Building a brand may sound as easy as building a logo, but it can take years to make your brand stick in the minds of your consumers. Think about the big brands in your life: Those Coca-Cola and McDonalds brands. Now, these are brands that you’ve seen all your life, and you see them nearly every day (if not several times per day). You’ve grown up with these brands. That’s why they’re considered “household names” — they’re instantly recognizable. That speaks volumes about the success of these businesses. Their branding efforts have paid off, since we think about french fries at the site of golden arches, and we think about that crack-pssssssh sound when we see white cursive lettering on a red background.

So, how do you make your brand successful? How do you make it instantly recognizable? How do you become a household name? Let’s delve into our tips.

Your Logo Counts

While you might be tempted to create your own logo, we recommend that you hire a graphic designer to help you out (unless, of course, you know your way around Photoshop). Be sure to ask for several iterations, and approach them with a relatively succinct idea of the design that you’d like. It’s helpful to provide some guidelines for your logo (so that your designer will have a place to start, and they won’t be too off-base with their designs), but don’t provide too many guidelines (since it can impair the creativity of the designer and the outcome of the logo). For instance, you might be starting a fish canning business, and your guidelines could be: “I want a simple logo, with a squid or a tuna, no more than three colors, and big bold text.” Simple. Note that you should be clear about the font, colors, and graphic design of your logo. Here are a few further guidelines to help you get started.

A Word on Lettering

Your font can say a lot about your product or service. Take Coca-Cola once again — their curlicue font says, “This is a drink with flavor, a drink with character.” Meanwhile, Starbucks’ big block lettering (which used to be on their logos at least) speaks about bold flavors, and it says something like, “Wake up! Here’s some pep for the rest of your day!” Also, Starbucks’ font is modern, while Coke’s is classic. They’re both caffeinated beverage dealers, but their branding says two very different things about their products.

Consider blocky, bold texts if you’re producing a product that is edgy and new. Or utilize calligraphy fonts if you have a product with a long history, or a product that’s a bit more arts-and-craftsy. Calligraphy cursive looks great on an artisanal soap, but it’s not the best choice for a new app that calculates the day’s hottest Bitcoin sellers. Think of your font as the personification of the voice of your product — it’s an odd question, but if your product could talk, what would those words look like?

Consider Colors

Right, you’ve settled on a font, and now it’s time to choose the color scheme for your logo and brand. Nowadays, simple is in. Why? Well it’s effective. You can recognize the golden arches of McDonald’s from a mile away because they are, well, golden. In general, it’s a good idea to keep your logo, branding, and packaging to a handful of colors. Most successful businesses only use two or three colors for their logo. Four or more is rare.

When you’re weighing your options, think about color theory. Check out this article, Label Design & Color Theory, for some of the basic concepts. Consider using complimentary colors if you want a bold look. Or use black or white as one of your colors if you want a clean look. Thinking about using three colors in your brand? Try out colors that are near each other on the color wheel (e.g. purple/blue/green, or yellow/green/orange).

The Graphic Design

Here’s where you can really start having fun. The world is your oyster when it comes to your brand. After all, you could have an oyster-shaped logo if you’d like. Collaborate with your graphic designer to come up with plenty of iterations for your logo and brand. If you’re a wine-maker, for instance, you might incorporate everything from grapes to glasses. If that wine business is based in the hills of California, you could even incorporate the surrounding terrain in your design. The possibilities are endless, so get creative!

Put Your Brand on Everything

Once you have your brand design ready, it’s time to spread the word about your product(s) or service(s). Our recommendation: Put your brand on everything. Put it on coasters, and deliver packages of free coasters to the local bar. Put your logo on bumper stickers, and pass them out to employees. Hand out free t-shirts to new clients to promote your brand and business. And, of course, you can use our stamps, embossers, and other products to further flaunt your new brand. Here are a few options that we have in store for you here at Fred Lake:

Nameplates

When your employees interact with clients, they represent your brand. Make a connection between your brand and the face of your company — your employees — with custom-made nameplates that proudly display your company logo alongside your employees’ names.

Embossers

If your business rolls through paper by the pound, you can make your mark with our embossers. Emboss any and all documents that find themselves in your clients’ hands. With our custom embossers, you can add your logo to any letter or envelope with the push of a handle.

Stamps

If you can emboss it, you can stamp it. Like our embossers, our custom stamps make it possible to leave your mark on everything. Put a quick stamp on every box that leaves your door. Stamp your products with a seal of approval after inspection. Leave your logo where your clients will see it with our custom stamps. Our shiny, round self-inker stamps are a favorite, and they can be customized with your logo and ink color.

Thanks for Choosing Fred Lake