Graphic Design for Startups: Key Factors to Focus
Think of an important day in your life – any day, really. A wedding, meeting, conference or a corporate event. Now try remembering how it felt when you were trying to decide what to wear the night before. Try putting on just about anything, and you risk ridicule and abject social mockery, which is why you are going to be extra careful.
You are going to ensure the dress is suited to the occasion, iron the hell out of it, then try it on and then ask your significant other, or a family member for opinion. Yes, special occasions call for that special dress, but why are we going on about dresses and proms in a blog post meant for graphic art? Did we just click-bait you???
Relax. We will never do such a thing.
Think about it. If your brand is a person, then the graphics you chose for it is its suit. As you get ready to present your company to the world, don’t you want it to suit up in the best possible way? How you dress up speaks volumes about the kind of person you are. Heck, we might even say your dress is merely an extension of your personality. Just like you, your brand has a personality too, which is why you want to dress it up in a way which conveys the ideals it stands for.
Now, since a “brand” is defined as the emotional image that your prospects have of your company, the role graphic design will play here becomes all too apparent!
With that settled, here are few things that you should focus on to get your company off the right track…
Your Logo
The signature of your brand needs to not only look good, but convey what it stands for in a snapshot. Familiarity is key to establishing lasting relationships, and your logo is going to be the most repeated element in your outreach inventory.
Think about what your brand stands for. Now think of an image which best associates with your ideals; this will be a great starting point to brainstorm some ideas on what to design. Talk with a graphic designer on how to convey these ideas.
David Airey says that a logo should be describable, memorable, effective without color and relevant to your industry. His advice makes sense. If someone can describe your logo, then chances are they will remember it as well.
Your color scheme
Much like how you probably have a favorite color, which is in all probability what your friends associate with you, your brand needs a set of colors which your audience can relate with. This follows into the repeatability aspect we discussed above. The more time a color scheme will repeat itself, the better the odds someone will think of you when they see it. Aside from your logo, a color scheme is also needed for conveying what you stand for, and creating a great first impression.
Your typography
If at all possible, use a single font type throughout all your communications. This helps to create your identity. Multiple fonts can sometimes be used in tandem; however this is best done under the aegis of a graphic designer.
Brands like Coca Cola, FedEx etc have made great use of using typography in their icons too.
Conclusion
You have probably realized by now that all this following your dream business is not nearly as peachy as those feel good memes on Facebook and self help gurus made it out to be. Starting a company is hard work. Yes, there is a lot that needs to be done, time is of the essence and choosing the right graphics for your brand seems insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But trust us, it can make or break your brand, so make sure you pay ample attention to it!
