Sellier Design is already making the most of 2012 with great projects and fantastic clients. As if we weren’t having a great New Year already, our very own Kriston Sellier was recently featured in Cobb in Focus magazine! The article profiles successful businesses in the area and their keys to success. Here’s a quick snippet of Sellier Design’s feature:

Voted a Top 25 Best Small Company by Working Mother magazine and a 2009 winner of the Small Business Commerce Association’s Best of Business Award, Sellier Design has garnered numerous design Awards, including several American Corporate Identity Awards.

Although the economic downturn has made doing business in any field more difficult, Sellier says her company has weathered the recession thanks to discovering the value of networking. “We’re doing well, and I would attribute that to networking — getting new business clients through referrals and maintaining good relationships with the ones we already have,” she says. “I’d never really done networking before, but right before the recession we recruited 25 new clients through networking, which helped us tremendously. You can make so many great connections in the community, and it is a lot less of an investment than you might think.”

Sellier Design takes a holistic approach to brand management by offering clients website analysis and design, advertising resources, stationery and marketing collateral, corporate identity, logo design and search engine optimization.

We’d like to give a warm thank you to Cobb in Focus for including our firm in their publication. The pleasure was all ours! Curious about what we’ve been up to lately? See Sellier Design’s latest branding, packaging and web design on our company page.

have you used the holidays to show off your company logo in a unique way? What is the best holiday branding campaign you’ve ever seen?

Colors draw out a certain emotion and can be utilized to help consumers truly connect. Whether using yellow to denote illumination, black for formal elegance, or pink for youthful exuberance, the following colors can be applied to logo designs when looking to emphasize specific meanings or emotions.

Red – One of the more intense hues on the color wheel, red conveys passion, energy, excitement, strength, courage or aggression.

Pink – Could a color possible be cuter? Pinks are commonly used to denote femininity, softness, playfulness and innocence.

Orange – Often used for that eye catching “pop,” orange represents energy and fun. Orange can additionally be used to show warmth, caution, exuberance and cheerfulness. 

Yellow – Radiating warmth and light, this sunny shade shows illumination, positivity and discovery.

Green – A calmer color, green often comprises designs having to do with the environment, tranquility, health, freshness and nature.

Brown – As rich as it is neutral, browns and beiges show earthiness, utility, woodiness and authenticity.

Blue – Forever popular, blues can mean various things depending on their sheen. Pale blues are calm, ethereal, pacific, clean and cool. Darker blues are more serious, analytical, authoritative and scholarly.

Purple – Purples express royalty, spirituality, sophistication and mystery.

Black – The final color to complete the wheel, black logos are often elegant, formal, serious and sometimes mournful.

To help draw out the summer a little more, these beautifully designed summer festival logos represent the best of this relaxing season.

1. Not being yourself - Branding can only succeed with large doses of preparation and strategy. Before picking up a pencil or laptop, ask yourself: Who are you? What are you selling? When (and under what circumstances) is your product/service most useful? Where can your product/service be obtained? Why should prospects choose you over your competition? It’s important to clearly define your company’s personality, everything you’re offering and what sets you apart from your competitors. Building your logo and brand around these answers will result in a much more authentic campaign.
2. Not being consistent – You can’t just create a catchy logo with a tagline and call it a day. Branding should be apparent in everything you do. From marketing materials and website layouts to customer care, if you say you’re the best then you must exemplify it. Branding isn’t something to be tried and traded either. Once you commit, keep to it. Brands like Nike and Coca-Cola have virtually never deviated from their original paths and have consequently garnered tremendous success.
3. Not perfecting the tagline – A tagline should clearly outline your mission, promise and purpose. The 3 to 5 words composing your mantre should make a powerful statement and set a clear expectation of what customers can expect, all in a memorable fashion.
4. Not providing a strong visual – A picture is worth a thousand words. Incorporating a strong visual element that speaks to the spirit of the company will be much more memorable for prospects.
5. Not talking about what you can do for your customers – Branding campaigns should not be built around what you do, but rather what you can do for consumers. Prospects want to know what’s in it for them. If you focus more on talking about yourself, customers will not connect.

To help you sift through your options and achieve the best possible design for your organization, a little preparation before shopping can make all the difference. These 5 questions will help you formulate a thorough vision of what you’re shopping for.

1. Project Objectives:

What is the purpose of the logo project? i.e., stand out from competition, identify a new product, upgrade the company image, etc. Keep in mind a creative approach can be developed around a primary and secondary objective only; no single creative vehicle can accomplish more effectively. If there is a current logo, why is it being refreshed?

2. Target Audience:

Who are your readers/viewers/customers? i.e., age, sex, job titles, social/economic conditions, employment, geographic concentration, etc. Do they already know about your product or service? What motivates them? Why do they want this product?

3. Competition:

Who is your competition? How are you different from them? What do the competitors logos look like? What colors are being used?

4. Distribution:

Are there any production considerations? i.e., needs to work as one color or at very small sizes, etc. How will the logo be reproduced? i.e., offset printing, web, silkscreen, embroidery, embossing, etc

5. Most Important Point:

Most communications leave only one overall impression. Is there something specific the viewer should remember about the company after seeing the logo?

More questions to ask before designing a logo