What is a brand? It’s a simple question but one with many answers. Most people would inevitably mention something about a logo, as this is usually the focal point of the company or product. But a well-created brand is more than just a logo. With any new branding project we look at many things - not just a logo. First, we must understand the ‘personality’ of the brand. I’ve put ‘personality’ in quotes because many companies have no personality. Not to be mean or infer they are boring, but if, for example, the company is a start-up, they will have no public profile yet. Like a newborn baby, they will take time to develop and create their personality. We can start by focusing on their desired personality – or ‘brand positioning’. This positioning puts some parameters in place to help create the building blocks of the brand. Once the brand positioning process is complete, and we know the personality the company wants, we can start to look at the logo design. This may involve any, or all, of the following: logo device, typography, colour palette, positioning line, photo imagery, illustration-style, tone of voice, and/or graphic elements. All these elements come together to create the voice of the brand, which the target market potentially sees, hears and connects with.
Let’s look at three of these areas: typography, photo imagery and colour. TYPOGRAPHY What type font are you? Another simple question that can prove tricky to answer. On one hand you may see yourself as serious (think of a Serif font), but you are also modern (like Sans Serif), not boring (think decorative) and not ‘up yourself’ (so casual). So already you have four completely different and competing type styles.
BRANDING ELEMENTS
It can be the same for a company. The wrong typeface might not immediately turn customers away, but the right choice of font could add trust, modernity or approachability to your brand – and that could be critical to your story being believable and your message hitting the mark. So when we choose fonts, we think about what that font is saying about the brand and how, in conjunction with other elements, it is building the voice of the brand.
PHOTO IMAGERY Assume for a moment that you have your logo in place and now you want to tell the world that you have arrived. You’ll need a brochure to tell this story and some imagery to help you stand out from the crowd. Now imagine you are a woman going to a society event. You want the perfect dress but you don’t want to look like any other woman in that room. Where do you find this dress? Do you buy something off the rack, or do you look for something custom-made? Now you understand why it’s important to use imagery that belongs to you and you alone. Anyone can type ‘happy customer’ into a photo library search engine, including your nearest competitor or that daggy dress shop on the corner! And if you use the same imagery as them, what is that saying about your brand and your voice?
COLOUR More easy questions: What colour is Tiffany’s? What colour is the Cadbury chocolate wrapper? These two companies have reached the pinnacle of branding by having signature colours for their brands. When we create a colour palette for a new brand, we don’t just look at the colours we like – or you like. We think about the colours of your competitors and look for colours that will become your signature, to help you stand out from the crowd and increase your brand recognition.
So what is a brand? Ultimately, I think of a brand as a beautifully wrapped present that we deliver to the consumer, on behalf of our client. There’s colourful wrapping (the colour palette), ribbon to enhance the delivery (like a photo or image) and a written card which, just like typography and a logo, tells them who it’s from and how we feel about them. And hopefully this delivery method will create in the recipient, a desire to know more about this brand, to find out what’s inside and what it could mean to them. www.sixelements.com.au
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Andy Engel, Head of Creative Six Elements
Andy has worked for design and advertising agencies of all sizes over his 20-plus year working life and brings with him a wealth of experience across a range of product categories, from automotive to fashion, packaged goods to retail and a burning desire to bring great ideas to life. www.bmmag.com.au 47