Gina O'DanielDesign is all around us. Think about it. Your world is filled with images, some which make a lasting impression, others that, well could probably stand improving a little. How many times have you chosen a product because of its packaging, or service because its marketing materials stood out above the others?
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Designs created by graphic designers help customers decide to contact your company or purchase your product or service when they view your logo, marketing materials, product packaging, advertisements, or web site.
Whether it is the design of a company’s logo shown on signage, a business card exchanged at a networking event, or your website that is viewed by potential clients around the world the look and feel is the visual language that makes a brands immediately recognizable. It expresses a point of view through a system of color, imagery, typography and composition.
Designers, both traditional and interactive, create an overall look for a brand that will resonate in the mind of the customer and rise above the clutter of a visual environment. All elements of a visual language should be intentionally designed to advance the brand strategy, each doing its part and working together as a whole to unify and distinguish a brand.
Look is defined by color, scale, proportion, typography, and motion. Feel is experiential and emotional. Your ultimate goal is to design marketing pieces that are so distinctive, your current and potential customers can identify the those pieces as yours even when you logo is covered.
Below are some basics of Look and Feel…
Design
Design is intelligence made visible. The marriage of design and content is a lasting marriage.
Color Palettes
Color palettes are systems. There are two color palettes-a primary palette and a secondary palette. Business lines or products may have their own colors. A color palette may have a pastel range and a primary range.
Imagery
Within the category of content, style, focus and color, all need to be considered whether the imagery is photography illustration or an icon.
Typography
Typeface families , one or sometimes two, are incorporated into the look and feel of the brand. It is not unusual for a special typeface to be designed for a high visibility brand.
Sensory
For print, consider material qualities, in other words how something feels in your hand-it’s texture and weight. For interactive/web, consider how something opens or moves and for the product design or display how it sounds or smells.
If image is everything… you only get once chance to make a good first impression.
Make sure it is a good one and that you have a cohesive and unified brand.
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