BRANDThe start-up guide to building aKILLERBRANDIDENTITYon a shoestring budget

Congratulations!Starting a new business is exciting. There’s so much to do and think about that we have put together this handy guide to help you with what you need to know about creating a killer brand … on a shoestring budget.

All About Print in Brendale have helped thousands of small businesses over the past 20 years to be seen, get known and grow their brand.

We are a one-stop-print shop for print, sign and design.

We specialise in:

Printing: Business Cards, Brochures, Flyers, Post Cards, Docket Books, Note Pads & more

Signage: Car Signage, Building Signage, A-Frames, Banners, Stickers, Magnets & more

Design: Logos, Websites, Advertisements &

more

In this booklet, we will take you on a journey through:

• Your Brand Personality• The Psychology Of Colour: Choosing The Right Colours For Your Business• What Makes A Great Logo? 5 Principles Of Effective Logo Design• Choosing A Font - Why Typography Matters• Taglines - Necessary Or Not?• Creating Your Style Guide• The Perfect Business Card• Branded Email Signature Files• Good, Better & Best Branding Essentials

Grab a cup of good coffee (double shot, milk at 55 degrees) and a pen while you work through this booklet. We look forward to helping you brand your new business.

Kind Regards,

Jonathan Edwards

Your Brand Personality

The Psychology Of Colour: How To Choose The Right Colours For Your Business

Which Colours Do Companies Use Most?

Colour Preferences By Gender

The Emotions Of Colour

Knowing Your Colour Numbers

What Makes A Great Logo? 5 Principles Of Effective Logo Design

Should Your Logo Be Text Only Or Text Plus An Icon?

The Problem with Cheap Logos

Choosing A Font - Why Typography Matters

Taglines - Necessary Or Not?

Creating Your Style Guide

Marketing Essentials: THE GOOD

The Perfect Business Card

Tradie Essentials

Marketing Essentials: THE BETTER

A Coming Soon Web Page

Car Signage

Social Media Presence

Marketing Essentials: THE BEST

Business Websites

Building Signage

Letterheads & Business Stationery

Book A FREE Branding Session

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Contents

Friendly & Cheerful Corporate & Professional

Spontaneous & High Energy Planned & Considered

Modern Traditional

High Tech Old School

Young Mature

Fun Serious

Accessible to All Exclusive

Organic or Crafty Sophisticated & Elegant

The first part of any branding process is understanding your brand personality.

Your brand personality is the human emotional side of your brand.

Are you a hip and socially conscious brand or a traditional corporate brand?

Putting it into clothing terms - are you a three piece suit sort of brand or are you a geeky t-shirts and jeans sort of brand?

Knowing your brand personality makes it easier to choose all the visual parts of your brand to match your personality.

If your dots are more to the left, then your brand appeals to more independent and high-energy clients.The colours you choose may be vibrant, cheerful and trendy, with modern open style fonts.

If your dots are more to the right, then your brand appeals to corporate professional clients. The colours you choosemay be conservative and rich in hue, with traditional font styles that have stood the test of time.

Think about your business and draw a dot where you think it falls (or you want it to fall) on the following spectrum.Don’t overthink it. Just go with your first instinct.

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Your Brand Personality

Colour is deeply linked to human emotions and moods, with research telling us that a product’s colour influences 60-80% of a customer’s purchasing decision.

The right colours can trigger a feeling of confidence, trust and happiness, which then flow over into how a customer feels about your brand.

The thing to remember is that colour needs to be used in the right way for the right audience. In other words, your colours need to be appropriate for your brand personality. For example, day-care centres would not get very far using black as their main colour and law firms would not be taken seriously using baby pink as their main colour choice.

From the world’s top 100 brands(determined by brand value)

95% use only one or two colours.5% use more than two colours(Microsoft, EBay and Google).

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The Psychology Of ColourHow To Choose The Right Colours For Your Business

33% USE BLUE

29% USE RED

28% USE BLACK OR GREYSCALE

10% USE YELLOW OR GOLD

Which Colours Do Companies Use Most?

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Colour Preference By Gender

LIKEBlue | Purple | Green

LIKEBlue | Black| Green

DISLIKEOrange | Brown | Grey

PREFERSoft Colours

DISLIKEOrange | Brown | Purple

PREFERBright Colours

My business predominantly serves:

Men Women Both Equally

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The Emotions Of ColourResponses to colour vary depending on the culture and the age of a person.

RED

Here are some general responses to colour by Australian consumers and some logos that use those colours.

Green is shorthand for the environment, creativity and health (or brands wanting to be seen that way). Dark green is seen as wealthy and prestigious. On the downside, it can be seen to be “greenwashing.”

Red is fiery, passionate and strong. It is seen as a young colour, energetic and attention grabbing. It has a sense of urgency to it. On the downside, it can be seen to be aggressive.

Purple is the colour of contrasts. On the one hand, it has an air of royalty and luxury. On the other, it is associated with spirituality, authenticity, creativity and wisdom. On the downside, it can be seen to be flaky.

Blue is the most popular colour for both genders. It is seen as trustworthy, intelligent, corporate, secure and logical. On the downside, it can be seen to be stuffy.

PURPLE BLUE GREEN

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The Emotions Of Colour

YELLOW

Black is the colour of sophistication, prestige, glamour and high value products. It is powerful, traditional and assertive. On the downside, it can be seen to be depressing.

Yellow is another colour of contrasts due to its attention getting nature. On the one hand is triggers feeling of joy, friendliness, optimism and creativity. On the downside, it can be seen to be related to warnings and cheapness.

Orange is seen as a young, vibrant, friendly colour. It is seen as creative, innovative and enthusiastic. On the downside, it can be seen to be cheap and can be hard to reproduce in print.

Brown is seen as natural, earthy and simple. It is seen as utilitarian, serious, reliable, dependable and practical. On the downside, it can be seen to be dirty.

ORANGE BROWN BLACK

Based on my brand personality: My 3 preferred colours are:

Colours I definitely don’t want are:

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Knowing Your Colour Numbers

PMS USE: PRINTINGPantone is an internationally standardised colour matching system. PMS colour codes allow your printer and designer to match your colours across a range of media, regardless of the machine used to produce the item.

RGB USE: ONSCREENRGB is the exact blend of Red, Green and Blue that makes up your colour. RGB is used in the online world.

CMYK USE: PRINTINGCMYK is the exact blend of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black that makes up your colour. CMYK is used in printing.

HEX USE: ONSCREENHex or Hexadecimals are simply RGB blends turned into a single combination of numbers and letters with a hashtag at the beginning. These are used by computers and the web to identify a particular colour.

Colours all have unique codes or numbers that help to get the exact match when printing or using them online. Depending on whether you are using the colour online or through a printing process, you will need to know different numbers.

PANTONE®1575U

PANTONE®

032C

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What Makes A Great Logo?

5 PrinciplesOf EffectiveLogo Design

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SIMPLE

MEMORABLE

TIMELESS

VERSATILE

APPROPRIATE

A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic and simple in form, and it conveys the owner’s intended message.

You should follow the five principles below to ensure that your logo meets all of these criteria:

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SIMPLENIKE

Simplicity makes a logo design easily recognizable, versatile and memorable.

Good logos feature something unexpected or unique, without being “overdrawn.”

A refined and distilled identity will also catch the attention of a viewer zipping by signage at 70 miles per

hour, on packaging on the crowded shelves of a store, or in any other vehicle used for advertising, marketing

and promotion. Remember, the basis of the hugely effective international branding for the world’s largest

shoe manufacturer is a very simple graphic swoosh.

— Jeff Fisher

Following closely on this principle of simplicity is that of memorability. An effective logo design should be

memorable, which is achieved by keeping it simple yet appropriate.

Surprising to many, the subject matter of a logo is of relatively little importance, and even appropriateness

of content does not always play a significant role. This does not imply that appropriateness is undesirable.

The only mandate in the design of logos, it seems, is that they be distinctive, memorable, and clear.

— Paul Rand

MEMORABLEMCDONALD’S

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An effective logo should be timeless. Will yours stand the test of time?

Will it still be effective in 10, 20 or 50 years?

Leave trends to the fashion industry. Trends come and go, and when you’re talking about changing a pair

of jeans or buying a new dress, that’s fine, but where your brand identity is concerned, longevity is key. Don’t

follow the pack. Stand out.

— David Airey

TIMELESSTARGET

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An effective logo works across a variety of media and applications. For this reason, logos should be designed

in vector format, to ensure that they scale to any size.

Ask yourself, is your logo still effective if it is printed… In one colour? In reverse colour (i.e. light logo on dark

background)? The size of a postage stamp? As large as a billboard?

Colour is very subjective and emotional. This can distract from the overall design – say if you saw your logo

in all red, that colour may be the first thing that you respond to and not the composition of the design

elements.

— Patrick Winfield

VERSATILEWWF

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How you “position” the logo should be appropriate for its intended audience. For example, a child-like font

and color scheme would be appropriate for a logo for a children’s toy store, not so much for a law firm.

A logo doesn’t need to say what a company does. Restaurant logos don’t need to show food, dentist logos

don’t need to show teeth, furniture store logos don’t need to show furniture. Just because it’s relevant,

doesn’t mean you can’t do better. The Mercedes logo isn’t a car. The Virgin Atlantic logo isn’t an airplane.

The Apple logo isn’t a computer. Etc.

— David Airey

APPROPRIATETOYS R US

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There are three different types of logos. What you choose is up to you and your brand personality. In general, small businesses tend to choose either text only or text plus icon logos.

• Text Only

• Icon Only

• Text plus Icon

Should Your Logo BeText Only orText Plus An Icon?

The Problem With Cheap Logos

Start-ups often try to cut costs by buying a cheap logo online. Unfortunately, we see many small businesses who have fallen into this trap, only to discover the problems that this causes down the track.

Cheap logos are often just clip art files passed off as original work. What this means is that you end up with a logo that potentially thousands of other businesses already have. Your logo is a copy and unoriginal.

You may be given your files in a format that is not editable, which means that the logo needs to be reproduced from scratch whenever you want something new done, which adds to your cost.

We also see problems with designs that have not taken into account all the uses you require, so the logo may look great on a website but look dreadful on a car or uniforms.

By using a local designer, you can be sure that you are getting an original logo, designed in the correct format that can be used for multiple purposes.

41%

9%

of the top 100 businesses use text only

don’t feature the company name at all

I want my logo to be

Text Only Icon Only

Text Plus Icon

IDEAS

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Choosing A Font -Why Typography Matters The typography of your font is another core part of your brand personality.

We have all heard the jokes about Comic Sans font. Don’t be that business!

Serif (the ones with little feet): Is seen as more formal, trustworthy, serious and traditional. They are easier to read if you mainly communicate in print.

Slab or All Uppercase: Is seen as bold and impactful. They can also be seen as pushy and “shouting.”

All Lowercase: Is seen as modern, relaxed and quirky. If your client base is traditional and mature, this can annoy them.

Handwriting: Is seen as informal and relaxed but is seen as less trustworthy than serif or san serif.

San Serif (no feet): Is seen as more modern, informal, trustworthy and friendly. They are easier to read if you mainly communicate online.

Cursive or Script: Is seen as more feminine, special and elaborate. They are harder for the brain to decipher and studies have shown that they make whatever is written using the font appears to be harder and more complex.

My preferred style of typography is …

Serif

Cursive

San Serif

Slab

Lowercase

Handwriting

Hamburgfonstiv

HamburgfonstivHamburgfonstiv

Hamburgfonstiv

hamburgfonstiv

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Taglines -Necessary Or Not?

A tagline is a slogan or jingle that highlights your brand personality and your unique selling proposition.

Many start-ups and small businesses are hung up on creating their perfect tagline before finalising their business cards. The problem is that taglines generally evolve with a business.

Start-ups in particular evolve over the first few years of trade, adding in services and adjusting their product mix. The tagline that works on day one probably will not be relevant 12 months down the track.

Many of our small businesses choose not to have a tagline in the early stages of their business, to reduce wasted effort and printing costs. They know that the best taglines often come from positive feedback from a customer, or after reflection on a few years in business. In other words, taglines are often best left for the second phase of your branding.

See if you can recognise these brands from their taglines:

1. Just do it

2. I’m Lovin’ It

3. Because You’re Worth It

4. The Best A Man Can Get

5. Eat Fresh

6. Life’s Good

7. You Ought To Be Congratulated

8. The Fresh Food People

9. For A Hard Earned Thirst

10. Ideas For Life

ANSWERS 1. Nike, 2. McDonalds, 3. L’Oreal, 4. Gillette, 5. Subway, 6. LG, 7. Meadowlea, 8. Woolworths, 9. VB, 10. Panasonic

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i’m lovin’ it17

Creating Your Style GuideSkype Style GuideYou have invested time and effort in creating a great looking brand for your business, you now need to keep your brand consistent across print and online.

A style guide is a simple document that shows you how parts of your visual brand are supposed to look, as well as the detail of your exact shades of colour and the fonts that you use. This makes it easier when you get additional printing, web design, or graphic design done for your business down the track.

It’s important that you include in your style guide your:

• Logos: In formats for you to easily use (e.g. .jpg and .png) and formats for other professionals to use (e.g. PDF, AI and EPS).

• Colours: The Hex number, RGB, CMYK and Pantone number for each colour in your brand.

• Fonts: What fonts and font sizes you use in your headings and your body text.

01 Print logoThis logo is to be used for all printed collateral including all printed publications, advertising, billboards, posters, flyers and product packaging.

02 Screen logoThis logo is to be used for all screen work, including websites, banners and presentations.Please make sure you are using the latest version as we have made it 17% nicer than the earlier version.

ChaletbookThe Chaletbook type family is our corporate font. Not that any of us wear suits too often.Chaletbook is a nice, simple font, good for anything from headlines to text. Use Chaletbook wherever possible.

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Marketing Essentials:THE GOOD

Business cards are your business in print. People will judge your business, its trustworthiness, its financial stability and its professional competence by your business cards. If your cards look and feel flimsy and cheap, then people judge your business as flimsy and cheap.

Once you have a clear brand identity and logo, the next step is to create your marketing essentials. Every business, no matter the industry, need to start with business cards, a digital letterhead and branded email signatures.

The Perfect Business Card

An effective business card includes:

• Your name

• Your phone number

• Your email address

• Your website

• Your logo

• Licence numbers (if relevant)

Tradie Essentials

If you are in a trade, you will need docket books to provide official quotes and receipts for your clients. Ideally, you need carbonless books as this creates one less hassle when you are on the road.

High quality business cards have a bit of weight to them, have clean professional printing and are designed so that all the core elements are easily read.

Your business card is not your website, so you don’t have to include everything you do or provide. Most people simply go to your website to look up details if needed.

Cards don’t need to be just about your details. The back of the cards can be used to market your business.

• Include a special offer and send people to your website to claim it

• Get people to “Like” you on Facebook, Follow you on Twitter, Pin you on Pinterest etc.

• Provide a short list of your core services

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Marketing Essentials:THE BETTER

Car Signage

Your car is a mobile billboard for your business. The simplest option to get started with car signage is with car door magnets. Other budget friendly options include window and door lettering, ute tray signs and one-way vision signs.

Car signage allow you to promote your brand, your website and your contact number in a simple, convenient and economical way.

Social Media Presence

All businesses need to have a presence on Facebook as well as a Google business page. Unfortunately, each site requires a slightly different size banner image and portrait images.

While your graphic designer is creating your business cards for you, invest in getting professionally designed and correctly sized Facebook and Google banner images and portrait sized images of your logos.

If you have a small bit of extra money to invest in your business, then the next phase of making your mark is getting the foundations of your online presence sorted as well as sorting out simple signage.

A Coming Soon Web Page

Your budget may not stretch to a full website, but a one-page “Coming Soon” WordPress site with your contact details and logo is a budget friendly option to get your toes into the online world.

A key benefit of getting your online presence sorted is that you can have a branded email account. So rather than using a @gmail.com account, you will be able to use a @yourbusinessname.com.au email account.

NEW WEBSITECOMING SOON

Contact Us

NEW WEBSITECOMING SOON

Contact Us

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Marketing Essentials:THE BEST

If you want your business to soar, the best option includes a fully mobile responsive website that is Google friendly, as well as business signage and printed letterheads.

Business Websites

Looking for a professional start-up website?

All About Print is experienced in helping businesses like yours get into the online world with attractive & affordable website design. You can start with a basic website set up, with upgrades available for more pages or features.

Building Signage

Clear building, office and reception signage sends a strong, professional message and builds your credibility. Don’t make your customers hunt to find your business – shout your business from the rooftops with signs that enhance your brand. Choose signs that are long lasting in our harsh climate and that can be read in a glance. Keep your signs simple and clutter free and don’t include more text than you can read when driving past at 100km/h.

Letterheads & Business Stationery

If you mail out printed letters, invoices or brochures, then investing in printed letterheads, envelopes and with compliments slips delivers a solid return on investment. Professionally designed and printed stationery stands out through higher quality paper and a cleaner finish than if you merely print them yourself on your home printer. Pre-printed stationery also reduces your ongoing toner costs.

What seems like a cheap DIY at home option tends to cost you money in the longer term when you take paper and toner into account. By investing up front, you not only present a more professional image, you save on your long term business costs.

Our websites are:

• Attractive• Affordable• Easy To Edit 24/7• Google Friendly• Optimised For PC, Tablets & Smartphones• Able To Grow As Your Business Grows• Yours To Keep

All packages include:

• Top-Level Security• Website Traffic Analysis• Social Media Integration• Interactive Google Map• Contact Us Form

BOOK AWEBSITEDESIGN

SESSIONTODAY!

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Looking for professional advice about choosing the right fonts, colours and styles for your business?

Book a 45 minute branding session with All About Print today.

Branding Session

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To thank you for downloading this eBook, we would like to offer you a one-on-one branding session with our senior designer for free.

There are only limited appointments available each month, so call now to secure your spot.

OurSpecialOffer

(Just f� you)

To claim your FREE branding session

Phone 3881 3211Email info@allaboutprint.com.au

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Phone: 07 3881 3211Email: info@allaboutprint.com.auOffice: 12/193 South Pine Rd, Brendale, QLD 4500

Monday - Thursday: 7am - 4pmFriday: 7am - 3pmSaturday & Sunday: Closed

Contact UsOur office is based in the suburb of Brendale, situated approximately 17km north of the Brisbane CBD.

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