Three things that can make or break your brand.

Allow me to let you in on a little business secret. Your Branding speaks volumes for you and your business. It can one of the major factors between charging $$ to charging $$$$$! Now, unless you’d prefer to be making pennies keep on reading. 

Imagine rolling into an important meeting with wrinkled pants, a mustard stain on your t-shirt, and shoes that looks like you’ve backpacked all over Europe in them. A bit scary. Now imagine wearing that outfit that always makes you feel confident and your nice shoes that make you stand a little taller (no, I am not talking high heels – though to each their own.) You are the exact same person walking into the meeting but the difference is what you’re wearing and that has major impact. We’ve heard the saying before “dress for the job you want” the same applies to your branding! Strutting into a meeting with mustard on your shirt is what a terrible brand can look like in the eyes to potential clients. Yikes! 

Fear not though! I’m here to help guide you on some major faux pas in branding! Here is something that you always need to ask yourself when it comes to branding, “Do I like this because of my taste? Or do I like this because it matches with my target audience?” Always keep your audience in mind. Yes, this is your business and your brand but it is for YOUR CLIENTS, not your home decor. Now here we go!

1- FONTS OR TYPEFACES

These are a big deal! Now I know some of you have a bajillion fonts downloaded on your computer (I was that person too!) However, more is not better in this situation. You need to keep you audience in mind. If you are aiming to attract women probably the chunky font is not the best solution, if you are looking to attract an older audience stay away from hard to read fonts and please don’t make anything tiny. I’ve seen people throwaway business cards because they cannot read the info on the card. Don’t be this person. 

There is a difference between looking like a Lemonade Stand and a Fortune 500 company. And fonts can make all the difference.

Please do not use Comic Sans. Ever. (Unless you are said lemonade stand, but let us talk there are better solutions.) 

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REPEAT AFTER ME:

KEEP IT SIMPLE, KEEP IT TIMELESS, KEEP IT PROFESSIONAL.

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INSIDER TIP: 

SERIF FONTS ARE TYPICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH TIMELESSNESS AND TRADITION

SANS SERIF FONTS ARE MORE MODERN IN NATURE

SCRIPTS ARE HARD TO READ FOR OLDER PEOPLE AND TEND TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH MORE FEMININE FEATURES

SLAB SERIF THESE ARE HARSHER TYPEFACES BUT CAN BE USED TO PROMOTE A MORE FUN OR INDUSTRIAL FEELING.

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2- COLORS

The color palette you select for your branding is a major decision. People will be able to relate to your color much quicker than your photography, your logo or your fonts. There are so many tools out there to help you create a cohesive color palette. 

Keep your audience, keep legibility in mind, and keep color association in mind. For example, a bright yellow is a bit harder to read on white and when its placed on black it can remind people of a bumble bee. I would advise against using more than 4 colors for your branding palette on top of black and white. There is quite a bit of color theory and what colors represent. These are great ways to help you in your color journey.

3- LOGO

Let me just lay this out, please do not copy someone else’s logo, it can get you into a lot of trouble and truly the last thing you want associated with your business is some other big business that already has built client loyalty. This also hits on the subject of having a templated logo, those template logos tend to just change the writing and switch color around and then there are 4,000 businesses with practically the same logo.. when this happens, none of them stand out. I know branding is typically not in the budget when you are getting started but having your name typed out in your fonts is better than having a template logo that so many other business have. 

The major takeaway about your brand is to ensure it is talking to your audience, there is no point in investing thousands in dollars in creating something that will not have a return on investment. A good brand will pay for itself in time as long as your hire someone who truly knows how to create the perfect brand for you, your company and your clients.  If you’re wanting to know more about how to create an epic brand, check out our article about the 3 C’s of a good brand!