Creating a Brand Identity: A Guide for Designers


Book Description

Creating a brand identity is a fascinating and complex challenge for the graphic designer. It requires practical design skills and creative drive as well as an understanding of marketing and consumer behaviour. This practical handbook is a comprehensive introduction to this multifaceted process. Exercises and examples highlight the key activities undertaken by designers to create a successful brand identity, including defining the audience, analyzing competitors, creating mood boards, naming brands, designing logos, presenting to clients, rebranding and launching the new identity. Case studies throughout the book are illustrated with brand identities from around the world, including a diverse range of industries – digital media, fashion, advertising, product design, packaging, retail and more.




The Graphic Designer's Guide to Creative Marketing


Book Description

You know you've got the talent, now let them know it-your complete guide to finding, winning, and keeping good clients Written by a graphic designer and successful marketing consultant, this book is the most complete guide available to marketing your services, with clear, practical, step-by-step instructions on every aspect of graphic design marketing, including: * Developing and implementing a marketing plan * Researching prospective clients * Creating effective marketing materials * Cold calling and follow-ups * Effective communication * Dressing for success * Resumes, cover letters, and portfolios * Proposals, bids, and contracts * Keeping good clients-account management Also included are sample business forms, contracts, proposals, letters, and checklists, along with stunning full-color examples of successful self-promotion campaigns for every budget. Throughout the book, there are fascinating and instructive interviews with clients as well as graphic designers from across the country who share what they've learned about marketing and managing graphic design services.




The Business Side of Creativity


Book Description

Every year the market for creative services expands -- but the competition is increasing even faster. Today, your success hinges not on talent alone, but on a thorough understanding of the business side of creativity. Now fully revised and updated, The Business Side of Creativity is the most comprehensive business companion available to freelance graphic designers, art directors, illustrators, copywriters, and agency or design-shop principals. Cameron S. Foote, successful entrepreneur and editor of the Creative Business newsletter, guides you step-by-step through the process of being successfully self-employed -- from getting launched as a freelancer to running a multiperson shop to retiring comforably. The appendices include sample business forms and documents to help put the information into practice. How should you organize? What should you charge? What marketing techniques yield the best returns? When are you ready to expand? What are the most effective strategies for managing employees? How can you build salable equity? The Business Side of Creativity delves into these questions and hundreds more -- and gives you practical, real-world answers. Book jacket.




Strategic Creativity


Book Description

The secret weapon for business experts to ensure strategically creative results, this is an indispensable field guide to evaluating creative advertising, branding, and design ideas and solutions, and to working with creatives. Strategic Creativity is a fundamental resource that enables business professionals to stand out amongst their colleagues and enhance their ability to communicate the creative "why" throughout their organizations, and it covers what every business expert should fully comprehend about the creative process. To effectively grow a business and reach the right audience or move a brand forward, advertising and branding need to be relevant, engaging, and worth people’s time. This book contains what a CEO, CMO, manager, business owner, or client didn’t learn about the creative side of advertising and design in business school. Featuring insightful conversations with creative experts, this book will earn a place on the desks of executives, leaders, managers, and middle managers across industries, whose work requires them to understand and execute on branding initiatives, advertising campaigns, social media, and other customer-facing content.




Identity Designed


Book Description

Ideal for students of design, independent designers, and entrepreneurs who want to expand their understanding of effective design in business, Identity Designed is the definitive guide to visual branding. Written by best-selling writer and renowned designer David Airey, Identity Designed formalizes the process and the benefits of brand identity design and includes a substantial collection of high-caliber projects from a variety of the world’s most talented design studios. You’ll see the history and importance of branding, a contemporary assessment of best practices, and how there’s always more than one way to exceed client expectations. You’ll also learn a range of methods for conducting research, defining strategy, generating ideas, developing touchpoints, implementing style guides, and futureproofing your designs. Each identity case study is followed by a recap of key points. The book includes projects by Lantern, Base, Pharus, OCD, Rice Creative, Foreign Policy, Underline Studio, Fedoriv, Freytag Anderson, Bedow, Robot Food, Together Design, Believe in, Jack Renwick Studio, ico Design, and Lundgren+Lindqvist. Identity Designed is a must-have, not only for designers, but also for entrepreneurs who want to improve their work with a greater understanding of how good design is good business.




Designing Brand Identity


Book Description

A revised new edition of the bestselling toolkit for creating, building, and maintaining a strong brand From research and analysis through brand strategy, design development through application design, and identity standards through launch and governance, Designing Brand Identity, Fourth Edition offers brand managers, marketers, and designers a proven, universal five-phase process for creating and implementing effective brand identity. Enriched by new case studies showcasing successful world-class brands, this Fourth Edition brings readers up to date with a detailed look at the latest trends in branding, including social networks, mobile devices, global markets, apps, video, and virtual brands. Features more than 30 all-new case studies showing best practices and world-class Updated to include more than 35 percent new material Offers a proven, universal five-phase process and methodology for creating and implementing effective brand identity




Creative Strategy and the Business of Design


Book Description

The Business Skills Every Creative Needs! Remaining relevant as a creative professional takes more than creativity--you need to understand the language of business. The problem is that design school doesn't teach the strategic language that is now essential to getting your job done. Creative Strategy and the Business of Design fills that void and teaches left-brain business skills to right-brain creative thinkers. Inside, you'll learn about the business objectives and marketing decisions that drive your creative work. The curtain's been pulled away as marketing-speak and business jargon are translated into tools to help you: Understand client requests from a business perspective Build a strategic framework to inspire visual concepts Increase your relevance in an evolving industry Redesign your portfolio to showcase strategic thinking Win new accounts and grow existing relationships You already have the creativity; now it's time to gain the business insight. Once you understand what the people across the table are thinking, you'll be able to think how they think to do what we do.




Logo Design Love


Book Description

There are a lot of books out there that show collections of logos. But David Airey’s “Logo Design Love” is something different: it’s a guide for designers (and clients) who want to understand what this mysterious business is all about. Written in reader-friendly, concise language, with a minimum of designer jargon, Airey gives a surprisingly clear explanation of the process, using a wide assortment of real-life examples to support his points. Anyone involved in creating visual identities, or wanting to learn how to go about it, will find this book invaluable. - Tom Geismar, Chermayeff & Geismar In Logo Design Love, Irish graphic designer David Airey brings the best parts of his wildly popular blog of the same name to the printed page. Just as in the blog, David fills each page of this simple, modern-looking book with gorgeous logos and real world anecdotes that illustrate best practices for designing brand identity systems that last. David not only shares his experiences working with clients, including sketches and final results of his successful designs, but uses the work of many well-known designers to explain why well-crafted brand identity systems are important, how to create iconic logos, and how to best work with clients to achieve success as a designer. Contributors include Gerard Huerta, who designed the logos for Time magazine and Waldenbooks; Lindon Leader, who created the current FedEx brand identity system as well as the CIGNA logo; and many more. Readers will learn: Why one logo is more effective than another How to create their own iconic designs What sets some designers above the rest Best practices for working with clients 25 practical design tips for creating logos that last




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Graphic Design


Book Description

If you can dream it, you can design it Whether your goal is to design your own marketing materials, launch a visually compelling blog, or just have some fun creating your own CD covers, The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Graphic Design is your one-stop reference. Presented in an intuitive, accessible format, here are the fundamental elements of design and design principles, as well as instruction on how to apply those elements and principles to a variety of projects. • Covers art supplies, software, concept development, reproduction needs, and much more • Sample projects include business cards, print and web ads, and graphic T-shirts • Follows the success of other titles aimed at the aspiring artist, including the Complete Idiot’s Guide® titles on digital photography, drawing, and manga




Graphic Design Speak


Book Description

Graphic Design Speak explains in layperson's terms some common areas of graphic design technology and terminology that can cause confusion to non-designers. In a conversational tone, this is a must-have guide whether you're DIYing your design, working with a professional, or a combination of both.