When you use clip art in your logo or for your main branding graphics, you might as well be telling the world that your company is bland, boring, and that it doesn’t stand for anything. But your company has spice, and a unique personality all its own! So doesn’t your business deserve a great brand that shows off everything that makes ………………………………………………………………………………your company so great?

Your business isn’t cookie-cutter. So why use cookie-cutter clip art?

So, what is clip art?

“Clip art” has come to be described as purposefully generic illustrated images, which can easily be inserted into a wide variety of digital documents. The key words here are purposefully generic—because that’s what clip art is supposed to be: cute, only semi-informative images created so that they can supposedly be used in as many situations or scenarios as possible. Some software programs sneak clip art on to your computer, making you think it’s a great solution for your documents, such as your PowerPoint presentations, brochures, business cards, flyers, and whatever other mediums you use to showcase your business.

Value Your Brand – Say No to Clip Art

Clip art can immediately give off the wrong impression, and that means your company loses brand equity—FAST. So, you should NEVER use clip art for your logo. Your logo is the unique, memorable foundation of your business and your brand. To be taken seriously by your target audience, you need to take the development of your logo seriously.

Clip Art Looks Like…Clip Art

Clip art isn’t unique. Clip art isn’t memorable. Clip art is designed SO generically that sometimes even people who use it don’t see the “story” it’s trying to convey! Clip art doesn’t evoke real emotion. (Not to mention, a vast amount of clip art is just plain terrible.) Plus, you’re not fooling anybody. Most readers can tell a clip art image from an image that you had custom designed for your branded materials.

The Recipe for Branding Success

Remember the qualities of a great brand are….

Unique: Your brand mark should be entirely unique. Your logo should stand out from your competitors’ logos because it’s professionally designed and because it speaks to your target audience.

Memorable: Your brand should be memorable because it evokes emotion in your target audience.

Tells Your Story: Your brand tells the interesting and unique story of you, your business and/or your products and services.

Is your brand worth the investment? Deep down, you know clip art isn’t the solution to properly creating that lasting, loyal brand impression that continuously resonates with your target.

1. You are a professional. Professionals know that, to look like a professional, you have to hire the right professional for each task that’s not in your skill set. When hiring a designer or a branding expert, be sure to pick a person who understands brand strategy. You want to trust this person to take your branding from where you are now to where you want to be!

2. You are trying to differentiate your company from your colleagues. Clip art is available for everyone. When using clip art, free or paid, there is no guarantee that a colleague or competitor will not have used the same graphic because they thought it best represented their company.

3. It’s your business—make it your own style. Why do so many start-ups fail? Often, they’re afraid to flaunt their essence; they’re afraid to showcase their uniqueness. Why? Maybe they were advised not to, or perhaps they think that the mainstream will not accept them. But the businesses that find the most success make their business their own by never acting cookie-cutter and by NOT using cookie-cutter clip art for graphics.

You’re a star, so don’t settle for being a regular plain ol’ circular cookie. Instead, add your own spice to the recipe for branding and business success—and don’t be afraid to break out the sprinkles!

Have you caught the Pinterest bug? Can’t stop sharing your Instagram photos? Addicting, isn’t it? Well, you’re not alone. Today’s consumers and Internet users are seriously image obsessed. We want to see and share pics as often as possible. We love images!

These trends are telling us something…but what?

Worth A Thousand Words

You’ve probably heard the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” It’s true! In years past, designers knew that finding the right image hooks the viewer: it grabs their attention and illustrates a point more quickly. The right image has always meant the difference between an interested consumer and a person who walks on by without reading the advertisement.

And not only that, but the right image differentiates you from a thousand other similar companies out there. Great images greatly improve how your target market perceives your brand. And all these new sites and apps are changing the Internet by changing how we interact with content, and even how we make buying decisions.

Images are Connections

So if people want images, give the people what they want! If you’re doing it right, you’re choosing images that speak to your audience in a profound way. You speak to their hearts.  You connect with your target audience quickly, effectively, and in a meaningful way.

Plus, photos provide “real life” information about you, your business, and your products and services. More and more often, consumers are researching products online. People want to find real opinions from likeminded individuals, plus, they want to (and they do!) form their own opinions on products and services based on real images.

How YOU can make Connections

Unique Images (Best!)
The best way to get the perfect photo is to hire a professional photographer to capture it. Yes, this can be costly and time consuming. After all, you want to find the perfect photographer too: someone who matches the professional style of your brand. But the cost is worth it if you really want to stand out in a sea of companies that all use generic stock photography.

You can do it yourself, but if you’re not a professional photographer, quality could be a concern. I know your smartphone has a camera in it, but that doesn’t mean your photos have the professional look your clientele will relate to. If you believe that you’re good enough on your own, remember these keys to a great photo: it should tell a story, it should be authentic, and it should come from the heart.

Stock Images
If you have to go the stock imagery route, avoid overused stock imagery. (Check with the lesser-known sites, sometimes you’ll find a gem.) Always read the fine print when it comes to sites that say their images are “Royalty-Free” or “Copyright-Free” to be safe from copyright laws. Also, Flickr is another great alternative to the big photo stock sites. But since the photographer owns these images, you need to make sure you pay close attention to any restrictions and use only Creative Commons licensed images.

Ordinary to Extraordinary!

Here are some ways to take your images from ordinary to extraordinary:

• People pay more attention to a detailed image, so always shoot or select high-resolution images.
• People (especially women) react to faces and genuine facial expressions, especially when they can clearly see the eyes.
  

  Which photo are you drawn to? (Professionally taken by VerveMedia Photo+Video)

• When a person isn’t looking at the camera, be aware of their line of site. The line of site is an invisible line that your viewer will follow from the person’s eyes to where that person is looking. Are you pointing your reader towards important text? Or are you pointing them off the page?
  

  Invisible line of sight directing reader to your important information (Courtesy of SethCorts.com)

  

  Invisible line directing the reader off the page. (Courtesy of SethCorts.com)

• Don’t be afraid to crop out the uninteresting bits of a photo. Focus on the real emotion (or, in this case, the action).
  

  What to focus on? (Taken with my iPhone)

  

  Do you find this cropped image of the above photo more interesting? (Cropped and filter added with Instagram)

• Use your brand colors in your photos. If there are people in your photos, dress them (or later manipulate clothing colors) so that your brand colors are reiterated there too.
• Other image ideas, besides photography: charts/graphs, flowcharts, maps, screenshots, and guides. Infographics are all the rage right now. Regardless of the type of image, it should always be easy to consume, comprehensive, and well designed.

“In a landscape where everyday marks a cutthroat battle for attention, images are becoming as essential as text to professional bloggers, web publishers and businesses alike.” Check out this blog post from Adam Singer on Shutterstock for his insights on why images are so vital for your blog, your business, and your brand.

Want to know more about stock photography? Here’s a great blog article called The Complete Guide to Using Images in Your Blog Posts.

Join us at The Branding Spot throughout the month of May as we take on more topics related to images and graphics!

Last week at The Branding Spot, we talked about the color histories and color strategies of big brands, like UPS, Green Giant, and Apple. To wrap up our April series on color, let’s delve even further into the fascinating world of color psychology.

Working Up to Brand Color

When I work with a new client to brand or re-brand their company, I always discuss color FIRST. Why? Because the first logo draft I provide my clients is always black and white. So, in reality, I end up explaining the power of color long before color choices are made.

I do this for two really good reasons:

1. At some time in that logo’s lifespan, it will likely appear somewhere without color (maybe even just on a photocopy – who knows). So, that logo needs to stand strong on its own (without color), meaning it must always perform well for the company, color or not.
2. During brand development, adding color too soon can confuse the decision making process. An excellent, well-designed logo can be rejected on a whim, only because of the wrong color choice.

From Wikipedia:

“The general model of color psychology relies on six basic principles. First is that color can carry specific meaning. Second, color meaning is either based in learned meaning or biologically innate meaning. Third, the perception of a color causes evaluation automatically by the person perceiving. Fourth, the evaluation process forces color motivated behavior. Fifth, color usually exerts its influence automatically. Last, color meaning and effect has to do with context as well.”

Color Choice: More Than Just Preference

SO, by the time a brand identity designer meets with you, you’ve already made up your conscious (and unconscious!) mind about certain colors. If I pick a color right away (even a color you might like), I risk hitting an emotional color nerve. Say you said you like blue, but I chose the wrong shade of blue? After that point, you’ll never see the design for the design’s sake, and you risk missing out on your best brand ever.

Your brand’s color should be chosen because the color speaks to your target audience, but it’s much more likely you will choose a color inside your comfort zone. So when it comes to your brand, it’s important to recognize when these two ideas conflict!

Color has that much power! Absolutely.

Color Psychology – the more we know…

There’s a reason even toddlers instantly recognize the golden arches: that red background color. Red has been shown to increase both appetite and excitement. (Plus, yellow is often seen as a ‘happy’ color.) So yes, there are very specific reasons why McDonald’s has an incredibly powerful brand. And unsurprisingly, color choice has a whole lot to do with that. The color red has an almost hypnotic effect on us, as it implies the conflicting emotions of love and anger. Red spurs people to action, but it takes us in a little slower, due to that temporary hypnotic state.

…I could go on and on about just the color red. Who knew one color could have so much influence? Amazing, isn’t it?

Color goes undercover, grabs at your guts to seek out strong memories – and adheres to them for the rest of your life. Frequently this process goes unnoticed, despite the fact that our color preferences often seem arbitrary or illogical – we simply have preferences and we don’t often question why that might be….until recently. Color psychology is a surprisingly young discipline, with interesting insights discovered regularly. Researchers across a variety of fields continue to study color preferences across gender, age, culture, nationality and much much more.

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Concerned about your brand’s color and how it may be affecting, influencing, or speaking to your target market? If you’re not, you should be! Look for an exciting new ebook on color, coming soon from The Branding Spot. We’ll go in-depth and reveal much, much more on the secret power of color! In the meantime, get a custom critique on your brand, brand color and branding materials by getting a Brand Alignment.

Color is powerful. Color is dangerous. Used correctly, color digs deep inside of us, urging us to act, pouncing on our instincts, and releasing our emotions into the wild. Most of us experience raw reactions to color, even if we’re not conscious of color as that catalyst. Many of these reactions are illogical, stemming from passionate or painful memories long past. In other words, our life experiences change our opinions on color.

Think about your favorite colors, then think about the colors of your favorite brands. Do your lists overlap? Aside from personal preferences, every color casts a unique impression that unites groups of us because of our mutual experiences as human beings. For example, black can been seen as authoritative and powerful – or classic, elegant and sophisticated – or even mysterious or scary. Blue is often listed by many of us as a favorite color (especially men). Blue can be viewed as trustworthy, dependable and productive – but to others, blue feels soothing, calming and serene.

When choosing your brand colors, always consider:

• Consumer Preferences
• Consumer Expectations
• Brand Message
• Competitors’ Colors
• Color Psychology

Color is your brand’s strategic asset. It’s your secret weapon. Your brand must be irresistible to your target market.

Choosing the right color for the right reasons results in a profitable brand.

Consider these examples…

UPS

Color Psychology: The color brown is shown to evoke words like “stable” and “reliable.” Not to mention, the color brown has long been the color of shipping boxes and brown paper packaging. Therefore, the brand message from the brown UPS color is very clear and exceptionally effective!

Big Brand Idea: In 2002, the UPS marketing team took the existing brand strategy to entirely new heights by introducing a new slogan as part of an aggressive marketing campaign: What Can Brown Do For You? Because brown simply isn’t a popular brand color (especially in the shipping industry) and they already owned market focus on their existing, instantly recognizable trademark color – UPS was able to further capitalize on their brand with a slogan based entirely on only their color’s symbolism.

Jolly Green Giant

Color Psychology: In the 1920’s, a small Minnesota company was looking for a mascot for their fresh vegetables. On the first go-around in 1928, what we know today as the Jolly Green Giant looked more like a grumpy gray gnome! This first mascot didn’t perform well, and did nothing to increase sales. Why? Gray is a moody and depressing color – and, above all, it’s downright unappetizing. But what about green…?

Big Brand Idea: The color green symbolizes happiness, nature, calm and good health. So, over the years, the giant grew taller, happier, and much more GREEN. The public embraced the Jolly Green Giant as a sign of fresh, healthy produce.

Apple

Color Psychology: The signature Apple logo has changed quite a bit over its lifetime. The original logo was black and white, but way too ornate and overly complex. Steve Jobs stepped in to simplify the logo into an easily recognizable, rainbow-colored apple with a bite taken out of it. The rainbow colors made sense for many reasons: it was the 1970’s and the rainbow was an inviting array of colors to the generation; plus, Apple was the first company to introduce full-color computer screens in an era dominated by DOS: yellow or green text on a black screen. (Icky.)

Big Brand Idea: After 22 years with the rainbow apple, Steve Jobs returned to Apple with a ton of ideas for change. He correctly asserted that the rainbow apple no longer spoke to their product line, now known for simple, effective, intuitive, minimalist, sleek technology. (Plus, the whole world went color quite awhile ago, so color as a feature was no longer a selling point.) So, the apple went monochrome in 1998. In 2003, the slick, shiny, silver glass-themed logo unveiled an ever-futuristic Apple angle of rebirth, purity and simplicity – just like their new products.

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The key to a great brand is well-thought-out use of color, because the right color speaks to the fears, passions and desires of our target audience. Color actively and purposefully evokes emotion in a way that no other brand component can. So, even if your brand is small, it doesn’t mean you can’t look and act like a big brand by choosing colors that speak to your target market.

There’s a lot more to understanding color than meets the eye.

You’ve heard it before. Branding experts are always saying the same thing: you must have your exact brand color on EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE. Yet, when you try to get your design team on the same page, you end up frustrated. The brand colors on your printed materials never seem to match your brand colors online!

As a business owner with a successful, instantly recognizable brand, you want to be sure that your brand’s color(s) always look the same as often as possible, whether online or in print.

But how?

The keys to consistent brand colors consist of: knowing how to determine/choose your exact brand color, and understanding the limitations of each medium, whether online or in print. To help you out, I’m going to break it all down and explain what all these silly color acronyms mean and how they can affect your branding.

Print Colors/Inks

Pantone
Do you know your brand’s PMS colors? You should! It’s especially important for corporate identities and branded images.

“Pantone” refers to the spot color matching system created by Pantone, Inc. Pantone spot colors are solid inks with assigned numbers; so, a specific Pantone color will always look the same no matter who prints it, or what it’s printed on. You pick your exact color (PMS + #) out of a book of colors, then you stick with that PMS #.

Also Known As: Pantone Matching System | PMS color | spot color
Pros: Exact printed brand color every time. Specialty inks like metallics and fluorescents are also available.
Cons: Pre-mixed spot colors are expensive to print.
Easy-To-Spot Format: PMS 123 (PMS + #)

CMYK
CMYK is an acronym for a print system consisting of 4 colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. A variety of colors are produced when these four colors are mixed together in different ratios. This process is often called four-color printing.

Also Known As: 4-color | 4C | process colors
Pros: Inexpensive.
Cons: PMS colors don’t always come out exact when ‘translated’ to CMYK. CMYK tends to add a slight shade of black or gray to some colors (especially bright colors), so they end up looking dull or dim. There’s no guarantee that CMYK printing can be reproduced exactly the same every time, even within the same print job.
Easy-To-Spot Format: 50 30 100 10 (4 sets of numbers from 0-100)

TIP! If your brand color never turns out accurately in print, ask your printer to use the four-color process and add your brand’s specific pantone color. If you have one brand color, you’ll end up with a 5-color job (4-color process + 1 spot color) or if you have two brand colors, a 6-color job (4-color process + 2 spot colors).

Monitor Colors

RGB
RGB is a color acronym for Red, Green, Blue. (This is not to be confused with the primary colors of the color wheel, RYB: Red, Yellow, Blue.) RGB is used only for screen displays. Using this method of color combination, you can see up to 16.7 million colors!

Pros: Your brand colors will look exactly right on screen. (See Monitor section below.)
Cons: 16.7 million colors can be seen, but all 16.7 million colors can’t be printed.
Easy-To-Spot Format: 255 123 53 (3 sets of numbers from 0-255)

Hex
Hex is a web-safe color system made up of only a portion of the values in the RGB 255 range. Hex uses a base multiple of 16, (rather than 10) consisting of numbers 0-9 and letters A-F. Make sense? Not so much? Check out this short video for a neat explanation.

Also Known As: Hexadecimal | Hex Value
Pros: Can accurately translate from print to screen.
Cons: Available colors limited mostly to darker values.
Easy-To-Spot Format: #00FF66 [3 sets of hex pairs (numbers or letters) from 00-FF]

Paper

Ink reacts differently on different types of paper. So, the paper and ink you use will affect the look of your brand. For example, the more glossy the paper, the more the ink will stay neatly on its surface, resulting in more accurate color. If you choose an uncoated paper, or a paper with little to no finish, the more the ink will soak into the paper, changing your color accuracy.

Monitors

Have you ever shopped for a television? I’m always amazed by all the different color qualities and clarities between brands, or even between TVs from the same brand. Well, when it comes to monitors, it’s no different. The monitor, monitor settings, and the computer platform can all affect how a color appears from computer to computer.

Color perfection isn’t going to happen on all platforms, or at all times. Often there will be a slight difference between each platform. However, if you’re aware of these limitations, and you’re aware of how your specific brand coloration is best expressed in each medium – then you can most effectively maintain the integrity of your brand colors!

Do you have any additional color questions or additions?  Comment below.

Happy Spring, Everyone! There’s no better time to talk about color, so we decided to make color our April theme here at The Branding Spot!

Did you know that color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent?
Source: University of Loyola, Maryland study

Research reveals people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing, and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone.
Source: CCICOLOR – Institute for Color Research

Color is a strategic tool in your branding arsenal—so don’t underestimate its power over your target market. Color should never be chosen on a whim! This week, I sat down and interviewed a few of my colleagues to show YOU that branding is SO MUCH MORE than just picking your favorite color, slapping on your favorite font, and calling it a brand.

GREAT branding is about choosing THE right color for your brand: the color that truly resonates with your ideal target clientele (while distracting them from your competition)—simultaneously embodying your company’s business, industry, traits and values.

The Big Color Question:
What elements do you consider when choosing color for a brand identity and why?

Industry Branding

Seth Erickson of Kodis Interactive says industry branding is a key point.“For example, we might go with blue for banking, or we might go green because everyone else in the banking industry is blue.”

Nora Richardson @ The Branding Spot: “Yes, it’s always good to know the colors of your competitors/colleagues. When I develop brand color palettes, I like to envision the existing industry brands on a supermarket shelf, then ask questions, like: Which colors are already on the shelf? Which colors aren’t on the shelf? Which colors stand out? Which colors are overused?” Please see the example of the boots? Which boots pop off the shelf?

Rochelle Wiener of Andiamo Creative agrees.“If you want to stand out as different and better, you must always review the competition’s color palette(s). If the whole industry is doing blue, don’t do blue. Again—you want to be distinctive—and better.”

Time Trends

“And when you’re thinking trends,” Rochelle continues, “always look at current trends in color. Avocado green and goldenrod say 1970’s; burgundy and navy say 1980’s. Every era has its color trends, and you don’t want to look dated. You must strive to be current AND classic at the same time, so your brand won’t look ‘out’ in a few years.”

Rebecca Gallagher of Fresh Folio Design offers this tip: “I keep in mind how a company will be using the logo. Ideally, the color will be used in all their materials and would be identified as “their” color. (Think Starbucks green.) So is this a color that will work long-term and in a variety of settings? Or is it just a trend?”

Seth adds, “We also consider the age of the company, and the age of the customers the company is interested in.”

Rochelle offers that her client’s particular tastes can trump any color choices. “It won’t matter one bit how ‘in’ orange is right now or how great it is for the client’s brand – if the client hates orange, you’ll never sell him on it.”

Evoke Emotion to Communicate

Rebecca says, “Color is unique in that it evokes emotion in a way that other graphic elements do not. So, I ask questions, such as: ‘what does this logo need to communicate?’ For example, if it’s a youthful company or perhaps a fast-paced industry, I’d be looking for colors that communicate energy and vibrance. Or, if the identity is more steadfast, secure, trusted—I would consider more muted, traditional tones.”

Seth: “Sometimes there is a feel a client wants to convey, and certain colors may be appropriate.”

Rochelle adds, “Color palette is one of the chief concerns when building a strong and recognizable brand. UPS brown, Tiffany’s blue, Target red, McDonald’s golden arches: these are huge successful brands and they are all identified not just by name and logo, but also by color. However, color palette is always developed AFTER the logo mark has been established in black and white. No other step in the process is as much influenced by personal feelings and emotion as color.”

Nora: “I totally agree, Rochelle. I always show my logo marks in black and white first, before ever adding color. I may have ideas on what color I would like to use, but the client needs to make a decision on the mark first, before seeing it with color. Color evokes emotion, sometimes good and sometimes bad. That way, it’s easier to decipher a client’s concerns if you know the mark is the issue, or if they’re only focused on the color choice(s).”

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These are only a handful of the many ways each of these designers and branding experts choose the right color(s) for a particular brand! Color can also depend on things like: practicality/use, business name, and, if it’s a brand makeover, the existing brand palette—and oh so much more.

The Bottom Line: You can’t just use color for color’s sake. Color has to be strategic. Color is one of the main elements in your brand identity. It is the most influential and the most dangerous! So always ensure you have a significant, valid reason for a certain color choice. Your entire brand depends on it!

Thank you to all my colleagues who participated.

Today’s desktop publishing software is more easy-to-use and more accessible than ever—and it’s a far cry from what it looked like close to two decades ago, when I entered the field of graphic design. Despite these advances, industry professionals and consumers alike expect professional design, and, even when they can’t put their finger on it, they can tell a do-it-yourself designer from a true professional. Take heed: so, if you cut corners on design, it could be more obvious to your target market than you might think!

Most tell-tale DIY design issues are a result of an attempt to use software that’s simply not built for graphic or typography design. These programs (*ahem* Microsoft Word) don’t give you the authority to manipulate the text as you see fit. Basically, these programs think they’re smarter than you: because clearly, it knows more about “proper” typography than you do.

Tell-Tale Signs of DIY Design:

• Straight Quotes. Actually, straight quotes (two straight hash marks) are inch marks, while single straight quotes are foot marks. Real opening and closing quotation marks curve toward the words housed between.
• Double Returns. Sure, hitting the return or enter key twice between paragraphs (or after headlines) separates the text—but it also creates huge, awkward gaps in your layout.
• Two Spaces Following Punctuation. I’ll admit it: I still fall victim to this one. It was my ninth-grade typing teacher; she was way too good at her job! See, using two spaces after punctuation made sense back in typewriter times. Standard monospaced typewriter fonts, like Courier, made it hard to distinguish between the one space between sentences and the one space between words. Since the advent of the computer, fonts have grown smarter. Most fonts used today are proportional fonts, designed to tuck the letters closely together, when need be, avoiding unsightly gaps in your body of text. This particular “rule” is one I still have to work to forget. (Stupid typing class.)
• Centered Alignment. Most amateurs use centered alignment. For everything. Here’s the news: unless you’re laying out a formal invitation, don’t even think about using centered alignment. Why? Because it’s simple and safe, and therefore B-O-R-I-N-G!
• Borders Around Everything. This is another “safe” technique: containing your text in a box. This has the opposite of the intended effect, because, more often than not, the text looks trapped and suffocated—those barriers are only stifling the message.
• Half-inch Indents. I know, I know–if Microsoft thinks it’s okay, then, hey it must be ok! I mean, how could a multi-billion dollar company (designed by computer geeks, at that) get this typography tidbit wrong? And though your ninth-grade typing teacher might agree, this is an overused and outdated standard. Paragraphs can be indented with as few as two spaces, depending upon the other properties of the typography.
• Underlining. DO NOT be tempted to underline text for emphasis, even though your software will almost always give you the option. Underlining is completely antiquated. It does nothing to emphasize text; it actually decreases legibility. Want to know more? Learn all about effectively emphasizing text to attract your target market.
• ALL CAPS. Our minds read words based on the specific shapes of the letters combined—in other words, we read more smoothly when we can easily identify the shape of each word. WHEN EVERYTHING IS IN ALL CAPS, you lose your ascenders and descenders, so all the words have the same shape. Want to know more? Click here to understand when To Cap or Not To Cap!

We hope you enjoyed our March Typography Series here at The Branding Spot! We’re also really excited about next month’s theme: Color! Stay tuned!

Now that I’ve taken away your Mixed Caps for emphasizing text… NOW WHAT?  See what I did there? 

Really though, now what? (Hint: what makes this text stand out even more?)

Ah, the nostalgia of the typewriter.  I remember my very first manual typewriter, just as well as I remember that powerful hum when my first electric typewriter came to life.  Despite the fond memories, that was then: typewriters limited your typographical expression.  But now, computers can give you full freedom to effectively express yourself.

So it’s time to make your e-books and articles look sophisticated, and say farewell to the typewriter age.

Seven Ways to Emphasize Text:

1. Italicize
2. Bold
3. Different Font
4. Change Size
5. Use Space
6. Add Color
7. Reverse Type

Italicize

The typewriter’s way of faking italics was to use underlining, because that’s essentially all it could do.  To ease the transition to computers, word software was developed to mimic many typewriter features, including the underline.  But the underline is NOT an effective way to emphasize text, especially when you have the easy option of italics.

Let’s take a look:

“You can do a good ad without good typography, but you can’t do a great ad without good typography.” Herb Lubalin

“You can do a good ad without good typography, but you can’t do a great ad without good typography.” Herb Lubalin

As you can see, sure, the underline draws your attention to the sentence, but it’s not so inviting to read, is it?  That’s because the underline cuts off the descenders (the portion of the letter that falls below the baseline of the word, such as g, p, & y).  Unfortunately, we have to concede to the fact that on the web, links are usually underlined (too bad they didn’t consult me).  Anyways, want to look really redundant?  Underline an already italicized word.  Doesn’t that look awful?  Don’t do it!

Typography Tip: Italics are meant to emphasize a word, a phrase, or maybe even a short sentence.  Don’t use it for long bouts of body text.

Bold

When italics just aren’t dramatic enough, in steps your friend bold.

“Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
Goethe

But bold is a fickle friend.  Too much bold can be a bad thing.  For example, if you bold an entire sentence, nothing about that sentence stands out as important; plus, it can cause the words not in bold to actually stand out more. Catch my drift?

For additional emphasis, go ahead and break out the bold italic, or you can even choose the extra bold or heavy version of your typeface.

Typography Tip: Be careful when using extra bold versions of type, as they are frequently not as legible.

Different Font

Another great way to emphasize text is to pick a contrasting font.  If you’re using a serif font like Times Regular as your body text, why not use a sans serif font like Helvetica Thin to add a different feel to a word?  Or, if your word is fancy and you want to enhance it, why not put it in a decorative script, like below?

Typography Tip: When using two different fonts, you may need to adjust the point size so your text is cohesive and readable.

Speaking of…

Change Size

Dare to pack a real punch by enlarging or minimizing a word or phrase.  I say, have fun with it – go to the extremes!  Size allows words and/or punctuation to become their own design element. (I felt this quote not only needed extreme size, but different fonts and some visual clues.)

Typography Tip: When using differently sized fonts, you may have to increase or decrease the space around individual letters (kerning), the space around words (tracking), or the space between the lines (leading) to create a harmonious feel.

Which brings me to…

Use Space

Adding more or less space around your letterforms is essential when you’re playing with the size of your words.  And, hey, don’t be afraid of large empty space (also called negative space).

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Need I say more?

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Advertisements made up of lots of negative space get noticed and read more often; it’s been proven to staggering percentages. Know why? Well since the above statement ‘Need I say more?’ is surrounded by white space, it makes the statement seem more important and makes you keep reading.  I mean weren’t you more curious to find out why that statement was out there alone? So, to all of you readers just skimming this article…gotcha!

Typography Tip: If you want to be funky and create a grungy or young and hip style, you can decrease the leading, so the text is bumping into or overlapping the text on the line above.

Add Color

Color is powerful.  Color is dangerous. That’s why there are rules around color that you must take into consideration.

The most important rule: limit the number of colors you use.  I recommend limiting yourself to just two.  More than three and you start getting the rainbow effect, which looks amateurish.  Using just two colors, you’ll notice that the less the second color appears, the more dramatic it actually is.

Typography Tip: Warm colors (like reds and oranges) are the most powerful, so use them minimally for a brief pop of color.  Cool colors (like blues and greens) are less overwhelming and can be used more throughout your design.

Reverse Type

Reverse type refers to white type on a dark background and it can be an attractive way to accentuate and enhance your text.  However, non-designers abuse this idea by overusing it, which looks terrible, so please, use reverse text with care.

Check out this optical illusion:

White text on a dark background tends to look smaller than the same-sized black text on a white background.  So be aware you’ll probably need to bump up the point size.

Watch your font choices!  Sans serifs work best because there’s consistent stroke width throughout each letter, whereas serif fonts have thick and thin strokes within a single letter, making it much harder to read when reversed.

Typography Tip: To ensure the best possible outcome select a bolder font, especially if using a serif font.

Overemphasis Is NOT Your Friend

Any and all of the above examples of emphasis can work for you and look modern and professional.  However, the key to emphasis is to use it sparingly.  Emphasize everything and you’ll have the opposite effect.  If it helps, read your text out loud and see which word(s) really stick out in your mind.  And another thing: don’t try combining too many types of emphasis.  When applied to one word, it starts to look ridiculous, and it distracts from your message.

“Create your own visual style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.”
- Orson Welles

Cap?  We’re not talking about whether or not you put the cap on your toothpaste (which I always do).  Instead, we’re continuing our March Typography series here at The Branding Spot.

I recently ran into this fun, sort of spastically creative chick on YouTube talking about the Fundamentals of Typography.  Not only does Karen Kavett embrace her geeky uniqueness, she manages to outline many key typography definitions in less than 3 minutes.  Fun!

So, to piggyback on Karen’s quick vid on typography basics, I wanted to add a bit about CAPS.  It seems I get a lot of questions about capital letters, like: When do/can/should I use all caps? When do/can/should I use mixed caps?

Mixed Caps

Mixing Lowercase And Caps In The Same Sentence (Like I Am Doing Now) Should Be Used Only For Titles, Not For Regular Sentences.  As You Can See In This Example, It Takes Longer To Read And Is Far Less Legible.  (Not To Mention Way Harder To Type!)  We Are Not Accustomed To Reading Long Bouts Of Text Like This.  Every Sentence Looks Like It Could Be Starting Or Ending At Any Time.

Ok, I’ll stop now – I think you get the picture!  Some fonts mix upper and lower case letters in the middle of words such as Sumer, LLC’s package logos below.  While mixed caps can make a chore out of reading body text, for a logo, mixed caps can offer a creative, playful look – different enough that it’s also unique and instantly recognizable.

ALL CAPS

Here are two photos of road signs (same street name) in my area:

Which one do you think is easier to read?

Before you answer that question, let’s examine how our eyes and brains work when we’re reading.

Take a look at these two boxes.  Can you tell me which one says the word Dog?

Probably not.  How about now?  Can you tell which of the following boxes says the word Dog?

If you guessed the second one, you’re right.

Why is that?  Well, our brains don’t read word for word.  Our brains are so super cool that when we read, we recognize words by their shapes!  SO, WHEN YOU SET YOUR WORDS IN ALL CAPS, IT’S THE LEAST LEGIBLE OPTION, NO MATTER WHICH TYPEFACE YOU USE.  (Plus, you look really rude in the realm of social media.)  MOST PEOPLE THINK THAT BECAUSE ALL CAPS LOOKS BIGGER, OTHERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO READ IT.  BUT ACTUALLY, MOST PEOPLE WILL IGNORE LONG BOUTS OF ALL CAPS IN PARAGRAPHS, because it’s actually much more difficult to read.  Why?  Because we have to read letter-to-letter and word-to-word, because the words lose their recognizable shapes.

Now let’s go back to our street sign example.

Some neighborhoods have a theme for their street names.  This neighborhood has a tree theme.  So, let’s say you’re looking for Angel Oak Dr.  If the sign were in all caps, you’d have to get really close to the street sign to differentiate Angel Oak Dr from White Oak Dr.

But, when the signs are in mixed caps, it’s easier to see their shapes from farther away.  So White Oak Dr is distinguishable from Angel Oak Dr before you’re close enough to be able to read the actual words.

This is exactly why the DOT is translating the old all caps signs into mixed type: because they, too, made the assumption that all caps is easier to read, but now they finally understand the importance of typography.

To Cap or Not To Cap?

Using all caps can be effective when you want to draw attention to ONE word or phrase.  So, all caps can be the right choice when it comes to branding, as all caps can help YOUR BRAND NAME stand out nicely.  But overuse of ALL CAPS or Mixed Caps can skew your brand message, or even facilitate disinterest from your target market.  So, although To Cap or Not To Cap can seem like a minor detail, as you can see, it’s actually a very integral component of your brand’s typography!

Do you know the three main elements that make up your company’s brand?  They are Typography, Color and Graphics.  For the next three months, we will be talking about these elements.  This month we will be talking about Typography.

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What is Typography?

Typography is the practice of properly applying text into your marketing and advertising and is a crucial component to your brand.  A large part of great typography is picking the right typeface/font.  The right (or wrong!) choice in typeface evokes both emotion and word/image association, immediately and often subliminally.  The right font choice also brings personality to your marketing.  But it’s not all fun and games!  Whether you like it or not, your audience is judging you by your font choices – from good to bad to everything in between.

What are you saying?

With the advent of personal computers, a wide variety of fonts have spoiled recent generations into believing that branding and marketing is as simple as choosing a pre-loaded font.  It really isn’t that easy.  You need to know what you are saying.  To be unique and memorable, you have to think about your brand, your brand messaging and your ideal audience’s expectations. Only then can you pick a font for your brand. It’s simple: you don’t choose a font because it is the default, you choose a font because it enhances your brand messaging.

So it’s important to pick the RIGHT font.

From Fierce to Fun & From Dear to Dinner

Typography is immensely powerful simply because great typography goes nearly unnoticed.

How about an example…

Two words: LION -and- LAMB.  Two animals, yes – but one is considered strong and majestic, while the other can be considered soft and cute.

First, let’s look at these words in Helvetica.

Does each word tell you anything about each animal’s personality?  No.  It’s just a nice, easy-to-read font.  In other words, this font is safe.  You simply read each word with little emotion and likely no association.  In Helvetica, Lion and Lamb are simply words.
Now let’s make a change.

A noticeable difference, right?  How do you feel about each word now?  The word Lion is set in a strong, slab serif font; it clearly says strength and power.  And can’t you just see and feel that fluffy little Lamb?
Ok, let’s change it up a bit more!

This Lion isn’t king of the jungle anymore.  He could very well be a happy, harmless lion from a children’s book.  And the Lamb just went from fluffy and cute to being what’s for dinner!

Lambs Become Lions

That’s the power of typography – the SAME word in a DIFFERENT font:

• Changes the entire feel of the word
• Determines context
• Tells a new story
• Inspires different visual and mental associations
• Creates word personality
• Speaks to a new or different audience

And just think you can get all of this across without color or graphics.  Now that is powerful.  Take a look at the words Lion and Lamb in a variety of fonts.

How do you see each animal when you look at each font?  How do you feel?  What story does each word personality tell you?

Your Turn: Now take a look at the typeface and the overall look and feel of your current branding.  Do you clearly see and feel your company’s voice, mission and value subliminally reflected in your typography?  If you’re not sure, it’s time to ask yourself the hard questions and be honest with your answers.  Does your brand’s personality match how you want your target market to see your company?  Is your brand telling your story?  If you’re not proudly stating YES to each and every one of those questions, it’s time to reevaluate your brand!  Your success depends on it.

NOTE: Be aware that this powerful tool can be easily overused and abused. Remember you want it to be subliminal in your branding, not clubbing your target over their head.

Do you need help with understanding your brand’s typography?  A Brand Alignment is the perfect way to get great, practical advice that you can implement immediately.  Find out more here.