What’s “good” brand design?

Brand design trends come and go. It’s hard to say what’s “good” and what’s not, when you don’t have a trained eye.

At The Balcony, our view is unmatched, and Hannah has a vision for what makes for a truly successful graphic design.

Graphic design trends don’t stop and start according to the calendar, and some should probably be taken with a grain of salt. But all designers need to at least be aware of the direction that design is going in (if only to explain to a client why a certain trend isn’t right for them). Every year we have a stab at predicting the trends that will be hot in the next 12 months. Sometimes we get it wrong (we've been predicting VR hitting the mainstream since about 1997), but we can identify the concepts, themes and styles on the rise.

Some design concepts never go out of style and should be carried throughout your brand for years to come.

CONSISTENT typography

Consistency is a key principle for all typography. Consistent fonts are especially important, as using too many can lead to a confusing and messy look, so always use the same font styling for the same information. Decide on a hierarchy of styles and stick to it. If your graphic design elements are changing with the seasons, or throughout various campaigns, it’s very important to keep your fonts the same so your customer can recognize a piece of your brand.

High Quality Photography

Everyone has a camera on their phone these days — and that phone also has editing software. Businesses have no excuse for bad photography. Hire a professional or find someone on your team that knows how to capture a decent image. Bad photography is a sign that you’ve got a bad business. The Balcony offers help with commercial and product photography, but you can also utilize free stock imagery websites, like Pexels.

LANDING PAGE design

Every business needs a website or a landing page. What’s a landing page? A landing page is one simple, single page of a website. It could be as simple as a URL that takes you to a logo with store hours and an email to contact the business. A landing page makes you look “legit,” as the kids say. You may not be able to afford an entire website but you can create a simple landing page for free on Wix. Stake your claim in the digital world and make it be known that you exist. Users are leaving Facebook rapidly and Facebook Business Pages are no loner a valuable resource.

If you’re a Spokane business looking for brand design advice, stop by The Balcony M-F. For those out of town, shoot me an email at hannah@thebalconydowntown.com to learn more about The Balcony’s modern graphic design services.

“Modern graphic design, done right.”