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The Power of Branding
A Practical Guide. The Design Council have supplied this excellent guide on branding for small businesses
The Design Council have created this free guide to shed some light on the subject of branding; what it is, how it works and how you can use it to help improve your business.
If you look up the word ”BRANDING” in the dictionary it gives you this definition:
“In marketing, the sum total of a company’s value, including products, services, people, advertising, positioning, and culture”
The second definition explains it a little better than the first:
“In marketing, the use of logos, symbols, or product design to promote consumer awareness of goods and services
Example: Branding has made companies like Apple successful.”
Its not the dictionary’s fault, but this is a little vague for what branding actually is. Branding is such an important part of any business that most businesses would not be able to survive without it.
Luckily, the Design Council have produced a manual that explains it in a little bit more detail than the dictionary. They have produced this excellent guide that no business owner should be without!
The guide covers these areas:
- What do we mean by the word ‘brand’?
- What is branding?
- Why a business needs a brand to be successful
- The key ingredients of a brand
- How to manage and communicate your brand
- Branding for different market sectors
- The relationship between design and branding
I hope you enjoy
The Design Council
Click here to read - The Power of Branding: A Practical Guide
Adobe Photoshop Express
Tweek, rotate, edit and show off your photos. The clever people at Adobe have created a website where you can do just this!
Its only in its very early days, but Adobe have created a website where anyone can create an account, upload up to 2GB of photos, and then play around with them and create some pretty cool effects!
You can make images brighter or darker, give them a bit of hue, get rid of those red eyes, or even twist or inflate parts of the image. So you can basically make your mates, look really ugly! And then have the joy of uploading it to facebook for all the world to see… your mates will love you!
Visit: Adobe Photoshop Express and sign up
The Wrongstars album sells out!
The new album from The Wrongstars, Beats Rhymes and Conflicts is being re-released into all the major stores like HMV, Woolworths and WH Smiths
The Wrongstars new album, Beats, Rhymes and Conflicts, which has only been on sale at independent stores, has been re-released after it sold out! It has gone down so well that now all the major stores like HMV, Woolworths, and WH Smiths have decided to stock it and are selling it nationwide from 5th August.
Rubber Cheese created all the artwork for The Wrongstars album, plus all their promotional materials, logo and illustrations. We have worked closely with The Wrongstars to create a visual identity to go with their sound and on stage presence.
Below is a list of some of the websites where you can buy the album. If your country is not on the list then we’d suggest just searching on Google.
Rubber Cheese wish all the lads from The Wrongstars all the best with their new album and everything they do. Look out for them terrorizing a stage near you!
Mark Jenkins - Street Artist
Mark Jenkins is a street artist based in America who has been using sellotape to create these amazing pieces of street art!
You may have seen some of these in your inbox but we thought we would show you some more of his pieces, and his brilliant website
Choosing the right colours
Are the colours you choose for your business really that important?
The colours you choose to represent your business can say a lot, so are you sure the ones you’ve used in your designs are saying the right things? Certain colours are naturally associated with particular industries. Green for “green” companies or environmentally friendly associations, Blue is used for water companies or legal/financial businesses, and I guarantee Purple makes you think of chocolate! But what about the rest of them………
Red say’s powerful, passion, love, heat & strength. Virgin, Vodafone and Coca Cola all rely on Red to stand out. It’s easy to remember these companies as soon as you see red.
Yellow is bright & optimistic and can suggest sunshine & warmth. The golden arches of McDonalds are recognised the world over as a welcoming place, but be careful, it can also represent cowardice!
Blue, the colour of safety, truth & dignity. Many financial associations such as Barclays us the positive hues of blue to communicate a safe and secure place to place your money!
Green is the colour growth & nature, and has been used by environmental agencies & charities alike. Oxfam, BP and Holland & Barrett all use the positive colour in their branding.
Purple conveys wealth, intelligence & sophistication, which is why Cadbury chose it for it’s velvety yummy chocolate! It does have some spiritual associations too, the Catholic faith relate it to mourning.
Brown can mean trust, but is also seen as old fashioned and frumpy in some people’s eyes. Fashion & Interior trends have seen Chocolate Brown becoming increasingly popular. It’s especially used in coffee bars to simulate a relaxed atmosphere.
Orange is warm and autumnal, think pumpkins and walks in the forest. It’s reliable and safe, so it’s not surprising that Sainsburys, EasyJet and of course Orange have all used it to excellent effect.
Black is for strength, but also globally associated with death and mourning. Organisations can use it to indicate seriousness.
White is traditionally used with other colours such as black. It can portray purity, cleanliness & lightness, but avoid it in Japan & China as Eastern cultures believe it conveys death.
That might all seem a lot to digest but it goes to show colour isn’t just about personal preference. Your choices will ultimately be influenced by your companies’ aims, goals & the image you want to portray.
A few things to remember…
Use company colours to tie all your marketing material together.
Use colour for impact and emphasis but not too much at once.
Use tints and shades for variety and stick to colours from within one colour scheme as much as possible.
BE CONSISTENT! This is extremely important when using colour. If all your titles in a page are green, then that should be repeated throughout the whole document. Stick to the exact colour chosen by your designer too. If your logo is blue, find out the CMYK value and use the same blue all the time.
Have fun with colour! Take the meanings of colour into consideration, but remember it’s good to stand out from the crowd too. I mean, there’s nothing cowardly about Rubber Cheese is there!
Copyright © Rubber Cheese® 2008
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Blog post by LogoCritique.com: Color Psychology in Logo Design
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