A strong and recognisable identity is one of the most important factors in promoting your business. It conveys quality, credibility and trust. The process to create a successful identity is something that is often misunderstood and I’d like to use this short series of articles to provide some insight into the thinking and the work that goes into designing an identity and how it’s applied to websites and other media.
But surely I can just create a logo myself?
There’s a common misconception among many people that design is something that just happens. Whether it’s a logo, a letterhead or a website, it’s often thought that all the designer does is grab a piece of clip art and colour it in.
This is the same thinking that encourages people to design their own logo and website. We see many examples of logos and websites that people have attempted to design themselves or that have been built by companies with no design skills. In choosing the cheap option, businesses risk presenting themselves as amateurish and inexperienced and ultimately they will pay heavily for it.
In fact, good design is an investment. According to one report:
For every £100 a business spends on design, turnover increases by £225.
Source: The Value of Design Factfinder report 2007, http://www.designfactfinder.co.uk
At Pomegranate, we have over 20 years’ experience in creating identities that successfully promote businesses. We don’t just put pretty images and text together, we create a persona that sells a business to potential customers. We inform the public as to what kind of company and product they will be dealing with.
Understanding the client’s business
However, this is not something that we just pull together in a couple of hours. We need to build up a picture of the client’s business and position in the marketplace before we can start to think about how to present the client back to the market.
One of our most useful tools in this respect is a questionnaire that we go through with all our clients. Among other things, the questionnaire helps us to understand certain key information, like:
• The client’s unique selling point
• The client’s target market demographic, e.g. age, sex, income and so on
• Adjectives that describe how the client wants to be perceived
After completing the questionnaire, we analyse the responses. Typically, this stage of the process will take hours, if not days. Only after we have gained a complete understanding of the client’s business and of their requirements can we begin to formulate our approach and think about design. It’s this holistic and detailed process that has ensured the success of our clients.
Creating an identity
In the next article I’ll look at the next stage of the process, using the Field and Stone identity and website as a case study. Field and Stone are property investors in Ramsgate. We designed their identity, logo and the layout for their website, which was then developed by FreshFishDesign.
You can take a look at some of our other designs by following the links below.
SAMS: Kent health and safety management
Gadds: Ramsgate brewers
Field and Stone: Ramsgate property investors
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