Design + Brand: Marketing to the Subconscious
What comes to mind when you read the following names: Apple, Target, Nike? Chances are good their clean design, simple and clear messaging, and instantly recognizable logos are burning bright in your mind’s eye. Consistent brand imagery is the face of any business. In this increasingly visual world, your brand identity design can cause consumers to think of your business without you having to say or do much at all.
Logos, and other branding imagery, work best when they’re simple, effective, and easy to remember. They should also convey the energy and tone of your business. That’s why the Nike Swoosh evokes not only visual recognition, but a specific connotation and feeling; perhaps the joy of a long run or the excitement of a pickup game at your neighborhood basketball courts.
Proper branding is important for new companies wishing to garner brand equity, as well as more mature companies in need of a face lift, hoping to re-energize, or simply improve their design.
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An example of a new company that was seeking proper branding was The Raleigh Promise, an initiative funded by the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation. In 2011, they partnered with the Raleigh Colleges and Community Collaborative, and enlisted Calvert Creative to develop logos for both The RCCC and The Raleigh Promise, as well as logos for each of the 3 Raleigh Promise initiatives—Raleigh Future Scholars, Raleigh Fellows, and Raleigh Community Centers. The collective identities needed to convey the passion, energy, and hope that the organization was bringing to the community, as well as the stability, discipline, and focus that the partnership would use to implement the strategy.
This identity system is used in both internal and public communication. Each logo can be used separately, and when used together form a consistent and easily recognizable identity system. The logos are used on all marketing materials and communication, including but not limited to websites, flyers, posters, brochures, and T-shirts.
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MedStay, a free concierge hotel reservation service catering to patients coming to Duke, UNC, and Duke Raleigh Hospitals, already had an identity system and website, but wanted a fresh, more engaging, and more professional look as they sought to expand their services and coverage area. They understood that an out-of-date design and brand would not allow them to convert new leads through their marketing campaigns.
They came to Calvert Creative for a new identity and help with their website. Along with this work, Calvert developed a new tagline and messaging for their website, and helped with print ads and development of the new service coverage area content on their website. The website was designed to reflect the updated brand image, and was built with a Custom Management System (CMS) so the client could easily update with fresh content as needed.
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Professionally designed logos and imagery are important for any business. They promote brand awareness, recognition, and can cause potential consumers to think of your business after just one glance at a store front, billboard, or website. Your logo isn’t just a group of pixels, its an image that reverberates in the subconscious, and works to convert potential customers into loyal, paying customers long after it’s put into place.
