Estimated completion time: 1-2 hours
It's Section 5! And that means we're going to get your basic branding in order. Make an entire pot of coffee or tea today–this one will take some time.
Section 5: Branding Board.
Quick–do you know what your fonts are? Do you use them at a particular scale? If you can't answer that, then you have a bit of work ahead of you today. Consistency is extremely important–you need to be recognized so that your customers know it's you by the graphics you share, the PDFs you create, and the fonts you use. So let's get started! First, download our Branding Board assets: the Branding Board Worksheet and Branding Board Example.
1. Logo renditions.
You'll need to begin by gathering all the renditions of your logo. Some brands have a logo mark–A Cup of Content uses the “u” as its logo mark. Some brands have a horizontal and a square version of their logo.
2. Fonts used.
Identify what font(s) is used and its scale (i.e. 90% vertical scale). Did you use bold or italics? What percent slant is the italicized font if you manually forced that font to be italic? So much to consider–why is it all important? Because you want consistency. You want to be recognized by your clients when they come across you and your assets online. In a sea of content, you need to be consistent in how you present yourself for recognition's sake!
3. Color values.
It's also important to identify the colors that you use within your branding. If you're off just a shade when you paint your walls, you notice it, right? Same with your logo. If you use patterns or stripes, you'll want to designate those here, too. If your stripes are always bottom left to top right at a 45-degree angle, then you need to state that as part of your brand…even if you use a different color dependent on the section or graphic.
4. Design it!
Like we said before, all of these items are important for brand consistency. Now that you've gathered all the specifics, it’s time to create a Branding Board! First, print our handy-dandy checklist. Then, check out A Cup of Content's Branding Board, as well as the one we did for client Freedom Travel. Obviously, you'll have your own groove for however you choose to design yours. We have a Pinterest board to help inspire you, too! If you have InDesign, we also have this template!
Up next: Section 6!
Tomorrow we get super nitty-gritty: Style Guide. Get some good sleep tonight and be prepared to make the grand-daddy of them all next!