The corporate identity refers to the specifically visual aspects of the brand: the logo, stationery, web site, marketing materials, and so on.
- The logotype (or logo) is the graphical and/or typographical mark that is the central element of the identity.
So how is it done?
Contrary to the spiel that most graphic designers will give you, it's not fine art, sorcery, or a
linguistic exercise on a par with writing Ulysses. It's a straightforward,
if often painful procedure, much like ripping off 1000 plasters, one after
another. And the plasters are on me, and you're doing the ripping.
This would be the procedure I'd recommend for creating a corporate brand:
1) I'll need any documentation on the company history, mission statements,
procedure manuals, any future milestones, key staff profiles, and so on.
2) I'll need a brief tour of the company, where I can see the main areas of the business, meet the key staff, especially those responsible for reviewing the designs. It's important to establish an early rapport, as design is essentially concerned with visualising the needs and desires of the corporate machine.
3) If you have a design brief, that's fine; if not, don't worry about
sweating over it - let me help you by giving you a questionnaire asking the
questions I need answering.
4) Based on the questionnaire, I'll generate around 20-30 names, which we
can discard/refine/take forward, whatever. Then, if necessary, I'll generate
10-20 more, and so on, until we get to something that everyone can be proud
of. (Often there are obvious/strong logotype ideas and corporate branding
themes that are suggested by the name - I'll bring these up at the same
time, to help inform your decision).
5) I'd recommend a cooling off period of about a fortnight, to "wear it in",
and see if the name's going to still be acceptable down the line. Meanwhile
there would be a check for negative connotations in other languages.
6) Then comes the logotype design - pretty much the same as (4), but with
pictures.
Here's an example of a "design sheet"*, which is used for each iteration of the logo, showing examples of usage and the thinking behind the design.
7) Once we have agreement, stationery is designed, with advice on printing/finishing, & corporate design guidelines are also formulated.
Calculating the cost
Personally I'm not a fan of value-based charging, and this tends to be the norm in identity design. In other words, the larger graphic design agencies will base their fee on the size of the sculpture in your company's lobby..."How much does it cost? How much have you got?"
I'm more interested in an equitable fee for my time and ideas, and this unusual approach, combined with my low overheads, tends to make me surprisingly affordable.
Contact me for a free evaluation.
Other writings on this topic
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