A Branded Kit
[An important aspect that goes hand in hand with a Visual Design]
We all know that a design is the first and, possibly, last thing a user sees when using a product. As such, a design needed to be able to express the entire product or company, where if anyone would see it they would immediately know what it is. That is where Product Branding comes from. Contrary to what people may think, Branding is not limited to only a products logo or mark. Everything from the use of geometrics, fonts and use of complementing colors makes the product more memorable and distinguished. As I’ve stated before, a products design should be as memorable and as unique as possible so that they can be distinguished among many other products.
In the design aspect, branding would refer to the defined set of its visual elements that is applied throughout. Creating one is the core of a design, because in this aspect visuals speaks louder than any audio or text. Here I explain the elements used in the design aspect that would combined to reflect a brands image and thought.
Color
Being able to convey different ranging emotions, color is an important piece in any branding system. Not only do they have multiple colors that can be made into multiple combinations, those colors can also change the emotion they convey when combined. With one color having multiple meanings, it could be quite tricky to utilize it well in a product in such a way that it would be the brand of that product. One must consider different individuals and culture to be able to use and apply colors affectively. With many people being colorblind, one cannot only rely on color to adequately describe their brand.
Typography
Most products would always be accompanied by some sort of text, whether the product itself is text based or if the text is only on for its manual there would always be text. Similar to colors, text is not only used for writing but also its visual representation. They exude their own personalities and appeal to whomever that views it. A way of understanding this is, when making a professional report one tends to use Arial, which looks more plain and formal, rather than Comic Sans MS, which looks more casual, informal and approachable. From its typography, before the users know what the product is about, the fonts would already be able to tell them all about it.
Images
A picture is worth a thousand words
Images are not simply visual additions for a product, but it can also tell the users more than paragraphs of text could. It is eye catching and quite big, so using an image that tells the most of a product would be quite beneficial. Although with the easy access of stock images, one would just plaster an image of a random model, but it would not aid much in the communication of a brand. With stock images being models, they do not convey the necessary emotion of the current image and would appear bland, unnatural and inexpressive despite their expressions. This would not be able to express the brand very well if not at all. Successful image communication would arrive from genuine natural images that actually tells a consistent and authentic narrative about the product.
With all these assets to keep track of, how do you make sure your product stays consistent? Well, for this we would introduce something called a Design Kit. Basically, it’s a toolbox in which you put all your tools in so the next time you would need them you would only need to open the box and get them. It saves time, therefore money, and makes sure all your assets, styles, palettes, etc. are organized in one place. With this, you can see whether your assets share the same elements for your product and keep the consistency. They are also made to make integrating new items easier.
In our current project, we have been quite mindful on those elements. From there we have decided on a more professional but approachable typography, Heebo, accompanied by an elegant and neutral Black, Grey and White which complements the Company Logo which is comprised of Green, Grey, Yellow and Orange. Our images, that covers most of the page, clearly shows many types of business such as farming business, food stalls and even clothing stores which conveys our products objective.
Well, that is all about the other sibling of visual design. With this we can hopefully be more mindful on how to effectively use these elements to convey more about the product without the user having to have initial knowledge on it. I shall now be off and
See you on the next one
