Your Visual Vocabulary consists of the secondary design
elements that are used in conjunction with your logo to
form your brand identity. Your Visual Vocabulary is
composed of the graphics, font styles, colors, and even the
type of paper you choose.
Once you have determined the elements to use in your Visual
Vocabulary, it is important to use those elements
consistently throughout all of your marketing materials.
This consistency will make your entire set of materials
look like a family. Having a consistent set of marketing
materials makes you look more organized and professional.
It also makes your business more memorable, because the
repetition of the consistent elements creates repeated
impressions on your audience. The more you repeat your
marketing images and messages consistently, the easier it
will be for your clients to associate them with your
business.
The four ways to create consistency in your Visual
Vocabulary are:
1. Using the same or similar visuals and graphics
throughout your marketing materials makes them instantly
recognizable, which is becoming more important as marketing
media messages become more prevalent and people become more
inundated with them. The graphical elements that you can
work with in your Visual Vocabulary include the
backgrounds, text treatments (such as tagline styles),
shapes, layout conventions, and the photo library you use.
Enhance your Visual Vocabulary’s consistency by:
• Repeating some of the same graphics across all of your
materials. Your logo should appear on all of your marketing
pieces and business documents. Other graphics to consider
repeating include your tagline, your contact information
block, line art, patterns, and any unifying background or
decorative shapes or color fields.
• Maintaining similarity in the type of visuals and
graphics you use. If you regularly use photography
throughout your materials and then switch to clip art for
one piece, it will look out of place in your marketing
story.
• Placing key graphics in similar locations. By placing
some graphics, such as your logo and tagline, consistently
in the same place across all of your marketing materials,
you will make your materials look like a family.
2. Using a small group of coordinated fonts across all of
your marketing materials. Your company should have
designated fonts to use in the following situations:
• A logo font, which is typically not one of the fonts
that come installed on Windows machines: it should be more
unique and interesting. Some logos will have two or three
different fonts in them. If this is the case, then consider
using one of those fonts as the secondary font as well.
• A secondary font, used for headlines, sub-headlines,
taglines, special text such as graphics and captions, and
decorative text such as pull quotes, which are the large
quotes that are used decoratively in articles and
documents. This can be the same font as is used in your
logo. This is typically an interesting and unique font as
well. This may also be used as the font for your contact
information in your stationery, depending on its legibility.
• A tertiary font is optional and may be used when the
secondary font is not always legible, for mid-length texts
such as pull quotes and contact information.
• A serif text font, for lengthy printed documents.
Printed materials are more easily read if they are in serif
font rather than sans-serif font.
• A sans-serif font, for shorter printed documents and
on-screen use. Text on a computer monitor is easier to read
in a sans-serif font than in a serif font.
• A website font, which may be the same font as is used as
the main sans-serif text font, depending on how that font
translates for online viewing.
All of these fonts should have similar or contrasting
characteristics. Choosing fonts with similar
characteristics will make your fonts match and create
consistency throughout your documents. Choosing fonts with
contrasting characteristics will build visual texture and
interest into your materials. For example, you could pick
all thin, sans-serif fonts such as Arial and Frutiger to
create a harmonious, matching suite of fonts. Or you could
pick fonts with contrasting characteristics to create
greater interest, such as using a serif font like Palatino
for the headlines and then using a sans-serif font like
Verdana for the text.
3. Using the same, limited color palette across all of your
materials seems obvious, but many entrepreneurs try to make
their marketing materials look more interesting by mixing
up the color palette of each piece. But instead of making
the materials look more interesting, this spectrum of color
makes them look disjointed and uncoordinated.
You can create your color palette by:
• The corporate colors established in your logo. Many
logos are made up of one or two colors. You could pick one
or both of these colors to make up your main color palette.
If your logo has a lot of colors, you can choose a color or
two out of your logo to use as your main color palette.
Picking more than a couple of colors to use can make your
materials look too bright and unprofessional.
• The same hue or shade. You can extend your basic color
palette by using tints or shades of those colors. For
example, if you have a navy blue in your logo, you can use
a lighter or medium blue as another piece of your color
palette, and it will still coordinate.
• Complimentary colors. Every color has a complimentary
one-an opposite-on the color wheel. For example, yellow and
purple are complimentary colors. This is the best route for
extending your color palette if you have a logo with just
one color or a logo that’s black plus one other color. You
can extend your color palette easily by using the
compliment to your corporate color in your materials.
• Neighboring colors. Think of a rainbow. If you create a
color palette of neighboring colors, you’ll create a
harmonious and calming feel to your marketing materials.
• The same type of colors throughout your materials. For
example, if you use all bright colors, all soft colors, or
all complex colors as your palette, you can mix up your
color palette and still keep a feeling of consistency
throughout your materials.
The exception to these rules is when your color palette is
mixed up in an intentional way to enhance your brand
message, or when you’ve assigned different colors to
different service or product lines. For example, a company
with a “bright,” “playful,” or “energetic” personality
might want to mix up its color palette between pieces. Or
if you have multiple product or service offerings, you
might want to assign each offering its own main color, and
use those distinct colors to differentiate your marketing
materials for each offering.
4. Using coordinating papers for your printed materials.
Paper can be an inexpensive way to add some interest and
depth to your Visual Vocabulary. You can do this in many
ways:
• Choosing high-quality paper to print on will always make
your materials look more professional. This typically means
choosing a thick paper for your business cards and a
coordinating paper from the same product line for your
letterhead.
• Using glossy paper only when appropriate is best. Glossy
paper might be great for a business card or a brochure, but
it’s not appropriate for your letterhead or other pieces
that might need a personal touch. Glossy always looks
higher-end and distances your materials from your reader.
• Colored or textured papers can add to your Visual
Vocabulary, if they work with your brand message. If you
are trying to create an artisinal or hands-on look to your
materials, consider colored or textured paper. For a
technical or medical look, stick with smooth, white paper.
Creating consistency through the repetition of the four
elements listed above will make your business appear more
professional and memorable. Consistent materials will also
make you appear more credible and trustworthy. Consistency
can help your business marketing efforts to be more
successful.
There are a couple of bonus areas in which you can create
consistency:
• The copywriting style that you use. Make sure that you
consistently write in the same voice, use the same style of
copyediting, and are addressing the same type of audience
in your writing. Your materials will appear much more
unified and cohesive if you do.
Repeating some of the same words throughout your materials
helps you to frame your customer’s point of view about your
services. This can help you to become known for the topics
that you address in your materials.
• The timing of your marketing. For example, if you
traditionally send out an eNewsletter on a set day of the
month, at a set time, your readers will come to expect to
receive it then. If you send out four postcards per year,
space them out evenly so that people receive consistent
messages.
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Erin Ferree is a brand identity and marketing design
strategist who creates big visibility for small businesses.
Through her customized marketing and brand identity
packages, Erin helps her clients discover their brand
differentiators, then designs logos, business cards, and
other marketing materials and websites to reflect that
differentiation, as well as to increase credibility and
memorability. http://www.elf-design.com
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