Painting The Portrait Of Your Business: A Guide To Design

As the old saying goes, you should ‘never judge a book by its cover’ but in a world where the catchiest branding and best PR gimmick always wins, having the right outward appearance for your business is of critical importance when it comes to staying ahead of your competitors.

But, regardless of whether you are starting a new business or giving your existing one a facelift, it’s hard to know exactly where to start, what to address first and understand how to stand out.

Creative processes are exciting and is what brings your business to life, but having a clear narrative of what you are looking to achieve will make the whole development much smoother, particularly when using an external designer, who builds your brand based on what you tell them. Here are our top tips on turning the new face of your brand into reality.

The 5 Big W's

When a design project is in the works, minds instantly start swimming with ideas about what would be best. Should we go for something fun? Do we need to remain professional? Should we use cartoons and bold text or minimal colour and a traditional font? It’s often hard to tell. Really, at the initial stages, none of these questions are important. The main focus should be on the 5 W’s:

Who – Who are we as a business and who are we trying to reach with our brand?

What – What is different about us and what do we want to shout about?

When – When are our assets going to be used and when will our customers interact with us?

Where – Where are our assets going to be seen and where will we direct customers from them?

Why – Why do we stand out from our competitors and why should customers choose us?

Getting the foundations right first will create a clear path and vision between both your business and the person responsible for the design works. Trust us when you say, clarity is critical.

Don't Look Back in Anger

When you know you are about to change something, it's easy to look back at the old stuff and instantly dislike it. Don't get caught up just on the things you aren't fond of as these assets that you once loved, are now the foundation to start your new project and will provide a valuable insight into how your business has evolved.

Start by rounding up your existing assets and reviewing what each one currently looks like. Before you send them across to your design agency, think about what you like about each part and what you would hate to lose. Review your logo, colour palette, font, website, business cards, and stationary, anything that shows customers who you are, and make lists of pros and cons – this will give your creative a rough idea as to the kind of thing you are looking for and becomes the first bricks in your new build.

Get Inspired

In today’s saturated market, everyone is trying to one-up each other to beat out their competition. It’s difficult to think of fresh ideas that haven’t been done or create something special to stand out.

But, it doesn’t all have to be about competing. Campaigns from other companies can inspire you to rethink how you do things.

Get started with extensive research. What businesses instantly come to mind when you think of design, which companies do you admire, who inspired you to start your company? Think about what you saw online that made you stop and stare for a moment. Conducting research and seeing what else is out there can trigger ideas in your own team and can create a huge brainstorm of ideas ready to take to your agency. The more ideas, the better right?

For someone external to the company, clear examples of what you love, will also help them see a pattern to begin planning what your own assets might need to look like moving forward.

Just remember – it’s about making your own brand identity, not duplicating someone elses. Inspire – don’t copy!

Sit Back & Relax

Perhaps the easiest option when it comes to redesigning is, hand over the responsibility to someone else. Designers are designers because they know how to do exactly that. After they’ve met you and understand what your business does, they may have enough of their own ideas, that really your input is only needed at the end.

This can work well if you are just starting out or you have no idea what you want to go for, but trust us, it’s much easier to get a successful end result when input from the business is available. Regular discussions and reviews at intervals throughout the process can get you there in much less time with significantly reduced costs.

Once you’ve handed everything over to your chosen creative, they’ll know how to get the ball rolling in the most time-efficient way, within your budget, so you can sit back and relax (to a degree – there’s still work to be done!)

Recruit The Professionals

We understand the importance of making your brand a masterpiece so why not hire an expert team to be able to deliver show-stopping results

You can trust us to deliver a high-quality, beautifully designed bundle of assets including websites, logos, media content, video, and email campaigns, all wrapped up in a giant bow ready for your business to use. If you are looking for design support, get in touch with us today on 01603 515007 or fill out the form below to help bring your brand to life.