1. How design can affect your marketing mix
2. Why is a company logo important and how do I make it effective?
3. An effective logo is keeping it simple, appropriate and unique
4. Writing effective web content
design tips
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1. HOW DESIGN CAN AFFECT
YOUR MARKETING MIX
The basic premise of Marketing is to create awareness - getting
the message out there. It could be launching a new product flyer, ‘standing
out’ on the supermarket shelf, point-of-sale displays, web site
navigation or just a business card.
Advertising is a tool for which to create awareness and without it, your
customers will not hear about your idea or product. Additionally, your
competitors can further reduce your awareness through their own awareness
building actions. It’s a congested commercial world out there and
the desire to be heard above others is fundamental to success.
Although there is some truth behind the axiom of “awareness is directly
proportional to advertising $”, there is a way to add a multiplier
to that formula to ensure successful advertising. There is no point in
constantly throwing your message out to your market if the message is
neither outstanding nor memorable. Getting the design ‘right’
from the beginning will save money and heartache and ensures all the resources
invested into media (e.g. print, television advertising) will be spent
effectively later on.
The next step is the progression from Awareness to Predisposition by
aligning your product or idea with the target market. By finding a visual
personality (Corporate Identity) you can create strong visual features
to differentiate your product from your competitors and hence build value
into your brand.
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2. WHY IS A COMPANY LOGO IMPORTANT &
HOW DO I MAKE IT EFFECTIVE?
A logo is a visual representation of the company’s business, its values and image. It can be a text logo, symbol logo or a combination of both. It offers a direct and simple statement of what the company is about and serves as a visual stimulus for brand recognition and association with your audience. The key to a successful brand is delivering consistency and creating awareness. The world’s most successful brands such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz and IBM are each worth hundreds of millions of dollars on the name alone. As soon as one sees the Mercedes-Benz 3-point star, it immediately conjures up feelings of exclusivity, refined engineering and luxurious motoring. That is achieved through years of creating awareness and delivering consistency to its customers of the company’s values.
Of course, they have the advertising dollars to create awareness but
even on a much smaller scale you can succeed in your market. A local example
being The Reject Shop which started out as a ‘seconds’ shop
in South Yarra, Melbourne. Their simple but vivid red and yellow stencilled
text logo created a visual impact that was easily recognisable and the
jarred letter “E” in Reject portrayed the “seconds”
or “imperfect” image that is synonymous with bargain shopping.
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3. AN EFFECTIVE LOGO IS
KEEPING IT SIMPLE, APPROPRIATE & UNIQUE
Simplicity – Whether it is a creation of a new logo or a redesign of an old logo, the objective is always to achieve an imprint in the audience’s mind. This is better accomplished through an image than in words and even more effective when the image is simple but easy to remember. It also allows greater freedom and flexibility for different design purposes and media. For example, how would the logo look in black and white? There are many instances where the need to fax a document on a company letterhead can compromise the impact of the logo if the design did not consider this.
Appropriateness – Are you a legal firm or a toy store? Different businesses convey their messages to a different audience and the logo needs to reflect the image of the business. This can be achieved through the use of different colours, fonts, shapes or images which appeal to your audience.
Uniqueness – You want people to see
a visual representation of your company so they can instinctively associate
your logo with your business. Choosing common typefaces or images may
even have a negative effect among your audience who may perceive your
company as unimaginative. Another reason which is more on the legal aspect
is that a unique logo won’t interfere with other established copyrights
or trademarks. It is also recommended that for long-term growth reasons,
the new logo should be sought to have it registered with the relevant
national intellectual property body and protected.
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4. WRITING EFFECTIVE WEB
CONTENT
Keep text to a minimum at
first glance – Long winding text and descriptions can initially
intimidate the viewer and discourage click-thrus to other pages. Keep
text short and effective by using bullet points or raise questions which
leads and interests the viewer to the answer. If longer descriptions or
reports are needed then use a leading paragraph or summary and create
a link to the following full text. Do not underestimate the impact of
having white space on your page as it allows a spatial connection between
the different design elements of the page and allows navigation and reading
much easier.
Provide valuable & timely information – Stick to what is the relevant that offers information to the user, not just data. Ensure that it is well edited and refrain from uploading text that is poorly written or incomplete.
Do not overuse different fonts and colours – Decorative or cursive type fonts and a prodigious use of coloured text when not needed can make your web site look colourful and dynamic but it often creates confusion to the viewer and makes reading harder. Keeping text in conventional easy to read serif or sans-serif fonts will ensure a greater chance of it being read.
Sell a unique message – The main aim of your web site will invariably be to promote an online presence but how do you differ from the clutter of other web sites and your competitors? We try to understand what makes your business tick in order to emphasise and model the web site around your strengths and unique selling proposition.
Offer something extra – When a new visitor to a web site finishes searching for what he or she was looking for, they may only come back once or twice for further reference (if at all). So you need something which gives them reason to come back. Examples include free software upgrades, how-to tips, or a mortgage calculator - all serve as ‘extras’ which are relevant to your site and the audience may even bookmark it.
Update and refresh – Okay so you have secured the reason for revisitation of your web site but many web sites today are often overlooked in their maintenance and growth. This is of course a necessity if your site is based on providing latest information. Product or service information needs to be updated if you don’t want to be seen as lazy and invalid. Much like a garden, you need to trim certain areas which are getting old or no longer relevant and you need to replant new images or pages to keep it fresh. You may have a great looking web site but familiarity breeds contempt and people get bored easily so you need to update it, even if the changes are minimal.
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Copyright 2003 © Beyond The Box Creative Pty. Ltd.