Visual Communication Strategy

As a graphic designer I am always mindful how important visual representation is. How your company is perceived is more often determined by your marketing collateral than any other thing short of direct interaction and word of mouth. What constitutes this visual representation includes but is not limited to:

• Website                       Product Packaging                                 Commercials
• Business Cards            Store and Office Uniforms/Attire              Print Advertising
• Signage                       Invoices and Statements                        Company Newsletter
• Brochure                      Postcards                                              Social Media Pages 
• Pamphlets                    Emails                                                  Office Architecture
• Flyers                          Billboards

Many of you may have been surprised by the inclusion of attire and office architecture. Pause and think how many times you have driven to a place of business and had an immediate reaction to what the company is like based on the building condition, design and location. Are they conservative, flamboyant, lazy, reserved, cautious, trendy, traditional or modern? Such inferences determine what we will expect before the first word is ever spoken and attire is no different. How you present yourself professionally is perhaps one of the largest indicators of your business style and/or what you deem as important. This doesn't mean that it requires wearing Armani slacks to do oil changes. What it does mean is that one must consider a healthy balance between appropriateness, practicality and making a statement consistent with your visual communication strategy. 

The visual style of your business tells your prospective customer more about you than you realize. Consider your invoice design. Is is plain or detailed? Is it itemized with every phase of the project or product? How are your business cards? Are they on flimsy stock or are they thick and shiny with fancy graphics? Will it show that you spared no expense which might be seen as wasteful if you're a street hotdog vendor? Or sparing no expense on business cards might be considered normal for a Wall Street broker? It can say a great deal about your company before words are ever spoken. 

Whatever the state of your visual communication materials, the first thing to consider is the perceptual effect it will have on your customers and the public in general. You also have to consider whether or not you're maximizing its effectiveness and your ROI. I often think of product packaging and labeling on this point. I've seen the same product packaged and labeled differently to appease the taste and preferences of the market served; one package with different colors, typeface and styling sold to different ethnic groups. There is nothing illegal about it. It is simply maximizing your visual communication strategy by capitalizing on racial and ethnic diversity. Many large corporations have done this by making their websites in different languages with layouts, colors, and a user interface that addresses the preferences of a specific group. This is maximizing your visual strategy simply by being mindful of diversity.

The next time you have postcards designed, consider having one set in Chinese or the other in Spanish reflecting the colors, layout and visual tastes of the different groups. Tread carefully here. The last think you want to do is offend. Consult with a marketing professional before doing any grand ad campaigns without gathering all facts first. The last thing you want to do is make grand generalizations about anyone. All things being equal, you will be pleasantly shocked about how much feedback and responsiveness you get for simply considering and respecting the visual perceptiveness of one group or another. Frankly, I love designing postcards. It has more real estate than a business card to showcase your products and services. They are inexpensive to mail, and relatively inexpensive to produce. It's a great way to let people know who and what your business does without having to physically meet and hand your business card to them all. 

Visual communication is all about perception. Whether it's a business card or postcard, flyer or poster, it's important to engage your audience in a way that positively reflects your organization's objectives and values. 

Choosing and Designing Your Organizational Logo

Choosing Your Organization’s Logo

We’ve all seen the triumphs and the failures over the years; logos that say nothing of a company’s business, logos that are too abstract to mean anything, logos that are too generic or cartoonish; logos that are overly ornate. Unfortunately there are even logos that might be offensive or racy in nature. Iconography and symbolism are the very heart of communication. Before structured speech and language, symbolism has guided our perception of the world. In our time and in our businesses and institutions, guiding our strategic communications is the duty and responsibility of the Marketing Manager and/or Content or Branding Manager. It may be a shared responsibility among your staff or more appropriately you have a dedicated full-time individual or group handling your branding. I’ve outlined some very basic criteria I believe every logo should have despite the industry, despite the person at the helm of your communications' strategy, despite the company or the market it serves. These things are:

Transferability

Transferability is no small think to have when choosing a logo. It constitutes the entirety of the physical components of the logo design such as legibility, color, styling, layout, size, etc. Transferability essentially means that the designer and/or organization have considered how this logo might be rendered in and on alternative media. How will it appear on an envelope or letterhead? Will it cause placement problems on the website? Are the colors standardized? Are the colors webs safe? Is the logo legible on textiles? These considerations are hugely important. Most people consider a logo use in a singular media like a business card or letterhead, but they have not considered how well it will carry onto other media. How many logos have you seen look beautiful on a website but horrible on a sign or on apparel?

Understanding the market placement limitations of your logo is essential is maximizing its use. Remember a logo is your organization’s identity - its face and what people will see before anything else. Prior to meeting you or what products or services you offer your logo and other print materials is your first impression. Does your high end clothing boutique logo makes you look like a small town country store?  That’s ok if a country store is the meaning you want to convey. Does your bank logo say that you are serious and conservative or playful and risky? These considerations lead us into Relevancy.

Relevance

Relevancy requires a bit of research into understanding your market and your competitors. Are bright colors suitable for an insurance company and what psychological perceptions will these colors have on my prospective clients? Color theory is a huge component of design and rightfully so. Cultures respond to color in different ways and can often be offended by or put off by the use of colors in certain context. Color transferability is hugely relevant in your logos design as well. Choosing colors that can be carried from textiles to plastic or from paper to steel is a major consideration. You can’t accept a logo that looks plum on a business card and eggplant on a sign. You will lose brand equity and as such your visual communications’ identity is not nearly as secure as it could have been. Your business will be perceived as serious with drastic variances and a lack of consistency in your marketing materials.

But as aforementioned, color is a huge component of establishing relevancy and appropriateness to industry norms. It’s ok to break the rules if it falls within the confines of your organizational strategy and marketing objectives. Purple and gold with red stripes are quite striking together. However, improperly utilized the three colors may not bode well for an investment banker logo. Who will take you serious? Are you the circus or a financial institution?

Know your market is by far the most paramount of Relevancy. Understand the demographics of those you serve and provide to. Consider the cultural and gender aspects of design. After random self-designed market surveys, I’ve found on nearly every design that even men and women respond differently to colors, web and page design completely different on occasion with logos and other materials and iconography. Most recently, a logo design survey revealed that women preferred more elegant typefaces, swooshing lines, curves and bold colors while men were more attracted to strong positive vs. negative spaces and geometric shapes with simple colors. No surprise really but what if you were opening a business tailored to men and was leaning toward elegant bold colors; definitely know your market and your industry and understand the responsibility you hold as a designer and/or an organization.

Responsibility

DO NOT OFFEND! Be sure that whatever you choose in your design that you take care not to use overly suggestive, racial, cultural or offensive language or iconography. Your business is your own but consider the implications your business will have on society as a whole. Understand your social and ethical responsibilities. Just because a design isn’t offensive to you doesn’t mean it may not be to someone else.

Consider the example of a popular International parcel company we likely all know. Upon attempting to permeate a foreign market they had considerable trouble gaining a foothold on any considerable market share. Business was suffering significantly, yet all preliminary studies suggested that this market would substantially expand their business; all studies except one which would have revealed that certain colors in certain cultures are omens of bad luck and are often considered offensive. Now consider how many delivery vans you have to repaint to serve this market. Of course, there were other considerations the research revealed that needed to be addressed but this is an example of having cultural, racial and social sensibilities toward other people. Understand the perceptions associated symbolism and iconography. 

Perseverance

Can you change or alter your logo every few years? Sure you can but it’s not smart. Your logo establishes your identification in the marketplace. Changing it every few years diminishes if not totally undermines your visibility and the ability for your organization to be recognized. It also suggests deception and that your company may not be a viable one.  No one wants to establish a business relationship with an organization that looks like their going out of business and re-opening a new one every five years. Yet, logo updates and visual communication overhauls are rare but sometimes necessary particularly when a market has grown and customers are more diverse than they originally were. 

Make sure your visual communications’ identity is as timeless, strong, responsible, and relevant as they can be. You are being measured, compared, benchmarked, perceived and summed before you ever get to say hello.

Author: Wil Randolph (Visual Communications' Specialist)

Graphic Design

Marketing

Branding

Advertising

Photography

Registration, copyright, and Risks: Protecting your Work

Registration insures that you have independently verified ownership and authorship of your work. Copyright alone does not insure clear proof of ownership and can often be litigated. Should litigation occur, all things being equal registration entitles you to damages inclusive of any associated losses including court and legal fees.

Understanding your rights is critical in days where information flows digitally with near instantaneous speeds from server to server. Knowing how to protect your authorship is key to understanding and protecting your privacy. Yes, Privacy!!

Consider this. This scenario was posed a few years ago by me in an ethics course. The main subject was privacy and authorship of published works in the digital age. An unsettling scenario was proposed where a child's online photos were downloaded and re-published by a large corporation that featured the child's image in a very aggressive advertising campaign. The child's in immediate shock recognized her child instantly despite having the image surface several years after her immediate posting. A mother always knows her child right?

What are the mother's rights? Because the picture is clearly of her child and the image was used without permission is the company incontestably liable for damages? Are you sure? What is public domain and was the mother even aware of what that means? Are you sure about what images you're floating about in cyberspace and how they may be violated later on?

While I understand this is a frightening and worse case scenario, the likelihood is not only possible but highly plausible; a greedy corporation getting wealthy without consent of use or a model released image found online.

It's very scary stuff but the real underlying story is knowing your rights and being aware of what information, images, works of art, or casual picture you published, particularly online. Be aware of what your privacy rights are and what course of protection you have should your images or works of art be essentially hacked and violated without your consent.

Remember this subject is not limited to photography; it pertains to music, multimedia works, web design, logos, etc.

Visit US Copyright Title 17 for more information on copyright law. Other subject to look into if you have anything published online or wish to protect a work of art or creation is Trademarking.

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