Design Insights: The Whole Logo/Branding Thing

Your small business branding starts with your logo design. Essentially, it’s your visual branding and a major part of creating that all important impression of your business.

A good  design process should start with a discussion of how you want your business to be perceived, and who your target customers are.   If you haven’t thought about your target customers and what kinds of designs they respond to, then head back to the research table before you even call your designer. Design choices should be based on your research and target market, not  necessarily on your personal preferences.

You also need to carefully consider the space your logo occupies, and how versatile it will be. With all this social marketing, and all these different sized areas to add your branding,  one ideal version of your logo may not work across all platforms.  We’re recommending complete visual branding strategies  to be used in various shaped areas- small, large, horizontal and square, as well as patterns and textures.  This complete branding strategy keeps  things fun and fresh for social engagement, while maintaining that important cohesiveness throughout your designs.

So before you set out on your branding/logo design process- go through this checklist:

who is my target audience and what is capturing their attention?
what is the overall impression I’m trying to create: fun, formal, trendy, classic ?
where do I intend to market- website, Facebook, Twitter, print materials. paid advertising, other websites?

You may go beyond answering those questions and come up with a vision for your branding. That’s great! providing a starting point makes for a great collaborative design process.  Make sure you take your vision to your  designer for feedback.

Happy Branding!

Design Insights: The WordPress Platform- what clients need to know.

I love WordPress for a number of reasons, but one reason is that if I were a client, I would want to have some control.

In a day and age where fresh content is king, it can be expensive, and  sometimes slow to get your site updated.  If your this type of client, then take head. Not every web design in WordPress will leave you in total control.

Just as every client is different, there are many ways to set up a website in WordPress. You can go with a basic installation on one of the many free themes that exists, or use a customized premium theme.    Both options are  fantastic starting points on sites but will have limitations-   limitations that can be lifted with some coding by a web designer.  Themes can also be entirely custom coded leaving the web designer in complete control (which is understandable the work is theirs and they probably don’t want anyone messing with it).   WordPress access can also be limited by your web designer, baring access to areas on your site such as your sidebar widgets.

Will you be  happy just to have control of your ability to post new content on your blog (a given), or do you think you may want some flexibility, such as adding/removing content on your sidebar, updating your pages or maybe even swapping in a new header? Do you want to be able to pass control on to a different web master?   If you do, then make sure your project is going to permit you to learn how and do these tasks, and that your designer is willing to accommodate your requests.

During your planning process before you discuss with a web designer, make sure you know what control you want, and don’t be afraid to ask for it.