How to Find Your Brand Personality

One of the most challenging aspects of branding is how esoteric it can all seem sometimes. You might understand the meanings of words like brand identity, brand architecture, and messaging, but still have a hard time applying them to your own brand. But if you think about it in terms of characteristics — familiar vs. formal, traditional vs. modern, cheeky vs. straightforward — describing your brand becomes a lot easier. That’s where brand personality comes in.

The definition of brand personality isn’t all that different from the definition of personality: a combination of traits, beliefs, and behaviors that make up your distinctive character. And those last two words are key. Figuring out your brand personality will not only help you understand who you are, but also what makes you different.

It’s also critical for presenting a consistent image, which helps align your employees and connect with your target audience. When done right, your audience may even come to use your brand personality to help define part of their own — ever heard someone describe themselves as an Apple addict?

While building out your brand personality can’t guarantee that level of fandom, it will be helpful in informing your branding and marketing efforts. Wondering where to start? Read our guide below.

Brand Personality Examples

Before you start building out your own brand personality, it can often be helpful to research the landscape. The brands below all have crystal-clear characters, making them solid brand personality examples that you’ll probably recognize:

• Trader Joe's: When you think Trader Joe’s, you think quirky, playful, and happy-go-lucky. If their brand were a person, it might be your eccentric neighbor who wears Hawaiian shirts, collects antiques, loves a good pun, and is a serious foodie to boot.

• Harley Davidson: There are few brands more iconic than Harley Davidson, with their tough-as-nails, freewheeling vibe. If their brand were a person, you just know it would be a big tough biker decked out in leather who only plays by their own rules.

• Chanel: Chanel has practically become a synonym for designer fashion. If Chanel were a person, I’m willing to bet it would be a high society woman with a lot of poise who lives and breathes fashion, and comes off as a bit snobby.

• Mailchimp: It’s tough for a tech company — especially a B2B one — to develop a distinctive brand personality, but Mailchimp is one of the few that’s been able to pull it off. They’re informative, but down-to-earth, a little bit playful (love their little monkey mascot!), and always super helpful. When I think of Mailchimp as a person, I imagine a nerdy and quirky but friendly marketing manager — decked out in big glasses, colorful patterns, and chunky jewelry — who’s always happy to help you out.

• Ferrari: Ferrari is a brand that is admired the world over for its luxury — owning one is almost the ultimate status symbol. Ferrari personified might be a rich, older man who’s a little bit cocky and spends his summers in the French Riviera.

• Pit Viper: Pit Viper has adopted a really unique identity that a lot of other companies purposely shy away from. I picture them as an in-your-face country guy who spends his weekends on an ATV or floating a river, beer in hand, and prides himself on not caring about offending others.

All of these brand personality examples feel very different from one another, and that’s the point. You shouldn’t craft a safe, bland personality to appeal to the masses. Just as in everyday life, there are going to be people who don’t like you — but as long as you connect with the right group of people, that’s okay.

Discovering Your Own Brand Personality

When figuring out who your brand really is, a well-organized process can make the whole thing much more approachable — read on for some advice and exercises to guide you on your way.

Walk Before You Run

You might be eager to jump into discovering your brand personality right away, but before you start, it’s best to at least agree upon some of the core tenets of your brand, like your mission, vision, purpose, and values, and maybe even a competitive analysis.

RELATED: How to Create a Brand Strategy

Once you’ve established those, it becomes a lot easier to determine your brand personality. And in turn, that brand personality can help inform things like your messaging and visual identity. Branding isn’t a one-size-fits-all process, though, so go in whichever order you find most helpful.

Identify Brand Personality Traits

One of the first questions I ask clients I work with is to give me three target words (at least) that exemplify what they want their brand to feel like — this serves as the foundation for everything we design for them. If you’re not quite sure what those words are, check out some common brand personality traits here:

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Another great exercise is a Likert scale, which helps you identify where your brand fits between two opposing descriptors.

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Ask Questions

If you’ve ever worked on marketing personas before, you might have come up with answers to questions like “What is our target customer’s favorite TV show?” or “Where would our target customer go on vacation?”

Just as those questions help bring your personas to life, they can also help bring your brand to life. Below are some questions you might want to consider:

• Which other brand personalities align with ours, and which don't?

• How would our brand’s best friend describe them?

• What would our brand’s interests and hobbies be?

• Where would our brand live, and what would its home look like?

• What kind of things would our brand do on the weekends?

• Who would our brand look up to?

• What would our brand order at a restaurant?

• Where would our brand shop at?

• What would our brand smell like? 

• If our brand were a fictional character, who would it be?

• What would our brand wear?

After you’ve gone through a few of the exercises above, you should have some clear takeaways. Jot those down, and flesh them out enough to determine whether or not they feel right. The simplest version of your final brand personality deliverable may be as simple as a pared-down list of traits with their definitions, like the example below.

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If you want to take it a little further, you could elaborate on each adjective like so.

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And if you wanted to push it even further, you could create something like this persona description below — maybe even accompanied by a brand story or manifesto.

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It may seem a little strange at first to think and talk about your brand as if it were a living, breathing person, but you might be surprised at how enlightening it is. A concrete brand personality will make it much easier to craft a full brand identity and strategy — and with that, you’ll have a major competitive advantage.

Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.

4 Environmentally Conscious Brands to Celebrate This Earth Day

Even in the wake of a pandemic that has shaken the economy, sustainability is still at the top of consumers’ minds — a global survey from BCG found that 70% of respondents are more aware of the threat climate change poses now than before the pandemic, and 40% of respondents plan to integrate more sustainable behaviors in the future. On top of that, some studies have shown that sustainable companies are actually more profitable. Going green can be a big competitive advantage, and an increasing number of environmentally conscious brands are embracing it to the fullest.

But there are a lot of cliché, tired tropes when it comes to brand design for eco-friendly companies (think: green color palette, recycling symbols everywhere, brown paper packaging). That’s not to say you shouldn’t use any of those things, but if you use all or most without adding a twist, you can’t expect your brand to stand out. Do your eco-friendly branding well, on the other hand, and you can drive affinity for your company and benefit the planet, its people, and your profits.

Below are a few companies that are doing a particularly good job of highlighting their eco-friendly bona fides in a unique, creative, and appealing way — check them out to find some inspiration for your own brand.

Environmentally Conscious Brands to Watch

1. Prose

Prose, a Brooklyn-based company that offers personalized hair care, has an apothecary-like look that really stands out in their space. Their academic font and ingredient index feels intellectual and scientific, but not overwhelmingly so. They manage to balance their textbook vibe with a touch of warmth from their color palette and authentic portraits. The packaging looks almost like a prescription, but it’s still eye-catching enough to make you want to buy their products. They also do a great job of highlighting their environmental efforts without it being heavy-handed — as you scroll throughout the site, you can see the B Corp logo and find details on their earth-friendly ingredients and packaging.

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2. Mutha

Skincare product company Mutha takes a much different approach, with a look that’s bold and brash. Their all-caps font, contrast-heavy photography, and metallic purple packaging make their branding hard to ignore — and it’s definitely not the kind you typically see with clean beauty products. In fact, it’s pretty hard to spot their eco-friendly shoutouts at all. They mention that their products are clean a few times throughout the site, but it’s really only on their FAQ and ingredients pages that you get details on their natural, (mostly) vegan, and often organic ingredients. With so many similar companies going all-in on an earthy visual style, Mutha really challenges the idea of what environmentally conscious brands can look like.

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3. Buffy

Buffy, a bedding company that uses sustainable materials, has a really cool retro feel to their brand. And you can see it the second you open their website, thanks to their prominent chunky 70s-inspired typeface. Their lettering is so big and fluffy it looks like you could sleep on it. They feature the natural materials they use prominently on their site, and share their sustainability practices on their mission page. There, Buffy highlights not only their responsible materials but also their carbon offset program, donated returns policy, and even a detailed timeline on how they’re working to close the loop in the next 10 years — proving that their eco-friendly branding is more than just talk.

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4. Girlfriend Collective

Girlfriend Collective first debuted with leggings made out of recycled plastic, but they have since started manufacturing clothing and accessories of all kinds: dresses, windbreakers, bras, scrunchies… they even make laundry bags and washing machine filters to catch microfibers from their recycled plastic before it ends up in the ocean. They have a super soothing neutral color palette, a big trend in the direct-to-consumer space, but they manage to make it their own by pairing it with a 70s-inspired serif typeface that has a bit of gothic flair. I love how much diversity they have in their models, too. You see bodies of every shape and size and disabled folks as well — one of their models was a Special Olympics gymnast with Down syndrome. They’re really transparent about their processes, too, from why their products are made in Vietnam instead of the U.S. to instructions for recycling them. From top to bottom, Girlfriend Collective makes you feel good about supporting them.

Walking the Walk

While there are lots of great environmentally conscious brands today, there are also a number of companies that try and capitalize on green trends without doing the necessary work to back it up — a practice referred to as greenwashing. One time, for example, I found out that a company using brown paper in their packaging — which usually indicates natural, unrefined paper — was actually standard white treated paper that had been dyed brown. While it may seem like a quick win at the time, your audience will probably discover that you’re not practicing what you preach at one point or another — and that kind of scandal can pose an existential threat to your company. So if you are going to brand yourself as eco-friendly, make sure it’s not just hot air.  

There are a ton of different ways you can embrace green practices at your company that will help make sure your environmental footprint lines up with your branding. Here are just a few ideas:

• Use sustainable materials in your products. You may even want to go the extra mile and detail how you source and process them. Transparency builds trust!

• Use eco-friendly packaging and shipping materials, like cardboard, unrefined paper, cornstarch packing peanuts, aluminum containers instead of plastic, etc.

• Look into becoming a B Corporation, a certification given only to companies that meet high environmental and social good standards.

• Support small, local vendors whenever possible. Shorter distance traveled means fewer CO2 emissions.

• Offer a recycling or repair program. The more you reuse and recycle, the fewer virgin materials have to be created.

It’s great to highlight green practices like these if you employ them, but make sure it doesn’t sound too much like you’re patting yourself on the back. No brand is perfect, after all, but you should always be striving to improve. 

With climate change and environmental damage already impacting the world, it’s important for companies to act fast. The good news is once you do, it can have a ripple effect, inspiring other organizations to follow suit and individuals to be more sustainable in their everyday lives. While environmentally conscious brands may not be able to save the planet alone, green business practices and branding helps amplify the climate conversation we need to effect change.

Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.

The Top Branding Trends of 2020 — & What to Expect in 2021

2020 was, to put it lightly, a wild ride. In some ways, it seemed like the world began to move a little slower — no more rushing to the office in the mornings or cramming our schedules full of social engagements. In other ways, things moved at a breakneck pace. People and businesses alike had to adapt overnight to constantly-changing regulations and market shifts. And the world of branding certainly wasn’t exempt from this rapid change. The natural fluctuation in preferences that happens over time combined with the extraordinary events of the past year led to some seriously innovative and cool branding trends in 2020.

We’ve highlighted a few of the most notable ones below, as well as insight into how they might evolve over the year to come — read on to get some inspiration for your own brand.

2020 Branding Trends

Making Flat Designs Pop

In the past few years, many brands have favored flat designs without any dimension, shadows, or perspective. While it’s still possible to see strong examples, it’s becoming harder to keep the no-depth look fresh. Brands are starting to play with this trend more, though, as they incorporate new elements to add an additional level of complexity to their 2D design.

One example I’ve been seeing a lot of is 2D images with moving elements, like this Instagram post from artist and photographer Brooke DiDonato. It can be tough to get right, though. Brittany Spears’ “Swimming in the Stars” visualizer, for example, falls flat due to how busy it feels.

Another trend in adding depth to 2D design is mixing geometric patterns with textured and perspective design so that it feels more dynamic. Here’s an example from Dropbox.

Mixed Typefaces

In 2013, branding was awash with sans-serif typefaces, many of which were all-caps with a very condensed letterform (Bebas Neue seemed like it was everywhere). In later years, brands moved onto rounder sans-serif typefaces, like the new Google logo. Today, fonts like those are still popular, but brands are now mixing them with serif typefaces as well, especially in brand identities.

One brand that does a great job exemplifying this trend is Hims, a direct-to-consumer men’s health company. Their logo is a serif typeface, but all of their digital typeface is sans-serif — a good choice, since serifs can be hard to read in small print. That being said, I think their all-neutral palette could use some updating. Let’s get some color pops in there!

To take serif fonts a step further, a lot of brands are using very thin stems and embellishments – something that will likely continue in the new year.

Non-Design

In the age of digital media, content can be created and published instantly, and brands are taking advantage of that. With so many companies creating content, however, it’s no longer a differentiator. To stand out from their competitors, brands have to publish more and more content at an ever-increasing rate. Because of this, designers must work within a constantly shrinking timeframe, which can put a lot of constraints on the creative process. Paradoxically, though, these creative constraints can often result in innovation.

Many brands are now taking a low-effort design approach, where they leverage tools like emojis, gifs, Instagram Creator Studio, and templates to create quick and easy designs. Frequently, these designs are composed of simple shapes, limited colors, and just a few typefaces. 

Cove, a biodegradable water bottle company, is one example of a brand doing this look well. It’s super simple, but every element fits in and complements the others.

Retro Futurism

The design world always seems to be in love with the aesthetic from two decades before. Now that we’re in the 2020s, people have really begun to embrace the look of the 2000s — with a bit of a twist. Creatives are obsessed with nostalgia, but still dreaming of the future, which results in a unique retro-futuristic look that’s surreal and euphoric with lots of sparkle effects and glass type. This is especially present in digital media, like the example below from Fisk Projects.

Some brands are kicking it back even further, like Kin Euphorics, which combines a 70s feel with a modern flair.

The Natural Look

One silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it got people outside and helped inspire a renewed sense of appreciation for nature. A lot of brands seem to be acknowledging this with design that incorporates the outdoors and a more natural vibe. I’ve noticed this with a few recent commercials, such as this 90-second spot from Gucci or the More Nature campaign from Jeep.

I’m seeing more and more use of fuzzy and blurred imagery as well, which feels similarly organic.

Source: Mary Herbert

Today’s brands are very aware of the world we’re all living in, and acknowledging it — and even finding some beauty in it — allows them to connect with their audiences on a more personal level. Although a vaccine is on the horizon, it will probably be a while before we return to normal, so I don’t see this trend ending anytime soon. 

Experiential Design

In a year where indoor gatherings are off-limits, a lot of companies found creative ways to reenact experiences in a digital format. And this wasn’t just limited to event-based businesses. Hulu came out with an awesome haunted house simulator called the Screamlands around Halloween (or, as they called it, Huluween).

Another experiential area more brands are leveraging is virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Even the fashion world is adopting these technologies, with luxury brand Balenciaga recently announcing that their fall 2021 collection will debut in VR using avatars as models. AR is also taking off in popularity thanks to platforms like Spark AR studio for Instagram that make it more accessible. It’s bringing a lot of fun weirdness back to branding — check out this AR crossword puzzle filter The New York Times recently released.

As audiences become more comfortable with interactive experiences on websites and social media, my prediction is that brands will begin carrying it over to their native apps soon as well. 

Playfulness

If there’s one thing we could use more of right now, it’s levity. Thankfully, companies all across the board have been stepping up to the plate. Brands seem to have loosened up a little bit on their guidelines, giving them the flexibility they need to succeed on more casual channels like social media. As a designer, this is exciting, because it allows you to play with a brand in all its different forms and craft a slightly tailored visual language for each.

In addition to brand design, this is also happening in brand messaging. Companies are embracing a more down-to-earth tone of voice, sometimes successfully (Dollar Shave Club does a great job of being casual, clear, and often entertaining) and sometimes not (Cosmopolitan tries a little too hard with all the slang and abbreviations).

This playfulness has even extended to data visualizations. Companies are going beyond bar graphs in brand colors to display data in interesting and unique ways, like this piece from creative studio Datalands.

Of course, these branding trends may not all be right for you — it’s much more important to embrace authenticity than whatever’s in the zeitgeist. But if you can figure out how to incorporate one or more in a way that feels true to your brand, you’ll be ahead of the curve in 2021.

Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.

5 Things Your Brand Identity Should Have

So you’ve already identified the foundational elements of your brand and brand strategy. Now, you’re ready to dive in a little deeper. If you’re hoping to create an unforgettable brand, one of the best things you can do is establish a thorough brand identity. Brand identities usually take the form of a brand book — essentially, a document that sets distinct guidelines for maintaining branding across all aspects of the business.

Brand books, also known as brand bibles, are instrumental in helping companies create and maintain a consistent message and presence — and that can pay off in a big way. Consistent branding increases revenue by an average of 33 percent, yet less than 10 percent of companies say their branding is “very consistent.” 

Staying consistent takes effort, and even more importantly, it takes guidelines. The exact information included will differ from company to company, but there are some things that all brand identities should have in common —  here are a few of the most crucial ones.

1. A Unifying Brand Identity Theme

Your brand identity may contain a lot of different parts, but it should feel like one cohesive unit. That’s why brand identities should always be built around one solid concept or vision. The unifying factor itself can be any number of things — a look, a feel, a vibe — but no matter what, it should be unique and make sense for your business.

Let's say your company offers a customized vitamin product. Maybe after digging into your values and goals, you realize that your mission is all about helping people navigate their health. You could then take this concept of navigation and incorporate it into your brand identity design, maybe by taking a common navigation symbol, like a compass, and using that as the company’s icon.

Whatever you choose as your overarching theme, the key is to make a connection with consumers so you’re able to hold a special place in their hearts and minds. 

2. Logo & Usage Guidelines

As the most critical component of your brand identity design, your logo will of course need to be included in your brand book. But this means more than just slapping your logo on a page and calling it a day. Display not only your original logo, but also all of its different color schemes (e.g. full color, grayscale) and lockups (e.g. vertical, horizontal). 

Make sure to also create rules around the usage of your logo, such as the minimum size that the logo must be for digital or print and how much clear space is required around the logo to create a buffer between it and any other content that appears alongside it. But just as important as the “dos” are the “don’ts” — for example, don’t flip the logo or alter the proportions.

3. Color Palette

Your brand colors will need to include more than just what appears on your logo. Yes, most brands will have one primary color, but to keep the design on your various marketing materials engaging, you should ideally include a set of secondary colors as well, including some neutrals.  

It’s important to remember, too, that not all blacks/grays/shades are the same. If you truly want to maintain consistency, include RGB (digital) and CMYK (print) breakdowns for each of your brand colors listed, as well as your hex code and an identified Pantone swatch. 

4. Typography

Typography and all of its components — typeface, kerning, hierarchy, etc. — play an important role in expressing your brand personality. Sans serif typefaces generally evoke a modern look, while serif typefaces have more of a classic feel to it. Usually, brands will include at least two typefaces in their brand books: one for headers, titles, or display typography, and another for body copy. When choosing typefaces, you’ll need to have one that either works well for web design or matches digital typefaces that are similar to your primary one.

Just as you did with your logo, you should include usage guidelines around your typography, including when and where each typeface is used — for example, is the display typography only used for headers, or can it be used in CTA buttons as well?  

5. Other Design Elements

Think of any other design elements you’ll need to use (illustration, icon sets, photography, etc.) and provide guidelines around their usage so that they complement the rest of your brand identity. Not only will this help you stay consistent — it will provide direction and clarity for any other future team members or partners that will be creating imagery featuring your brand. When in doubt, more information is better than less. Think about the specifics that you should include so that even someone that’s new to your brand can maintain consistency with what’s been done in the past.

There’s virtually no limit to the other sections you could choose to add to your brand book, such as layouts, messaging, marketing templates, co-branding and social media, to name just a few. What exactly you need to add will become apparent over time, but concrete rules around theme, logos, color, typography and other design elements will provide you with a solid foundation to build on.

And remember, your brand book doesn’t need to be set in stone! It’s a living, breathing document that can be adapted and updated as needed — just make sure to include a sign off at the beginning to keep track of how up-to-date yours is, and who’s been editing it. Refreshing your brand identity design regularly — every three to five years — will help keep your brand relevant and effective, ensuring that your brand evolves as the market does.

Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.

5 Great Brand Identity Examples (& Why We Love Them!)

In the design world, it’s easy to get intimidated by the big guys. Companies like Nike and Apple are just a couple of iconic brand identity examples that are recognizable worldwide, with sharp, consistent looks across every medium. “How am I supposed to compete with that,” you might think. Often, this kind of mindset results in a creative block.

But at times like these, one of the best ways to move forward is by stepping back. When it comes to looking at other brands, choose to be inspired instead of envious — with so many companies, agencies, and individuals designing incredible work, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t seek it out. Of course, you don't want your brand to look like the clone of another, but surveying the landscape can play a key role in informing your own brand identity and strategy.

There’s no shortage of impressive brand identities out there, but for this post, I compiled a few favorites across a range of styles and industries so you can sample a little bit of everything. Look through them below, making sure to take note of what you like, what you dislike, and how those takeaways can be applied to your own brand identity design.

Top Brand Identity Examples

NASA

While NASA’s brand book, pictured above, was created in 1975, designers Richard Danne and Bruce Blackburn managed to create an enduring look that still holds up well today. Even the packaging of the book is amazing. I love the space-age metallic pouch it comes in, and the black texture on it that gives off a cool, retro, Xeroxed feel. Their logo, meanwhile, is a real testament to timeless design — while it did change in the 90s, NASA recently announced that they’re going to revive the old logo for use on a space shuttle called Falcon 9.

The content of the book itself is just as solid as the logo. I love how their brand identity reads almost like a textbook — it does a great job conveying NASA’s scientific, intellectual vibe, which helps to emphasize their credibility and expertise. The print medium sets it apart as well, with so many other companies today opting for digital brand books. It’s so thorough, too. Every use case down to the “confidential” stamp is included. (On a side note, how badly do you want their clothing? I would totally buy their flight jacket!)

Overall, I consider it the standard to which all other brand books should be held.

Fort Point Beer Company

Shoutout to SF-based agency Manual — this group does super cool work, including the brand identity design for Fort Point Beer. As an SF native, I often cringe when companies try to capitalize on San Francisco-related imagery in an attempt to look “authentic,” but Fort Point succeeded in creating a tribute to the city rather than just trying to profit off of it. Anyone can slap an icon of the Golden Gate Bridge on their product, but many of the landmarks that appear on Fort Point’s products — like the Dutch windmill in Golden Gate Park, or the Bay’s ever-present cargo ships — are references that only locals can recognize.

Speaking of which, the geometric, single-weight illustrations really work for Fort Point. Although it’s a very trendy aesthetic right now, Manual was able to put a unique spin on it that Fort Point could own. The monochrome photos look great, too. Each of the different elements present complement one another to create a cohesive visual system that's contemporary, authentic, and meaningful.

Allbirds

With the Allbirds brand identity, design and marketing agency Red Antler completely nailed the look that most of today’s direct-to-consumer brands are going for: clean and bright minimalist photography, playful illustrations, and geometric color blocking. In fact, in the 4+ years since the brand identity launched, it’s become so popular that many other brands have tried to pull it off themselves — although no one has ever quite been able to measure up to the original, in my opinion.

One of the best things about Allbirds’ original design is that it left room for branding evolution and growth. Now that Allbirds is a well-established, widely-recognized brand, they’ve begun to take some more creative risks. Increasingly, the photography featured on Allbirds’ site is expanding beyond its original immaculate, highly-manicured format to show unexpected details and textures, like the dirt sprinkled on the background of a recent homepage header (see below). The company has also begun to embrace more natural colors instead of the strictly pastel palette they started out with. Throughout all of the change, though, Allbirds has always been able to remain true to their brand.

Seed

I’m calling it right now: Seed, a woman-run microbiome product company, is going to be a branding trendsetter. Designer Jam Sayne has created a brand identity design that really leans into the company’s grounding in science and research. The visual style strikes a perfect balance between a cutting-edge look and an organic, natural feel. The clean, straightforward sans-serif text of the website is complemented by artful, almost floral, images of bacteria blooming in petri dishes. Even the UI is inspired, with your icon serving as a magnifying glass as you hover over text and images.

Usually, design agencies specialize in either digital or print, but the team behind Seed’s brand excelled at both here. The packaging is simple to the point where it’s almost anti-design, but the dead-on execution of the fine details — color, font, icon — make it masterful. 

Madre Mezcal

Madre Mezcal is one company that has put art and tradition at the front and center of their brand identity. Initially, I wasn’t sure how I felt about an agency run by two white guys using a traditional Oaxacan aesthetic, but I have to hand it to them — they really paid their dues to understand the craft of mezcal making. 

On the website for the agency, Land, the Madre Mezcal case study shows the lengths they went to in order to honor the culture. Photos — both in color and black and white — of agave plants, workers, and daily life in Mexico drive home the rugged authenticity of this family-owned company operating out of Oaxaca, while vintage packaging details like the image of a woman riding a bull, faded print, and paper and twine wrapping bring to mind the rich history of traditional mezcal making.

It goes to show that companies don’t need to jump on the bandwagon of computer-forward design, sans serif fonts, and vector illustrations — embracing your roots can be even more powerful. The end result isn’t just pretty graphics, but rather, a brand identity that pushes the boundaries of how we define contemporary design.

While the five brand identity examples above are among my recent favorites, the amount of incredible design being produced today is nearly endless — so keep researching until you find a style that speaks to you!

Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.

3 Simple Rules of Unforgettable Logo Design

Logo design has never been more important than it is today. After all, the days when logos could be haphazardly slapped together at the last minute are long gone. A logo is the cornerstone of your brand, and often the first impression you make on your audience. Today’s consumers are not only used to seeing logos — they feel passionately about them.

Consider the cautionary tale of Gap’s failed rebrand: after drastically changing their logo without notice in 2010, the outcry from brand loyalists was so overwhelming that the company scrapped it after just six days. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the revamped Apple logo that debuted in 1997 — the now-iconic silhouette of an apple with a bite out of it — was a major part of the rebranding campaign that many say saved the company, allowing it to eventually become a multibillion-dollar organization.

But there’s more than just anecdotal evidence backing the importance of logos. Here are just a few hard statistics that illustrate why your logo design should be a top priority:  

• Consistent branding can improve brand recognition by as much as 80 percent

• Human brains process images 60,000 times faster than words

• Consistent branding increases revenue by an average of 33 percent

At this point, your question shouldn’t be “Why do I need a great logo?” but instead, “How do I create one?” While there’s no single formula for how to make a logo, the exercises and information below will help you craft a unique, clear-cut logo that customers will appreciate — and maybe even come to love.

1. Get Inspired

Design doesn’t happen in a vacuum — even the most creative and unique logos are influenced by other works. So before you even start sketching preliminary ideas, it’s important to survey the landscape to get a better idea of what you do and don’t like. One activity I recommend is writing down three target words that you’d like your brand to embody. Then, start collecting examples of different brands that do a good job — or even a particularly bad job — of emulating these traits. Here are a few resources you can start with:

• Logo Design Love

• Marks of Excellence

• Logo Modernism

• Logo Books

You don’t have to restrict your search to the confines of a book or website, though. Inspiration will often strike in your daily life, so give yourself a week or two to start taking pictures of things around you. Even if you’re busy, it’s important to carve out time for this inspiration to arise — this is a crucial phase of the design process. You can also ask your designer to put together some logo design mood boards in certain categories or aesthetics they’d recommend.

Once you’ve gathered enough examples, it’s time to articulate what it is that you like and dislike about them. Is there a particular style of typeface you’re drawn to? Do you like logos with illustrations in them? Which color palettes feel right for your brand? Discussing all of these things with your designer will help you both figure out how to make a logo that works for your business — and if you’re having a hard time expressing exactly what it is that makes you like or dislike a particular style, your designer can help you identify patterns.

2. Design With Intentionality

A great logo is so much more than just a pretty symbol. Logos must instantly communicate the look and feel of your brand, and prompt an emotional reaction from your audience. They should also be memorable and ownable — your logo should be distinct enough that it won’t be confused with another brand’s.

To do this, you’ll need to choose a designer who will work with you closely to understand your business, your company culture, your brand voice — everything that makes you unique — so that it can all come through in your logo. For example, maybe there’s a particular office dog that acts as an unofficial mascot for your brand, and could make for a great icon in your logo. Even if the influence isn’t quite that explicit, though, your brand personality should still be reflected in your logo. If it’s not, clients or customers could feel disengaged and disconnected, causing them to lose trust in your brand — and potential customers might ignore it altogether.

It’s also important to keep context in mind. Think: What’s the primary space where your logo will be applied? Of course, it should work well in any format, but being mindful of this while designing or giving feedback can be helpful. If you’re a clothing brand that plans on putting the logo in stitching on clothes or on the tag, designers should know how to make a logo without lines that are too fine or too close to one another. Nitty-gritty details like this may seem minor, but they can have a huge impact on your logo’s overall effectiveness.

3. Gut Check Your Logo Design

Don’t make the mistake of immediately choosing a particular logo after your designer presents a few options for you to review. Before you go all-in, you need to put the designs under the microscope to make sure that your logo of choice is not only attractive, but also serves its purpose well. Here are a few things to consider as you review designs:

• Competitive Landscape: Are there logos in your industry that look similar? Do competitor logos use the same icon or mark, perhaps the same color?  Are there businesses in your area that have nothing to do with your industry but use the same icon or mark or typeface? Asking these questions will help ensure that your logo fits in with your industry, while also standing out.

• Scalability: Your logo should work equally as well on small scales as it does on large scales. To make sure it will work across a variety of different marketing materials, from business cards to your website to physical signage, put it to the test! Print your logo out at one inch tall or wide — whichever side is bigger — and see if it’s legible and clear.

• Alternative Lockups: Your logo isn’t just one asset. It should include a full package, with both a full-color version and a grayscale version for dark and light backgrounds. It should also include alternate lockups for horizontal and vertical formats (unless your logo is symmetrical enough that you won’t need it). Make sure to get all of these logo files in both digital and print color spaces so you can easily apply your brand’s mark to all materials moving forward.

Logos aren’t just expected in today’s business world — they’re a driving factor of brand awareness that can ultimately make or break your relationship with consumers. And while learning how to make a logo that communicates everything you want it to is no easy feat, a thoughtful and thorough design process will seriously improve your odds.

Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.