Tailoring Design To Match Your Business

– Contributed content –

(Theme Photos, Unsplash)

30 Jan. 2020. Designing things for a business can be a challenging process. In the past, this sort of work was largely left to professionals, with most companies paying someone with a lot more experience to build the graphical side of their brand. This has changed in recent years, though, and more and more people are looking for ways to handle this part of their business for themselves.

This is no surprise, with loads of new websites popping up all the time which can help you with this process. Some will make logos for you, while others will make it easier to find the right colors, and they all make the process of creating your own design and branding a breeze. Of course, though, picking all of the elements which will be going into this will be a challenge, and matching your business with it all will be even harder.

Color

Color has long been used in the world of design and art to convey feelings and ideas, and little else is needed when you’re trying to make someone feel a simple emotion. Blue, for example, is often associated with calmness, tranquility, and peace, making it an excellent choice for businesses in the healthcare industry. Something like red can convey anger, passion, and heat, making it better for a business which is in an exciting industry, like sports.

It’s always worth spending a good amount of time on choosing this feature of your business. This is something which will be hard to change down the line, as customers will get used to the colors you use, and they will be confused if you suddenly switch to something new. Color palette ideas can be found across the web, with loads of different websites sharing ideas for this design element. You need to take your color very seriously, and it will have to match the rest of your business.

Shapes

Next up, it’s time to think about shapes. While this may sound like a very simple way to do things, picking the right shapes for your logo and other design elements will be crucial if you want your design to work for your business. Like color, you can tailor the shapes you choose to match them to the type of business you’re running. For example, if you are designing something for an engineering company, you would probably want to stick to straight, precise lines and aim for realism with your work. This will convey the type of work you do, while also giving you a simple set of rules to follow.

Fonts

Next up, it’s time to think about fonts. Fonts are a designer’s best friend when they are trying to come up with a cohesive style, and this is something you can rely on when you handle it correctly. You should keep the shapes you’ve been thinking about in mind when you approach this, giving yourself a good place to start.

You can begin this process by thinking about the type of font you want. Serif fonts can look very expensive and high-class, making them excellent for service businesses like lawyers, accountants, and other companies which handle important work. Sans serif fonts are much cleaner, creating a modern look which will make your business feel new and fresh. Of course, the wealth of options you have goes much deeper than this.

You can use sites like Instagram and Pinterest to find examples of the fonts which similar companies to your own have been using. This will give you an insight into the sort of design people expect from your business, while also giving you the chance to avoid creating something generic or overdone. It’s usually worth avoiding things like handwriting fonts, as these will usually look unprofessional and don’t fit very well with many types of business.

Layouts

Finally, as the last design element to consider, it’s time to think about the way that you lay out your content on your website, flyers, and other marketing materials. Establishing a range of set layouts will make it much easier to keep your work consistent across the board, and this process can be as simple as making some sketches. It’s worth having more than one layout to choose from, with things like lists, paragraphs, and hero sections being included to make sure that you have plenty of variety.

Bringing it all together

Once you’ve finished working on the sections above, it will finally be time for the moment of truth, and you will have an opportunity to see it all come together. This can be the trickiest part of the process, with things like your logo being very hard to design if you don’t have the right skills to help you out. Thankfully, there are a lot of DIY logo builders around the web, and many of these tools are free.

It’s usually worth doing all of this work with pen and paper when you’re first getting started. Using a computer to design things will come with great results, but will be time-consuming, and this is something you don’t want when you’re coming up with prototypes. It’s worth working towards at least three unique sets of designs. While this will take some time, it will give you the chance to find the right design for your business.

With your designs in front of you, it will finally be time to choose the best one for your business, but this isn’t something you have to do alone. Friends, family, and even business partners can help you with this, giving you an insight into what others will think of the designs you’ve chosen for yourself.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to get started on the process of tailoring your design to perfectly match your business. This sort of process is never easy, and many business owners will struggle along the way, but this doesn’t make it any less important. Of course, though, this is something you have to work on for yourself, even if you can find help along the way.

*     *     *