Branding & Visual LIteracy at General Assembly London by Tricia Okin

Branding and!Visual Literacy

ABOUT Tricia Okin!+ designer based in Brooklyn since 2001 + designs and builds web and mobile sites/applications for companies within the food, green and tech startup fields + BFA in photography from University of Florida and an MFA in Design & Technology from Parsons The New School for Design. http://papercutny.com/ @papercutny

Branding & Visual Literacy Launching a ground-breaking new web app? Branding is crucial to the success of tech companies. A meaningful brand identity will help you:! • Express your brand attributes visually • Develop trust and credibility by creating a system • Stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace • Forge a lasting connection with your desired audience • Appeal to potential investors

Branding & Visual Literacy

•  Users and Audience: meeting their needs, solving their problems, their stories

•  Purpose: focused and flexible in the long term

•  Design: colour, typography, forms, logo, systems, images

•  Writing: voice & style

•  Customer Service: accessibility, helpfulness, guiding users

What is Branding?!


Exercise 1: What is tech and start up (to you & others)?!

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•  scrappy •  local •  sustainable •  home grown •  authentic •  creative •  lean

•  self-sufficient •  agile •  innovative •  homemade •  micro-business •  diy •  independent

Name some keywords!and buzz words!


•  Is this is a problem “everyone” has? •  Who is “everyone”? •  Are you creating a need/desire but not really a problem? Ex: Foursquare •  Has your idea already been in the market for a while? •  How much are you improving on an existing idea? •  Can you easily create a following behind this and gain traction?

What Problem Are You!Trying to Solve?!


•  Age, Urban or Sub-urban, Ethnicities? •  What Careers / Professions? •  Technology usage? •  What issues do they care about that would draw/force them to use your idea? •  Luxury product for a few or mass market? •  Government or institutions? •  Students or anyone on a budget? •  Early career folks making around £30.000 with small precious disposable

income? •  Couples making £50k - £90k who are used to paying more for quality? •  Affluent / luxury – household income of £120k - £205k?

Who’s Your Target Audience?!(Income & Demographics)!

Branding & Visual Literacy Exercise 2: Brand Comparison ( 5 min )!•  Who do you think the target audiences for each of these brands? •  What expectations/perceptions do you have based on branding •  What do you expect to pay at each place?

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Branding & Visual Literacy Exercise 3: Brand Story Comparison ( 2 min )!

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Branding & Visual Literacy Exercise 3: Brand Story Comparison ( 2 min )!

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Exploring Brand Attributes:!What makes a brand distinct from existing brands on the web and in the marketplace? •  The problem it solves •  Ease of use •  Mass market •  Specialty •  Only for beta testers / exclusivity •  Accessibility (customer service) •  User knowledge and data along with user cachet





Visual Elements of Branding!•  Logo/Identity Design •  Wordmark vs. logo •  Typography •  Use of color •  Creating and Choosing an icon


Product & Brand Environment:! Where will your product live?

–  Web app –  Mobile phone app (which platform, if any?) –  HTML 5 app –  SaaS

–  Lifestyle –  Business/Productivity –  Analytics –  Creative –  Luxury / Shopping


Exercise 3: Name Your Favourite Apps and / or Brands

•  Why do you like them? •  Name the price you’re willing to pay for it

!Exercise 4: Your Competition & Aspiration

•  Write down your competitors and aspirational brands

•  Do a Brand survey


Applying Branding to Collateral:! •  Business cards •  Stationery •  One Sheets •  Digital or Printed Press Kits •  Address labels •  Stickers / promo items •  Banners/Signage

Branding & Visual Literacy Hiring a designer: !•  How to find a designer

–  Students –  Graphic Designers

•  independent vs. small shop vs. branding agency –  Crowdspring/99 Designs

•  What to ask a designer –  Portfolio –  References –  Process


Scope of Work: !!•  Logo/Identity •  Website (app/product vs. brochure), •  Icon system •  Mobile/Responsive •  Social media (Twitter, FB, Email newsletter, Foursquare, etc) •  Blog •  Collateral & Marketing (cards, stationery, one-sheets) •  Packaging


Applying Your Brand Identity:!

•  Social Media – inhabiting your brand persona and bringing it to life via content-rich, platform appropriate posts on multiple channels

•  Understand which platforms will help you most: blogging, Twitter, FB, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc


Price Range!Logo/Identity £1600 - £2500 Website (Brochure) £2000 - £4000 App/E-Commerce £5200 - £10000 Social Media £650 - £1300 Collateral £800 - £1800 £40 - £50 per hour would be a good estimate for quality & efficient work. * These would be some ranges for an individual designer vs. a student or a small studio ** The prices above are only for design, not for printing costs


DIY It + Sweat Equity - £1200 - £3000! •  Logo - Wordmark & Colors vs. full logo •  Brochure Web site - WordPress •  E-Commerce Website - Shopify / Etsy / Big Cartel / PayPal

check out •  Collateral - Business Cards & Postcards – Moo.com

•  Blog & Social Media - FB, Wordpress.com, Twitter •  E-Mail – MailChimp (free plan is great)


Examples

Runa by Mucca Design!

Work: http://www.mucca.com/work/runa-2 Analysis: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/runa.php Site: http://www.runa.org/

Seedhouse Stationers by Stitch Design!

Work: http://www.stitchdesignco.com/blog/seed-house-stationers/ Site: http://www.seedhousestationers.com/

Good Energy by Studio Makgill!

Work: http://www.studiomakgill.com/disciplines/brand_identity/good_energy Analysis: http://designworklife.com/2012/03/07/studio-makgill-good-energy-branding Site: http://www.goodenergy.co.uk/

CONTACT Tricia [email protected] http://papercutny.com/ Follow me on Twitter @papercutny

I’ll put these slides up on Slide Share in the next 36 hours: http://www.slideshare.net/papercutny !