Don’t Forget the Little Things When It Comes to Branding
A little while ago, I was visiting Eaton Centre with a close friend. As we were exploring the mall together, I noticed a Miniso store. I quickly dragged my friend inside to explore. As soon as I entered the store, I noticed some icons on a refrigerator (where they store their cold drinks) that caught my attention.
I pulled my friend aside and pointed at the icons in question. I asked her if she noticed anything strange about the icons on the refrigerator. “Sharic,” she said playfully, “they’re just icons.” I let out a laugh and realized that my designer brain is, well, working overtime.
I then pointed out a few of the mistakes. With a puzzled face, she simply said, “Hmph, I didn’t even notice that.” Now you might be wondering what’s wrong with the icons. Here’s what I spotted:
A) The perspective for the pop can (the first icon) is different than the rest of them. The pop can is illustrated in a 3D perspective while the rest are 2D. On a side note, I’m not sure why this is necessary because a pop can is universally recognized.
B) The stroke width for each icon is different. For some reason, the width gets larger as you progress from the first icon to the last icon.
C) Speaking of stroke width, the dome of the Slurpee has the largest stroke width compared to the rest.
D) The stroke width of the straw starts off large and ends up small. Maybe they are trying to show some sort of magnification?
E) This reflective line (there’s one on the pop can as well) is strategically placed to provide the icon with simplistic detail. Yet, there’s no consistency between this one and the one on the pop can. Did you notice that one has the rounded edge and the other has the flat edge?
F) The bottom of the water bottle is choppy and not built smoothly. When something looks inept, it can reflect poorly on your brand.
As you can see from my friendly critique, there are quite a few things wrong with these icons. If you didn’t notice anything, don’t fret. Most people will not notice as well. If Miniso used these icons in an app, for example, I’m sure more people would wonder why these icons look off.
I decided to redesign these icons to fix all of the inconsistencies. This way you can see visually what kind of impact the icons can have when they’re redesigned. Below are all three icons redesigned.
After I redesigned the icons, I then photoshopped them into the original photo to showcase the impact of the redesign.
When you compare the before and after photos, one can see the difference when there’s consistency, order, and similarity applied. In graphic design, these things are also known as Gestalt. By applying some basic design principles to these icons, they now give off a quiet sophistication that’s pleasing to the eye.
To be fair to Miniso, these icons are a small part of their overall branding. I’m sure they weren’t given top priority by their creative director. Be that as it may, these icons are a good example of how the little things matter when it comes to your brand. These little things allow you to distance yourself from your competitors by standing out through a design-centered focus.
So what do you do if you don’t possess a good design sense? I would recommend partnering with a designer from your area. This way you can consult with them regarding your brand to ensure the little things will not be missed. How does one find a designer to help with the little things? One place I would recommend is Dribbble. They have many designers, as well as other talented creatives, located on their website. One quick search can yield a designer within your area. (And no, I don’t work for Dribbble.)
It’s been said countless times before, that “the little things matter.” Yet, this simple adage is worth reinforcing to ensure that your brand remains consistent and strong. These little things will build your brand and win over new customers with your attention to details and, ultimately, their trust for creating quality products or services.
