Create a brand They say a company without a logo is like a faceless man. Customers need a brand to help them recognise who you are and you need a brand to help tell your story. Today, we’ll be looking at creating not just a strong logo, but also the basics of branding and design too.

Come on, let’s get started.

Yesterday & today

You can get noticed with a budget of zero, but it is much more difficult. You need to be creative and fun.

You can get noticed on zero budget 1 We live in a time where it’s really easy to measure how

effective your marketing has been. Ask them how!

Ask customers how they found you 2

Try and be interesting, a little different, and certainly worth talking about. If you can, you’ll go further with less effort.

Be the purple cow! 3 Today we’ll be focusing on what a brand really is, and what to

think about when creating your own brand.

Today: Creating a strong brand 4

Logorama is an excellent animated short by French animation

collective, ‘H5’. It shows how

branding has grown to be a

recognisable and large part of

modern society. It’s hard not to

get a little nostalgic at some of

the logos shown!

LogoRama 1

Branding is everywhere Branding messages are shown to us everywhere we go and they fight for our attention. If you live in a city you might see as

many as 4,000 messages that companies pay to put in front of us. Branding seems to be a key part of our modern world.

We’re all familiar with what

brands look like but what makes a

good brand?

This is the message you tell customers. It’s the first thing they hear so it has to be good!

A name & slogan

The three elements of a brand: part 1 Broadly speaking, there are three elements that make up a brand. The best brands in the world invest a lot of

money in creating and showing off each part through advertising, publicity stunts and launch events.

Brand Names Let’s put your brand knowledge to the test. How many different brands

can you name within the time limit? Company names, product names, organisations, groups and places are all brands of one form or another!

You have 90 seconds to name as many brands as possible

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GO! 3

Get a piece of paper & Pen ready 1

Let’s test your brand knowledge!

Did you get place names? Political groups? Product names? Everything can be branded!

A brand is more than just a name, it’s an identity. Anything and everything can be branded. Everyone knows the Las Vegas brand – in fact you can probably picture the ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign, and you certainly know what it’s attitude is. Brands are everywhere and they are there to help us recognise and remember the place, product, company or group.

It should reflect some part of your brand, whether that’s literally

what you do (Louis’ Broom Handles) or your vision or spirit

(Nike, Windows, etc.)

It should reflect what you do or who you are in some way Tell the name to a friend and see if

they can write it down first time. If they can’t that’s something to worry about – how will anyone find you if

they can’t spell your name!

It should be easy to spell and unique

At the end of the day, it’s a personal choice. If it sounds good to you and a

friend or two, then it’s probably a good name. Go with it!

Ultimately, it needs to sound good!

Choosing a good name Unfortunately, choosing a good name is no exact science. The best way to find a name is to write down as many potential

names as you can, then pick your top 5 and show them to a friend to see which name they prefer.

A Logo & visual style

This is the message you tell customers. It’s the first thing they hear so it has to be good!

The visuals of your branding are the bit that people will recognise again and again.

A name & slogan

The three elements of a brand: part 2 Broadly speaking, there are three elements that make up a brand. The best brands in the world invest a lot of

money in creating and showing off each part through advertising, publicity stunts and launch events.

What is being drawn? These objects will be revealed one by one. Let’s see if you can recognise the famous thing

being drawn – you have 30 seconds for each!

Keep it simple - If you can’t draw it in 30 seconds it’s not a good logo. That’s why logos don’t look like the Mona Lisa.

Logos are designed to be simple and memorable – the more detail it has, the less memorable it is. Of course, it should still be as unique as possible so it stands out against the competition! Ideally it should reflect your company name, what you sell or

what you believe in.

Here you can see the various changes in Shell’s logo over the

last 100 years. You can see

where colour printing becomes

mainstream in the 40s and now

the branding is so well known,

they don’t even need the name

‘Shell’ in the logo.

The Shell logo over time 1

Keep it simple & Don’t worry about getting it right first time As branding has evolved, we’ve realised that a good brand has a simple logo – the simpler the better. That why

if you look at famous brands over time they appear to reduce in detail and complexity.

Think about how your logo will adapt for online use You don’t have to design your logo is a square or circle format. Instead what most brands do is they take an element

of the logo and use that for a display picture of social media pages – demonstrated by Google below.

Normal Logo Facebook profile Google+ profile

A Logo & visual style

This is the message you tell customers. It’s the first thing they hear so it has to be good!

The visuals of your branding are the bit that people will recognise again and again.

Brands need attitudes too – a personality. A set of values or an ethos that your company lives by.

A personality A name & slogan

The three elements of a brand: part 3 Broadly speaking, there are three elements that make up a brand. The best brands in the world invest a lot of

money in creating and showing off each part through advertising, publicity stunts and launch events.

A personality? Really? It’s quite a new idea that brands have a personality or an attitude that they live by. Everything they do should stem from that

personality or attitude and brands should avoid sending mixed messages. Red Bull shouldn’t sponsor a yoga session!

Ben & Jerry’s is a great brand full of love, joy and delicious ice cream.

A well known fair-trade supporter

with a very ‘happy go lucky’

personality.

Ben & Jerry’s 1

A personality? Really? It’s quite a new idea that brands have a personality or an attitude that they live by. Everything they do should stem from that

personality or attitude and brands should avoid sending mixed messages. Red Bull shouldn’t sponsor a yoga session!

Everyone who knows the ice cream brand Magnum, knows the

‘Magnum Moment’ shown here.

Like Ben & Jerry’s it’s high quality

ice cream, but Magnum’s

personality is all about exclusivity

and luxury – unlike Ben & Jerry’s.

The magnum Moment 2

Ben & Jerry’s is a great brand full of love, joy and delicious ice cream.

A well known fair-trade supporter

with a very ‘happy go lucky’

personality.

Ben & Jerry’s 1

Which brands do these people represent? Each of these people represent a famous brand’s ‘personality’. Can you

guess which brand is being represented and why?

This extreme snowboarder represents Red Bull’s high octane personality, as demonstrated

by Red Bull’s extreme sports events and sponsorship deals

This parody stereotype of a Microsoft Windows user, created by Apple in a TV ad, showcases

Microsoft’s traditional and frank personality – which they’re trying hard to get rid of.

If Greenpeace had a personality, it would be passionate, controversial and caring in equal

measures. This was taken during a Greenpeace protest and sums up the brand well.

When you buy a product or service, what do you look for? Good service? The personal

touch? Ethical considerations? Use what you care about and use

values customers can appreciate.

What qualities do you care about?

Are you outgoing and wild, or caring and respectful? Try and use the

strengths of your own personality in your brand. Early customers who

talk to you will make a stronger bond with you and your brand.

What’s your own personality like?

The biggest strength of a small business is the personal touch they

can provide. Don’t try and be something you’re not, be honest,

genuine and humble where you can, at least until you grow in size.

Whatever you decide, be genuine & honest

What should my brand represent? Unfortunately, choosing a good name is no exact science. The best way to find a name is to write down as many potential

names as you can, then pick your top 5 and show them to a friend to see which name they prefer.

Create a brand It’s time to design our brand! Collecting inspiration and research from

other companies is just as important as drawing ideas for your new logo so make sure you invest time at looking at what’s out there!

Draw 10 logo ideas with a pencil & paper for your company

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Pick the best and take it into Powerpoint - great for 1st logos!

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Now Find 20 logos from similar companies for inspiration 2

Create a company name you like 1

check out fontsquirrel.com for excellent free fonts to use.

FontSquirrel.com is a great place to find free commercial fonts to use in your logos, websites and print materials. See if there are any fonts you’d like to use in your logo and test them out or download them. Once downloaded just open the file

and click on ‘Install Font’ or search Google for more information.

Things to takeaway

Branding is all about creating a good impression and being memorable. If someone can’t spell your name, you’re in trouble.

If it’s not memorable it’s nothing 1 Creating a strong brand is about customer loyalty -

making sure the customer knows what you stand for.

It’s all about customer loyalty 2

Your own company brand should reflect your own values, whether that’s integrity, spontaneity or insanity!

Inject some personality 3 The best brands don’t lie about what they do. As a small

business be honest & genuine about what you do.

Good brands are honest 4

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branding Done!