What Color Defines You?

Check out this great post about the importance of color in design written by Vibrant Marketing Solutions:

What Color Defines You?

What makes a design work? Certainly, the end result must have impact–it must dynamically affect the viewer. It must compel the observer to look further.

We see thousands of graphic images each day. Everywhere we go, someone’s design beseeches us to take notice. In the realm of advertising, design is the foot in the door. If we’re hooked by a logo, a slogan, or a visual presentation, we’re naturally curious. We want to know more.

This is the hallmark of a winning design. A key component of that visual victory is color.

Choice of color tells the world who you are and what you’re all about. Are you bold and brassy, or cool, calm and collected? The colors you use say this about you and your company, product or service.

Color is highly subjective. Your favorite color might be an eyesore to me–and vice versa. But if that color is used with skill and confidence, it can still impress me–and, perhaps, persuade me to hear you out.

As I look around the room where I write this, I note a chaos of colors on a bookshelf. Bright reds, hot pinks and vivid purples leap out at me. These colors seem aggressive, obvious and broad to me. Large areas of these colors might overwhelm a design–and send the wrong message out to the viewer. Yellows of different intensity make a softer but steadier impact. Softer earth tones–golds, ochres, greens, beiges–offer subdued, welcome contrast from the bolder colors on the shelf.

Finally, my eyes settle on shades of blue. Aesthetically and emotionally, blue speaks to me. It is a centering, calming color. But a world of blue would be dull. So would a world of hot pink, bright green or beige.

The interplay of colors–the contrast of hot and cool, of bright and subtle–offers endless choices. I can’t use them all. In fact, the fewer colors I choose, the stronger my design will be. Study corporate logos and products. They typically use one or two colors. Such a confident choice of colors sends a message of stability and reliability. A chaos of color can translate as confusion or uncertainty.

What is your message? How do you want to be seen in the world? Are you bright scarlet red or cool midnight blue? Or are you a little of both? Choice of color plays a major role in your identity. It might be the single most important decision you make in how others will perceive you?

Tips for Choosing the Best Name for Your Business

1) Make It Unique: Even if you choose a name that is self-explanatory, do your best to make sure there is no one else already doing business under that name.

2) Check the Domain: One of the driving factors any time I pick a name for a business is seeing if the domain is available. Having a domain name that is intuitively associated with your business increases the visibility.

3) Think about the Brand: Choosing your business name is the first of many brand-defining activities you will do with your business. Consider the elements of the brand you want to create — brandmark, colors, fonts, style, theme — and see if that can play into the naming process.

4) Name the Service: There are many business out there that include their main service in their business name. For example, Jane Doe Virtual Assistance, Team Coaching Group, Susie’s Web Design. There is a lot of value in doing this in terms of SEO and immediate recognition by potential clients.

5) Embrace It: Once you choose your name, there’s really no going back, unless you’re prepared to start your branding from scratch. So make sure you love it, and then run with it (screaming it at the top of your lungs!).

If you’re in the U.S., you’ll also want to check with your state to make sure it’s not already being used and that no one has it trademarked.

How did you choose your business name?

What other tips would you add to this list?

What’s Working in Exhibiting Now

But what’s really working now?
How are exhibitors like you evolving their programs?
How are exhibitors stretching their budgets – and increasing their results?

The Two Big Questions:
How to Increase Results
and Stretch Exhibiting Budgets

Exhibitors said they had most success boosting their results with pre-show marketing and show selection. Show selection also was a key method to stretching exhibiting budgets, as was reducing booth staffing expenses, and saving on display shipping. Further successful methods are related in the White Paper.

Most of all, exhibitors shared their best advice for 7 key parts of a trade show program. Here’s the gist of what your peers said is making their trade shows more effective in each exhibiting topic:

Show Selection This was the only facet of exhibiting that was frequently mentioned as a key driver in both improving results and reducing costs. Survey respondents on average are going to 2.2 less shows in 2009, about 15.2% less. As one exhibitor commented, fewer shows can be a good thing: “We did fewer shows, but with a greater presence.”

Budgeting Exhibitors reported they are trimming their 2009 budgets by 9.2% on average. Those who are decreasing their budgets outnumber those increasing by 4 to 1. However, about half are keeping their budgets the same. Other than reducing their number of shows, the two most popular methods of stretching their budgets are to reduce booth staff expenses and to save on shipping with lighter weight displays.

Measuring Results 90% of exhibitors said they are doing some sort of measurement. The key: Create a process and formula to actually measure and report sales generated from trade show leads. Exhibitors who could show sales to justify their trade show program actually were twice as likely to get their budgets increased instead of decreased. As one exhibitor said, “The only successful justification is sales revenue. One good sale will pay for a full show’s marketing.”

Lead Management Best practice: Put more effort into following up your leads. When exhibitors focused on lead follow-up, more of them actually increased than decreased their budgets. Lead management elements included persistent, planned follow up, a good CRM / database program, and a person responsible for it. Note: these are the same elements needed for measuring results!

Exhibit Design Less really is more.
Exhibitors reported their primary ways to change exhibit design that improved trade show results was to go more simple, including a more open and less cluttered layout, and exhibit graphics that are bright, clear and straight to the point. Most exhibitors are also going for more flexibility to easily change graphics and booth configurations.

Booth Staffing By far and away, exhibitors say sales people make their best booth staffers, followed by their top management. Exhibitors are getting better results by improving how they select staffers, communicating their goals before the show, and booth staff training. Said one survey respondent, “We pick the ones that have proven track records and set high expectations for any newcomers.”

Promotions Exhibitors rely most on direct mail and email for their pre-show promotions. When asked which at-show promotions are working best, exhibitors liked free giveaways / drawings, discounts, and demonstrations. One exhibitor described their proactive pre-show marketing thus: “We identified targets and reached out to key attendees before the show. We invited key prospects to lunch/dinner meetings to have more in-depth conversations off the show floor.”

Color Psychology

“Color expresses something by itself” – Vincent VanGogh

In the visual communication field it is important to remember that color is the first thing registered by a person and usually that color/colors communicates something.

Color is a meaningful constant for us and can be a powerful psychological tool. By using color psychology, you can send a positive or negative message, encourage sales, calm a crowd, or make an athlete pump iron harder. Implementation of color psychology will strengthen you brand. Use it wisely and be consistent.

It is no accident that McDonalds has used the same colors for years and years. When I mention them, I’ll bet the golden arches popped into your head. The same can be true for any company that gets it, implements it and stays true to it.

It is important to note that the psychology of color changes with lighter tints or darker shades. How a color is used and what other colors it is being associated with also influence ones perception. There can be paradoxes in color psychology depending on it use. For example Black can be powerful or sophisticated and white can be pure and innocent however, if one puts simple black copy on a large filed of white it can become generic. Yellow can evoke the warmth of sunshine and happiness yet depending on its execution it can caution you to slow down.

Here is a quick overview of the psychology of basic colors in the Western Hemisphere.

Black

Black is the color of authority and power. Black clothes make people appear thinner. It’s a somber color sometimes associated with evil (the cowboy in the black hat was almost always the “bad guy”). In the western hemisphere black is associated with grieving. Black is a serious color that evokes strong emotions; it is easy to overwhelm people with too much black.

White

For most of the world this is the color associated with purity (wedding dresses); cleanliness (doctors in white coats) and the safety of bright light (things go bump in the night … not the bright sunshine!). It is also used to project the absence of color, or neutrality.

Gray

Gray is most associated with the practical, timeless, middle-of-the-road, solid things in life. Too much gray leads to feeling mostly nothing; but a bit of gray will add that rock solid feeling to your product. Some shades of gray are associated with old age, death, taxes, depression or a lost sense of direction.

Red

Red is the color of energy and can create hunger. It’s associated with movement and excitement. People surrounded by red find their heart beating a little faster and often report feeling a bit out of breath. It’s absolute the wrong color for a baby’s room but perfect to get people excited. Wearing red clothes will make you appear a bit heavier and certainly more noticeable. (Some studies show red cars get more tickets but that maybe because the red car owners drive faster or the ticket giver notices the movement of the red car more prominently). Red is not a good color to over use but using a spot of red in just the right place is smart in some cases (one red accent in a otherwise neutral environment draws the eye; It is no accident that red dot is apart of the 7up identity. Red is the symbol of life (red blooded life!) and can create desire. Red is used at holidays that are about love and giving (red roses, Valentines hearts, Christmas, etc.) but one can argue the true color of love is pink. Pink is the most calming of all colors — often our most dangerous criminals are housed in pink cells as studies show that color drains the energy and calms aggression.

Blue

Ask people their favorite color and a clear majority will say blue. Much of the world is blue (skies, seas). Seeing the color blue actually causes the body to produce chemicals that are calming; but that isn’t true of all shades of blue. Some shades (or too much blue) can send a cold and uncaring message. Many bedrooms are blue because it’s calm, restful color. Over the ages blue has become associated with steadfastness, dependability, and loyalty (note how many uniforms are blue). People tend to be more productive in a blue room because they are calm and focused on the task at hand. Some studies are showing that weight lifters can lift more weight in a blue gym – in fact, nearly all sports are enhanced in blue surroundings.

Green

The color of growth, nature, and money. A calming color also that’s very pleasing to the senses. Dark forest green is associated with terms like conservative, masculine and wealth. Hospitals use light green rooms because they too are found to be calming to patients and encourages health. It is also the color associated with, good luck, generosity and fertility. It is the traditional color of peace and hope. However, as a paradox it is the color of envy.

Yellow

Cheerful yellow the color of the sun, associated with laughter, happiness and good times. Yellow is associated with optimism. However, one must yellow strategically; it can warn us, a caution sign, a yellow traffic light. Studies show babies cry more in yellow rooms and tempers can flare more around that color too. It has the power to speed up our metabolism and bring out some creative thoughts (legal tablets are yellow for good reason!). Yellow can be quickly overpowering if over-used, but used sparingly in the just the right place it can be an effective tool in marketing to greater sales. Some shades of yellow are associated with cowardice; but the more golden shades with the promise of better times.

Orange

Orange is associated with a new dawn in attitude and ambition. It’s the color tied to fun, happy and energetic warm days of fall, and organic products. This is why orange is probably considered one of the most edible colors in the spectrum; Pumpkins, carrots, oranges, etc.

Purple

What color were the robes of kings and queens? Yes, they were purple, our most royal color that is associated with wealth, prosperity, rich sophistication. However, when overused in a common setting it is associated with putting on airs and being artificial/ Use purple most carefully to lend an air of mystery, wisdom, and respect. Young adolescent girls are most likely to select nearly all shades of purple as their favorite color. The warmer tones can convey a call to duty, service, and sacrifice.

Brown

This color is most associated with reliability, stability, and friendship. Men are more likely to gravitate to this color. It has been said that it is the color of fatherhood. It’s the color of the earth itself “terra firma” and what could represent stability better. It too is associated with things being natural or organic.

Basics on How to Use Color Together

Color psychology is complicated field of study and goes deep into the meaning of combining colors for a particular desired effect. We will broad brush some basics that may well enough for you to make good color choices for a web site with marketing in mind.

Monochromatic Color Scheme is the use of a single color in varying shades. This can be a clean and interesting look on a web site. It’s soothing and pleasing to the eye especially in the blue or green hues.

Complimentary Color Scheme is using high contrast of color by selecting colors directly opposite from one another on the color wheel (such as red and green). This puts a warm color with a cool color and is pleasing to the eye.

Triple Color Scheme uses three colors equally spaced from each other around a color wheel. It’s popular with web designers and allows for a harmonious color scheme.

The Identity Questionnare…

Coming up with creative ideas

A good brief is half success with an identity project. If you have all the information and an in depth understanding of your client’s brand you will have the basis for a great logo and striking identity. Without it you’re just shooting in the dark and can only rely on your luck to find the right solution. A good brief also simplifies your work by giving numerous seeds of ideas to work with.

If you’re working in a branding or design agency you’re lucky because client servicing and planning will write the brief for you. But if you’re freelancing you need to do the interview with the client yourself. It may take well over an hour, but believe me it’s worth every minute of it.

Sometimes clients are not very talkative and without a clear structure the briefing session will take less than five minutes and all you get from client is that you have to be ready with at least 10 different options for the new logo by next Saturday and that he wants something “WOW”! Obviously this is not much useful information and will be virtually impossible to do any good work.

This is why I developed and fine tuned over the years a client questionnaire to use as a guideline to interview the client and now I’m giving it to you hoping you can make a good use of it for the next identity project you will work on.

Of course, not all questions will be relevant for every project. Also this questionnaire doesn’t include any practical questions regarding the working relationship with the client. It’s all about the brand and what it should stand for.

General Identity questionnaire…

1. What is your business?
Example: We make shoes. / We teach Kung-Fu.
Why ask: Understand what a company does officially, later on in the questionnaire it will be interesting to see what the real product/service is.

2. How old is your company?
Example: More than 50 years old. / Started up just 9 month ago.

Why ask: It’s for general orientation. The answer may also give you an idea.

3. Size of your company?
Example: 200 employees in 4 countries. / Just me and my brother.
Why ask: The answer may give you an idea and gives a general understanding for the weight of the brand.

4. Your business in one sentence?
Example: We make great hiking shoes for families and professional hikers. / We will teach you how to defend yourself with anything that you find.
Why ask: We are getting closer to the nature of the business, but we’re not done.

5. Your business in two words?
Example: Hiking shoes / Self defense
Why ask: That’s more like it.

6. Your business in one word?
Example: Hiking / Defense
Why ask: See how different the real nature of the business from the official one in question 1.

7. Your business in one letter?
(joke)
In depth interview

8. How did you start the company?
Example: My granddad was a scout in WW2 in the Austrian alps and he had to go up hill 5 kilometers every day. He perfected the army shoes for 3 years and after the war he founded our company. / We were always skinny when we were young and everybody made fun of us. Then my brother started to learn Kung Fu from a Singapore master and we became suddenly well respected and popular. A year later my little sister was mugged and beaten and ended up in wheel chair for 2 month because she couldn’t defend herself when she walked home from school. I felt horrible not being able to protect her, so I decided we gonna teach her and others self defense, so that such things never happen again.
Why ask: Such stories will give you amazing insight to the company and may give you an idea.

9. Is there a story that is unique to your company?
Example: Actually Edmund Hillary wore a shoe my granddad made in 1953 when conquering the Mount Everest. / One of our students became a police officer after she managed to kick a burglar out of a friends house on a sleep over.
Why ask: It tells you what the company is proud of, therefore you can build on this in your logo.

10. If you company/brand was a person who would it be?
Example: Columbus, because he was an adventurer always looking for new ways of doing the same thing. / Bride from Kill Bill.
Why ask: A brand is perceived by consumers like a person. You trust them, you communicate with them through advertising and purchase, you get disappointed by them, etc. The identity you’re designing is the face of that person.

11. If your company/brand was an object what would it be?
Example: I don’t know, maybe a compass… / Hmm, that egg protecting carton.
Why ask: Ideas, ideas, ideas, you can’t have enough of them. You can get it from the client directly or his answer may trigger one in your head.

12. If your company/brand was an animal which one would it be?
Example: Camel / Tiger
Why ask: This is a conversation starter. If he says elephant, you may ask why to find out more that might give you an idea. You get the idea.

13. Is there an important object, building or person for your business?
Example: Our original factory in Graz is painted bright pink and people always joke about it. / We have Bruce Lee’s nunchaku displayed at our training hall.
Why ask: You are looking for existing imagery that the brand is already known for, you may just need to make an icon out of it.

14. What do your wear to work?
Example: Jeans and t-shirt / Traditional black dress with a wide red belt.
Why ask: The answer sets the style for the identity.

15. Do you have plans for tonight?
(joke)
The market

16. How does the market see your company today?
Example: They think we’re a well established company with good products. / They think it’s a small family business.
Why ask: Must know what the current perception is to make sure the new identity doesn’t depart too much from it, so that the brands keeps the trust of existing customers.

17. What aspect of your image needs improvement?
Example: People think we are old school. / We are seen to be semi professional.
Why ask: This is the bad perception, that keeps the business from growing. This is what you have to fight with the new identity.

18. How do you want your image to be seen in 2 years?
Example: We want to be seen as a company with traditional values but using the latest technology and materials. / We need to be perceived as a professional organization you can trust with self defense training.
Why ask: This is what you have to portray in your new identity to serve your client.

19. Who are your competitors?
Example: CAT, Timberland and other smaller companies. / There is one Jiujitsu training center nearby.
Why ask: The identity has to be easily identifiable and it has to be unique. It’s essential to research the competition.

20. How are they better/worse than your product/service?
Example: CAT and Timberland has strong brands. We are less well known. CAT is masculine, we are not, but want to be. Timberland has a very natural feel to it. We want to have that too. We have a bigger history and we are more serious about our product than these two brands. / The Jiujitsu training center has been operating for almost 10 years, they have a well established name and they are seen as professionals, we want that too. We are much more self defense oriented, unlike our competitor who is more involved in competitions and show off stuff.
Why ask: You have to identify your clients brand’s strength and weaknesses and build on them.

21. Shaken or stirred?
(joke)
The target

22. Who is your customer?
Example: Mainly hobby hikers and a few professionals as well. / All kinds of people between the ages of 18-35.
Why ask: You need to know who are you talking to. If you’re talking to kids you need to speak a different visual language than if you’re talking to bankers.

23. If your customer was a cartoon character who would it be?
(not a joke)
Example: Ha ha, I would say Nemo / Courage the Cowardly Dog
Why ask: Cartoon characters have exaggerated characteristics. Identifying the stereotype of your consumer is easier through this exercise.
Current identity

24. Do you have an identity?
Example: Yes / No
Why ask: You have to create a visual continuity, unless a sudden change is required because of a strong negative association with the old identity.

25. What do you like about it and what do you not like about it?
Example: I like the colors, but the boy scout around the fire is not serious or trendy. / N/A
Why ask: Obviously you may consider to keep what client likes and stay away from what he doesn’t like, unless you have strong reasoning for doing otherwise.

Now, you must have a very clear understanding of what the company/brand is all about. You must have several ideas already for different directions. But before you would even open a new document in Illustrator you may want to consider going through this exercise.

Here is a 9 step process.

1. Brief
Skim through the brief.
Then read it again properly.

2. Research
Check out what the competition is doing to make sure you are not doing the same, etc.

3. Brainstorming
You need to prepare for this one. Take a piece of paper, write the name of the project and the main objective on the top of the page. Divide the page into 9 sections with 2 horizontal and 2 vertical lines to make 9 sections. Make 4 copies.

Now that you have the brainstorming sheets, start to write or sketch the ideas that come to my mind, one in each section. At this point you don’t care if the idea makes sense or if it is feasible. Don’t stop till you fill 2 pages (18 sections). Most of the time, this takes more than an hour of concentration. Try not to stop even if you think that you have got a winner idea. Try to keep my mind open and forget about the idea just scribbled down to be able to concentrate on the next one. Try not to analyze the ideas at this stage.

4. Take a break and restart
Now that you have done 2 pages, you need to change something. Usually take a walk and find yourself a bench in a park or a quite corner in a cafe. Try to fill the third sheet.

5. Change of perspective
Once returning to the office, take the fourth sheet and write down a random list of 9 characters and places into each section, like: Mars, Ant, Ronald McDonald, Train, Vampire, Transformer robot, Kenya, Bakery and Harrison Ford. Now, take each of the places and characters perspective and think of the same problem from their points of view. For example if I’m a vampire and I need a logo for this butchery, what would it look like. It’s actually quite fun if you take the effort to imagine yourself into each persons body and project yourself to each place. You can develop your own methods to change your perspective. For example you can simply turn your page upside down or stand up on the top of the table (remember the movie?).

6. Random association
Take a book that has many images and words, like a magazine. Decide which part of the page you want to go for and then open the magazine. Let’s say, look at the top right element in the page for example. If you see a crying baby? Try to think of an idea related to the crying baby and sketch it down on a fifth sheet. Try to do it for all the nine segments and then take a break.

7. Selection
At this point you should have 45 ideas, most of them are useless. If you are lucky you will have 4-5 feasible ones and some more that can be made to work with some tweaking. Go through each idea and try to make it work. Select the best 9 and than start working on them and see if I can eliminate 6 of them. Keep only the best 3 that you are very happy with.

8. Check
Reread the brief and see if your 3 concepts answer the brief fully and talk to someone that you value the opinion of and get their comments.

9. I finalize the ideas.