Questions: post-workshop – November 19, 2011
Answers: David Woods, Creative Director, email: david@surgerycreations.com
1. I’d like to start developing my brand. What are the key visual elements I need to start off with?
Start off by developing your own logo identity – outline the colours, fonts and any relevant pictorial elements you want to include in your logo. Then think about where you want to start applying your logo – on a letterhead, business card and/or website for instance.
2. What sort of logo (e.g., wordmark and letterform) is the best to use?
All and either can be as strong and as successful as each other. To some extent it comes down to personal choice and what’s ‘relevant’. Don’t try to include a pictorial element or a swoosh/arrow/stripe for example if it has no relevancy to you/your brand. Ask yourself what would be most resonant with your clients and your industry and what is likely to remain so in the long term.
3. I’m not happy with my logo, colours and fonts. Do you think I should start again or can I adapt them?
Firstly ask yourself why you’re not happy with these elements. Is it for personal reasons or do they no longer represent your values? Your logo shouldn’t be changed based on how you’re feeling on a certain day but because it isn’t working for you anymore.
Think carefully before changing your logo and design elements because promoting your new logo/brand is a time consuming operation. After consideration, if you really do find that you need a change, perhaps because your logo is out-dated or your mission has changed, better to start again than to live with something that’s no longer representative of your brand.
4. What should I avoid when creating my logo?
Don’t make it too busy or fussy. Less is definitely more in this case so keep it simple. Remember, you’re likely to reproduce your logo in many different sizes so you’ll need a ‘vector-based eps’ for quality repro from large to small.
5. How often should I review my logo and colours?
Review them every 18 months or so to check that they still represent you and your values. You can tweak a colour if needs be but always think carefully before changing it completely – evolution rather than revolution is often the best route and if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
6. How can I test to see if my brand is successful?
Ask as many people as possible for their opinion – friends, family, colleagues and existing customers.
7. Where can I find further information/reading on brand building/colour and typefaces?
Here are some ‘easy-for-beginner’ references:
http://www.dummies.com/store/product/Branding-For-Dummies.productCd-0471771597.html
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/branding-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html
http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory