Branding Basics for Fashion Startups
We asked Kat Gibbs, a brilliant freelance designer and illustrator, to break down branding for startups. Read her expert insight on what branding is, why it’s so important and what you’ll need to complete your brand’s image.
What is branding?
Branding is a sum of parts. A few of those parts may be a logo, a color palette, how someone is greeted in your store (or online), or the way someone perceives your company. It’s the visual link between your company and your customer.
How important is branding for a startup business?
Our days are filled with a constant stream of information coming at us. We’ve learned as a society to make quick visual judgements. As a designer, my job is to help companies put their best-face-forward—whether they just started or they’ve been around for 30 years. Branding adds value to your company. It says to customers, “I value what I do and how I do it”. The enemy of good branding is doing a “quick and cheap” job. This may sound like a solid plan in the short-term but you’ll spend more money having to redo it later rather than doing it right in the first place. Find a great designer from the start and set your company up for success.
Before contacting a branding specialist, what should you have prepared?
It’s easier than you think and it doesn’t involve picking out your favorite colors—I promise. Good designers want to hear about a few things: Your businesses story, everything you know about your customers, and what’s a good day to meet your dog? (Kidding on the last one). Ironically enough, doing a good job at making a visual identity has a little to do with picking colors and type, and more to do with understanding your customers. This is where websites that “generate” logos fail. They don’t know your customer, so they end up producing “logos” that look…well, like everything else you’ve ever seen. They have no heart, and customers see right through that.
To make it easy for your designer, gather up these resources:
Who shops with you?
What brands do they like?
What do you think they drive?
If your brand were a person who would they be?
We’ll take that info and let it inform the visuals. Don’t be afraid to get into the nitty gritty. More is more. We’re detail hoarders.
What goes into creating a branding strategy for a new business?
We want to make a metaphorical map. When I’m designing, I literally sit with a printed copy of the Brand Strategy next to me on my desk. Everything that your designer creates will need to point back to the Brand Strategy. Your designer’s favorite color is Violet? Well that’s too bad because the Brand Strategy says we’re using Dark Brown as our color influence. The Brand Strategy keeps everyone in line. It’s a way of steering the branding along a clear path. It reduces mistakes, saves time, and saves money.
What branding assets should you request?
When it’s all said and done, you should be asking for a few things.
A final, “outlined”, logo file in all of the color variations you agreed upon in the new color palette. This file should be in the format of an EPS, SVG, PDF, and a PNG. We’re using the term “outlined” which means that your logo will show up the same way on every computer you open the file with.
Color codes. Every color has 4 different “codes” you need to know. Ask for all 4 so you can use them in their respective fields. They are: HEX, RGB, CMYK, and PMS. Each one has a role it plays in printing and production. The codes ensure that the color looks the same way on all different forms of media—from t-shirts to websites.
Ask for any fonts used in the branding. It’s possible that you do not own or have permission to use a font that was used in the project. Consult with your designer to see what the best way is to get the font(s) they used. They will either send them to you, or bill you for them and send them to you. Not all good things in life are free—and that’s the truth when it comes to buying fonts.
Photo by Jamie Street
KAT GIBBS BIO
Kat Gibbs graduated with a B.S. in Visualization and a Minor in Art & Architectural History from Texas A&M University. Her love for branding and illustration is a driving force throughout her work. Kat's experience ranges from branding to exhibition design and can be seen in places like Tribeza Magazine, the Austin Central Library, the Texas State Capitol and Mustang Island. Kat leverages her previous experience as an in-house designer and Sr. Designer at a creative agency to create the best work for her freelance clients. www.katgibbs.com