Having a well-thought-out brand identity is crucial for the overall health of your company.
Not only is your brand identity important for allowing your customers to get an idea of what you’re providing them, but it’s also an effective tool for the overall health of your company, which can come in handy when it’s time to consider having marketing materials printed.
Tips for establishing brand elements
Before you can order binders, your business needs to have a sense of a brand identity. In other words, you need to flesh out an established way for your brand to look. Most brands include a logo (or wordmark), distinct colors (or color combinations) and font(s) that become the signature of their company. Below are some tips to consider when developing your brand identity.
Explore our custom fabric swatch headers. Here, you’ll find valuable tips and examples to ensure your custom fabric swatch headers perfectly reflect your brand’s identity.
Logo or wordmark
The difference between a logo and a wordmark is that a logo is a graphic representation and a wordmark is simply a company/product name written in a specific way. Regardless of which your company decides to use, either will stand as the heart of your identity.
The decision to go with one type over the other is up to personal preference. Some companies choose a wordmark because they are cheaper to develop and others go with a logo because they are using a memorable symbol to set their company apart from others. Nevertheless, any words used should be developed in a professional manner with a readable typeset.
Logo tips
Although you will need consistency overall for your business logo/wordmark, there will be instances where you’ll need variations, including:
- Black and white
- Horizontal
Particularly useful for web ads, promotional products (think pens) and binder spines. - Squared
- Social media optimized
These can all be achieved while sticking to an overall theme.
Key colors
Most often, businesses choose one or two colors to represent their brand; however, there are examples of more complex brands that incorporate more. More than likely, you’ll hire a company to design your logo/wordmark (unless you have a graphic designer in house). If this is the case, make sure to take note of the CMYK and RGB, Pantone colors, or web colors that were used for your logo. That way you can ensure that you can match any marketing material to these colors.
Additional color tips
Typically, you’ll want to pair other colors with those found in your logo for anything you print surrounding your brand. To decide what colors pair well, you can either choose colors that are:
- Monochromatic (or varying shades/hues of your logo color)
- Triangle color scheme (colors that are found evenly spaced around the color wheel that are harmonious)
- Complementary (hues that are found opposite of each other on the color wheel)
While color choice may not seem that important, research shows that upward of 93% of consumers will turn to how a company’s logo, marketing material and/or website look when deciding whether to do business with them.
Additionally, you should consider your color choices when you’re adding in index tabs. To help your sections stand out from the rest of your color choices, consider using one of the above color strategies rather than sticking with your logo color.
Know your fonts
When deciding how you want your brand’s words to look, it’s best to choose just a select few fonts to use. Many companies choose these fonts from those used in their logo, but this isn’t universal. Otherwise, the fonts you choose should complement the typeface of your logo. This will convey a sense of unity across your brand identity. Be sure to provide these typefaces when you hire companies to do any sort of promotional materials or other designs—including any binders you may have made.
Other binder considerations
If your company needs binders, take the time to consider your material needs. Start by thinking about your industry and what the binder(s) will be used for. Regardless of your industry, you’ll want a binder that is that is well made, using high-quality materials.
When it comes to designing a binder to meet your company’s needs, however, there are other elements that should be considered, like texture and sturdiness.
Texture
The texture you choose for your binder sends more messages than just the obvious colors and images. Consider you’re in a “tough’ industry like construction or lawn care. A heavy-duty binder with a textured feel will support your brand message while also helping users keep a grip. For companies in industries like technology, a smooth, shiny texture will give a “sleek” feel to your materials.
Sturdiness
For industries where a binder could be exposed to temperature extremes (both hot and cold), choose a poly binder because vinyl can crack at low temperatures and sag at high temperatures. Poly binders are a good fit for the medical industry because they tend to be very stain resistant and are easy to sterilize. Likewise, they can also be helpful in industries where they’re likely to be dropped or thrown about.
Additionally, if you’re looking to arrange binders on a bookshelf, go with vinyl. Poly binders are not as rigid. They don’t contain chipboard to give them stability, therefore they are likely to lean or collapse if placed on a shelf. This means those in a high-end office who want to display binders should choose vinyl. Consult “Do I need a Vinyl Binder or a Poly Binder?” for help deciding which binder type will work best for your business.
As you can see, there is more to developing a binder for your business than picking out a color. Considerations need to be made before you throw together a binder—especially if this binder will be used as marketing material or as a presentation to a potential client. For more on the importance of using a binder for your business, check out The Importance of Custom Binders and Your Brand.