Our Approach to branding your website starts with a few important design concepts. Let’s take a look into these key components that will help you make a great first impression on your visitors and clients. Remember, you may only get one opportunity to make an impression so you want it to be great.
The first decision when branding is choosing the right colors. A good rule of thumb is two colors that complement each other and at the most three colors. These colors must be good for web design on a computer or mobile device screen as well as for printing on your marketing materials. Some colors are not good to use because of ADA compliance (Americans with Disabilities Act) as they cannot be seen correctly by those who have color blindness. In the example, ‘amendz’ photo, the colors chosen also have some meaning that is associated with the website project for reparations.
The next decision is for the design of the logo graphic. This is best if kept simple and relevant, yet eye-catching to attract attention when using social media and marketing your products or services. You want the logo branding to speak for itself in design. When I first started designing logos I did too much design and that is confusing. Some of the best logos in the world are often simple yet attractive logos that complement the text and name of your company or organization. Your logo should also look good in greyscale and black and white. I often start the logo in only black and white to ensure that it can be used for non-color printing.
The last piece of the design is choosing the right font and text to be used to stay consistent with your website or print materials. Fonts can be playful, bold, regal, thin, thick, or script, and should fit with the graphics you will use throughout your website and marketing materials. We try to use only two or three different fonts again like colors. Too many are too much! They can be the same fonts but in different weights, italics, or boldness.
As you can see a lot of careful planning and preparation can make the initial branding of your website or project a success. You do not want to rebrand your company identity and logo as that is very difficult and expensive to do well. The first impression means a lot and should last for the life of your project. It is worth the expense of hiring a graphic design firm and website developer to get it right the first time when you begin your project.