Live Projects
Finch Electrics branding
Emma Powell
Brief & Action Plan
The brief for this project is to re-design my Uncle’s current advertising. He is an electrician in the north of Devon in a small village called Lynton. He has just moved there and has only just started his company. He is working for himself. He does have current advertising but it is very limited and he wants to compare with the competition. There are a few electricians within Lynton and this has been difficult for him to get any work. It also doesn’t help that he is new to the village. The aim of the project is to produce a new branding for his business. In doing so I will understand what he would like as a branding, consider what he is currently using and evaluate the effectiveness and review what his competitors are using. Finally apply my design skills to help him with a final outcome. I will keep in contact with him and ask whether he likes certain ideas or not. That is one of the key things that I had to remember to do throughout this project.
His Current advertising
Looking into the individual parts
Current Information
Analyse/Break down current Graphics.
Finding out what he wants Look at the individual elements
Electrical Imagery
Symbols and Branding
Key elements and design ideas
What images represent electricians How symbols could be used
Talk to people and see what images they think of
See how branding is used.
Looking at use of colour, type and images Create ideas for advertising
Keep asking my client what he like and doesn’t
Week 1
Week 3
Week 5
Week 7
Week 9
Graphical and informational outcomes
Produce piece that best fit what the client wants mulitiple ideas, talk to client and finalise idea.
Final Branding
Week 11
Research Current publications
After speaking to my Uncle, I got a rough idea of the look he wants to go with. He is open to my interpretation of the design; however, he mentioned that he wants it to follow the same style as his current advert, which is currently in his local newsletter. This is to make sure that his current clients can still identify with his new identity. This was a positive and a negative restriction. It meant that I had somewhere to start but also limited certain elements a little.
These are examples of his current advertising. The left-hand image is his website, and the right-hand image is his the advert in the local magazine.
Here are his current advertisements. He has a web site that is a pre-loaded site that he just has to put his details onto, he mentioned that the website needed to stay the same layout but I could integrate the branding that I would come up with. As mentioned before his biggest way to advertise is within his local newsletter, where his advert is positioned. Most of the village that he lives in reads the newsletter to know what’s going on in the town. The information needs to be kept and the elecsa logo, due to the fact that this shows he is certified and also he pays to use the logo. Lastly he has a make shift business card. He gave his details to printers and they produce the cards. They are very uniform and don’t represent my Uncle entirely. I have started by looking at his current advertising to see what works and what doesn’t. I feel that I needed to work on the colour, images used and give him a stronger logo and brand. To understand what is already being used, within his village and the surrounds, his competition, I needed to look into other electricians and what they are using to market their services.
http://www.electricianlynton.co.uk/
Research Local Electricians Adverts
My uncle lives in North Devon which has a number of electricians and my first step is to gain an understanding of what my uncle would want and what would work, I did this by looking at current electrician’s advertising in his area. This was interesting; there were many of the same images and colours used. There is obviously a link to electricians and certain colours. They also use electrical images such as plugs and light bulbs. Below is an image of my uncle’s local newsletter, which is a key advertising position to get noticed.
Once I evaluated this newsletter, I found that many of the adverts just say what they can do and don’t have too many strong identities. There is one of the adverts that leads me think that the electrician advertising is a ‘learner’ with the use of a red ‘L’. This just shows the power of imagery and symbolism.
Research Local Electricians Logo’s & Qualification logo’s
During the research of current electricians within my uncles area, North Devon, as well as other areas of Devon, I found a number of web sites. Here are the logo’s that are on the web sites. It was interesting to analyse, the use of electrical images were often used. This would be because people would recognise these shapes and images as electrical. After looking at many of these images, my next step was to look into the stereotypes of electricians. I feel that my uncle could use more subtle images and maybe not just put an image of a plug or lightblub but he does likes the idea of using an image like that, I will design with and without the images. Below are images of logo’s that are used to show the qualifications that the electricians have and should have. They don’t mean much to the public, however the people that I asked, knew that they were important when picking an electrician.
Electrical Imagery
After looking at the current electrical web sites and adverts I noticed the use of symbolic imagery. I felt the next step was to look into images and to see if there were any images that I could use within my uncles advertising. It was interesting to see the use of colours and the links between the image and the word electrician or electricity. These are the words I type into the internet and these are the images that were shown. The images vary from illustrations to photographs. Wire was an image that came up often. This has helped me to think about what I could use on my uncles advertising.
Electrical Symbols
The symbolic imagery made me think about what other electrical images I could use. Searched on the internet and asked my uncle and he explained the use of these different symbols and also the use of the three different colour wires. I recognise some of the symbols from science class when I was at school but a lot of them wouldn’t mean much as an image within his branding.
Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
mark-finch@lineone.net
F
Research - Branding
I haven’t produced much branding, it’s an area that is a challenge for me. I felt that it was my final year and my uncle needed this to be done. I did an initial research on branding and what areas I needed to think about for my uncles company. These design agents are a few of what I found. They have created a strong identity and use it on many different elements to get the brand within society. I like the use of the branding on the van; I will try this for my uncles identity, that would be a great, cheaper way to get people to notice him. The break down of the colours and the process is a great way to see what works. The use of web sites is also helpful. I can’t do as much to my uncles but the use of the colours and logo help me to better understand the process.
Colours
The use of colour was important to me, looking at the other competition within his area, they haven’t used much colour to represent themselves. I took the images that I had gathered representing ‘electricians’ and took the colours away from them. These colours vary from bright to dull. I think this is due to certain images and items having to stand out to make people aware that they are there. The colour that my uncle is using currently on his web site was provided by the press set web publisher. A colour that I feel would work better for him and that represents him better, is a navy blue with also a lighter version. I asked my uncle which colours he wanted to use and he said a darker blue. I hadn’t spoken to him about the colours and so I knew that these were the colours to go with.
Logo/Type
F E F E F E
Finch
I started to play around with his name for the company. The company is called ‘Finch Electrics’ Finch is his last name so I had ideas about using it as a link, these ideas are shown later. These are my initial ideas. When I was looking at branding, letters or shapes and abbreviations where used a lot. I started with using the first letter of both words. This would be a good image to recognize, whether it’s small or large on a van. I played around with different colours but I feel that the navy is a good choice.
Finch Electrics finchElectrics
Finch
electrics
Finch
electrics
F E F E F E F E F E F E F E F E F E Finch
Another idea I had was to use the words to inter lock with each other. I tried different typefaces as well. It was interesting to see how a serif font completely changed the feel and certain San serif made the logo look too simple. I needed something in between, in the end I used OCR A Std it had an electrical look to it.
F i n Electrics h
electrics
E l e Finch t r i c s
electrics
Finch
electrics
Finch
electrics
inch
lectrics
inch
lectrics
inch
lectrics
inch
lectrics
inch
lectrics
inch
lectrics
E l e Finch t r i c s
E l e Finch t r i c s
E l e Finch t r i c s
E l e Finch t r i c s
E l e c t r Finch Mark i c s
Logo
Once I had played around with the logo as words I tried using the letters as an image. I did some research on logo’s that have used letters. Some of what I found are below. They are powerful images and can be recognized. I designed the letters to interlock with each other and sit next to each other and even go back to back. I looked at having them full colour and just outlines. As the research below, I feel that full colour works best, they create a strong, bold shape. The image my uncle decided he liked was the F and E diagonally fitting together.
FE FE FE FE FE FE FE FE FE FE FE FE
E F
lectrics
inch
Wires & Symbols
After looking at the logo as words and letters I went back and looked at some of the symbols that had been shown to represent electricians and electricity. The use of wires interested me and as shown on the right hand side of this page, I have tried to write the name of the company out with a wire. I like this as an image and feel that it makes the branding a little more playful but also creative, however it does still link with a serious electrician. The use of a plug or light bulb was also used as a design. I liked the plug and used it in a number of future designs.
F
Advert
F E
FE
lectrics
Finch
inch
Mark Finch Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
electrics
Mark Finch Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
Mark Finch Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
General Electrical Work / PAT Testing
General Electrical Work / PAT Testing
General Electrical Work / PAT Testing
Part “P” Registered
Part “P” Registered
Part “P” Registered
Approved Contractor
Approved Contractor
Approved Contractor
Qualified to 17th Edition regulations
Qualified to 17th Edition regulations
Qualified to 17th Edition regulations
Any Electrical work undertaken
Any Electrical work undertaken
Any Electrical work undertaken
Telephone sockets installed/moved
Telephone sockets installed/moved
Telephone sockets installed/moved
mark-finch@lineone.net
mark-finch@lineone.net
mark-finch@lineone.net
Re-wires, alterations/additions to existing installations
The area of this branding that had to be the strongest was the advert within the local newsletter. This is where mainly most of his clients find him. Above are the logo and identity ideas that I had come up with and used within the advert. This helped me to think about what worked and which elements weren’t so strong. They were all so different and represented different personalities. I tried creating a full colour advert but I feel that these weren’t some of the strong ideas. The information got lost into the background. At this point I had created a number of strong ideas and felt that I needed
Re-wires, alterations/additions to existing installations
to go back and speak with the client (my Uncle). I would carry on with using most of the ideas in other areas of the branding but I felt the client needed to be kept in the loop. He liked what I showed him and his preference was between the coloured blocks with text and the wire and plug. He didn’t love the full colour images; these would also cost more to print. After talking to my uncle I went away knowing my next step. I would use what he had said and create more of the advertising with these ideas.
Re-wires, alterations/additions to existing installations
E l e Mark Finch t r i c s
Website
07887 871132
Professional and Reliable
mark-finch@lineone.net
Contact Details
Copyright Finch Electrics 2010
Home
Contact Me
All rights reserved
The web site was the easiest to design. I wasn’t able to do too much to the overall design of the web page, however I incorporated the colour scheme and the identity. There isn’t much difference but I feel that there is more appeal now on the web site.
Use Smilelocal to find Electricians in Lynton | To Top
E l e Finch t r i c s
Business cards
Here are most of the ideas that I mocked up for my uncle’s business card. This was one of the most enjoyable tasks that I had to do, it was easier to be creative and try lots of ideas out. The colour stayed the same but the permutations of the information changed. The use of images was introduced and also the qualification logo was also something that was required to be used. Unlike other parts of the branding, I felt that the full colour worked nicely. It could be a possibility for the front side of the business card. I had to think about the front and the back of the business card. I mainly kept the front simple and just a few details, such as the name and contact details. On the reverse of the card would be more about what services he provides.
Bussiness Card Front
After talking to my uncle, he wanted to see more ideas with the image of the plug or the light bulb. Here are a few of the ideas that I created to show him. He wasn’t too keen on the light bulb and felt that light bulbs are used to often. He did like the use of the plug and the quirky look to the image. With these images I used the vertical logo. This worked well but not his favorite.
E l e Mark Fin ch t r i c s
Lynton - North Devon
Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
mark-finch@lineone.net
Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
mark-finch@lineone.net
Lynton - North Devon
E l e Finch t r i c s
Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
mark-finch@lineone.net
E l e Mark Fin ch t r i c s E l e Mark Fin ch t r i c s
Bussiness Card Details & Example of Back and front
For the back of the business card I needed to put more details about the services that he provides. This information was already on his advert and so I used that. Once again the use of the qualification was incorporated into the design. Luckily the colours worked nicely with the navy blue chosen.
Front
E l e c t Mark Finch i c s
Back
Any Electrical work undertaken
Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
mark-finch@lineone.net
E General Electrical Work / PAT Testing “P” Registered l Part Approved Contractor Qualified to 17th Edition regulations e Any Electrical work undertaken Re-wires, alterations/additions to existing installations c Telephone sockets installed/moved t Mark Finch i Mob - 07887 871132 c Home - 01598 753593 mark-finch@lineone.net s
Lynton - North Devon General Electrical Work / PAT Testing Part “P” Registered Approved Contractor
Mob - 07887 871132 Home - 01598 753593
Qualified to 17th Edition regulations Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
Any Electrical work undertaken
Re-wires, alterations/additions to existing installations
mark-finch@lineone.net
Telephone sockets installed/moved
mark-finch@lineone.net
General Electrical Work / PAT Testing Part “P” Registered
Final Choice Lynton - North Devon
Approved Contractor Qualified to 17th Edition regulations Any Electrical work undertaken Re-wires, alterations/additions to existing installations Telephone sockets installed/moved
Mob Home -
07887 871132 01598 753593
mark-finch@lineone.net
Advert in Use
An area of research that helped me was to place the designs into the situation that they were going to be used. I placed the advert into the newsletter to see what stood out more. I think that both the left hand and right hand ideas worked the strongest. The middle one, I think is too simple. The plug draws the reader’s eye and the block coloured letters also draws you in.
Van
07887 871132
mark-finch@lineone.net
07887 871132
mark-finch@lineone.net
Another area of the branding I used was placing the identity onto a white van. This is my uncles van, which at the moment is just white. The idea chosen needed to work well on a van. This would be a mobile advertisement that be noticed more. Once again I feel that the full colour wasn’t the best option. The use of the plug was a strong image. However the logo on the right hand side gets lost. All the important details are on the van, such as the name, telephone number and email. These are vital for people to get in contact with him.
E l e Finch t r i c s
E l e Finc h t r i c s
The top right hand side idea is slightly too simple but would work. The last wire idea looks nice but the is something missing. I’m not sure if adding the plug to it would work but it adds an element of creativity to the brand.
FE Finch
Electrics
mark-finch@lineone.net
07887 871132
07887 871132
mark-finch@lineone.net
Uniform
E l e Finc h t r i c s
Another area that my uncle would have his branding on would be his t-shirts. I liked creating this idea, I feel that all the ideas work on the t-shirts but the strongest would have to be the wire idea. This idea had more creativity however the other ideas are more professional. At this point I showed my Uncle. There were a number of ideas that I liked and I needed to take it back to the client. He felt that plug and wire idea was the strongest.
F E
Finch
Electrics
Final Branding
Here are all the branding piece together. They work well together. I think that maybe another idea would have been more Professional but this is what my uncle wanted to use. He liked the use of the plug and it wasn’t just a photo or a badly drawn image. He also liked to creativity of the company name. He hadn’t asked for the branding to go onto a T-shirt or his van but likes them so much that he is going to have them made up. I have learnt a lot about branding during this project. I have enjoyed doing the research for it and see what other people had used to represent electricians. I found it hard to produce lots of ideas once I had created the ones shown. I feel that to go into branding I would have to be able to produce more ideas for the clients. I have enjoyed using my skills for my uncle and it has prepared me for the future and using real clients. The have to work with them and not always pick what you like the most, especially if you are getting paid for designing.
07887 871132
mark-finch@lineone.net
mark-finch@lineone.net
07887 871132
Professional and Reliable
Working with the client is also important, knowing what they want and not want is vital, but also suggest things that they might not have thought about. They are hiring you to give your artistic opinion and to step out the box occasionally. I have enjoyed working with my uncle and hopefully I will see these ideas work in reality and hopefully they will do the job and bring more people to ask for work to be done.
07887 871132 mark-finch@lineone.net
Contact Details
Copyright Finch Electrics 2010 All rights reserved
Home
Contact Me Use Smilelocal to find Electricians in Lynton | To Top
Evaluation
“I had only really concentrated on getting my qualifications and the idea of have a brand that would represent me and bring in work had not been a priority until Emma suggested that she use my newly formed company as a focus for one of her design projects. I have to say that she was very easy to work with and I felt that she listened to what I had to say but at the same time felt able to challenge my ideas. I did not realize that there were things I liked and disliked about advertising until working with Emma on this project. She explained the importance of keeping things simple and yet having a meaning. It has made me appreciate the need to take every opportunity to advertise and the Van and T-Shirt idea will ensure that I am always letting people know I am about and what I can do for them. I have enjoyed this experience and will now use the ideas Emma has generated to progress my business�. Many thanks Mark Finch