“When it comes to your business’ branding strategy, establishing your company’s logo is one of the most critical tasks.” Rachel Sprung, Hubspot

I know we have talked branding before, but I just came across an article by the fine folks at Hubspot that addresses branding, and offers up some fantastic examples of brands done right, and brands gone awry.

Your brand identity can’t be developed in a day by sifting through clip art and choosing ‘pretty’ colours. It is important to take the time to really develop a sound strategy around your brand that, at a minimum, answers these questions:

  • What is my offer?
  • Who is my target market?
  • What do I stand for?

How to get started

There are some tremendously talented graphic artists who specialize in visual brand development, and I strongly urge you to seek them out. Nothing takes the place of professionally developed creative for  your business, and it is going to be worth every penny you spend to get it right.

A great designer will work collaboratively with you, and ask lots of questions about you and your business. It is important that they understand what you do, and who you serve. Because this is the visual identity that is going to represent YOU in the business world, it is also important that the elements chosen reflect who you are. This is where colours and fonts become communication tools, and there is a science behind this that your graphic designer should know.

What if money is tight?

If budget is a concern, never fear. There are several online communities – Odesk, Elance, etc. – that aggregate talented graphic designers and developers from all over the globe. By joining these communities, you can post a project, with your budget (as limited as it may be), and designers will ‘bid’ on the work. I have a number of clients that have gone this route, and who have been very pleased with the results. One word of advice: the more clarity you bring to the project (see above re: developing your brand identity) the better the results and design experience will be.

To see some great examples of iconic brands, and Hubspots evaluation of them, check out the full article here and let me know what you think by posting a comment below.
~Andrea