Brand and logo design: information to the designer or creative agency
Garbage inside garbage outside. Simply put, the quality of your report to The Creative (the designer) or creative agency determines the final product. An accurate, detailed and complete written summary is vitally important if you want to bring The Creative to earth where you can exploit your talents. For best results, follow these easy steps that also contain a skeleton that you could add your own muscle to and fill in to suit your needs.
Do your homework
Before writing your summary, first do your homework. Browse the internet, review specialized publications in your industry, review your competitors’ marketing collateral, and do your research. Assemble a detailed visual compendium in scrapbook form, which you can use for reference. Rank your competitors in order of market share. Include as much material as possible, such as web pages, advertisements, trademarks, stationery, brochures, annual reports, photos of your signage, store interiors, shelving, and point-of-sale material. Make sure to get actual samples of the ops packaged products, if relevant.
This stage is very critical and you must do it yourself. This will also help you get a visual overview of what is happening in your industry and help you illustrate the current or anticipated position of your brand. Once your visual branding has been completed, keep updating this scrapbook and monitoring your opposition in this way – it’s a very simple and effective tool for staying informed.
Reporting to The Suit and The Creative
Garbage inside garbage outside. Simply put, the quality of your abstract determines the final product. An accurate, detailed, and complete written summary is vitally important if you want El Creativo (the designer) to be down-to-earth where you can exploit your talents.
The Creative usually has a reputation for being a highly fickle, emotional, and sensitive creature, and the good guys are protected by The Suit (account executive) and the heads of creative agencies. In reality, they are prostitutes (graphic designers began life as commercial artists in the previous century), rendering a useful service to society. The trick is not to let them know what you think they are, but to reassure them that they are definitely better at it than your spouse or anyone else. You should know that The Creative often thinks that his first name should have been Leonardo or Michelangelo or Vincent or perhaps Pablo.
Here’s a skeleton that you can add your own muscle to and pad to suit your needs. If you feel like you are lacking in verbal skills, let The Suit, if you are using a creative agency, help you refine it and justify the cost of the stylish ties you always wear.
Your product or service
Never assume that The Creative or The Suit know anything about your company and its products or services. Be clear and concise and avoid jargon. Describe what your business / organization does and provide your business and brand history. How is your brand different from your competitors’ brands and what are the demographics and psychographics of your target market? List the age, gender, income, tastes, opinions, attitudes, employment, geography, and lifestyle of the people you want to reach. If you have multiple audiences, rank them in order of importance.
Make sure to provide as much material as possible about your company’s products or services, such as web pages, advertisements, trademarks, stationery, brochures, annual reports and, where applicable, signage images, store interiors, display cases. shelves, outlets. sale of material and packaged products.
Competition / opposition
Please provide an overview of the detailed visual compendium you collected on your competitors when submitting your report. List all of your competitors and their products, services, brands, and track record. Please indicate what you think are the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and provide your geographic location.
A comparison with other unrelated product categories
Let’s say your goal is to occupy the niche at the top of its category. Now compare it to a well-known brand that you associate it with in other categories. Brands like Lamborghini, Johnny Walker Black Label, Apple iPod, Armani, Sony, Ducati and AEG immediately come to mind. This will help you and others to visually align and position your brand. Again, include as much material as possible, such as web pages, advertisements, trademarks, stationery, brochures, annual reports, and where applicable, signage images, store interiors, shelf displays, point-of-sale materials, and packaged products.
The look, feel and tone
Finish the summary by verbalizing the overall look, feel, and tone you want for your brand. Should it be classy or embody action? Should it look young and progressive or established and solid, formal or playful? Name the qualities that you would like your brand to represent and express visually. This will set the tone for the creative team.
Communicate any dislikes and anything the designer shouldn’t do, and point out styles or elements that you don’t like or don’t want to see in your design. This will give The Creative an idea of what not to do and will avoid disappointing you.