Gavula Design Associates - Branding Blog

Branding Etiquette: Email Signatures and Logos

Mon May 14 2012

As a brand designer it is always somewhat flattering when a client wants to use their new identity as much as possible. After all, the application of one’s logo is branding, and branding is good, right? Well, not always.

Call it a pet peeve, but a great example of bad branding is the old “Putting your logo in the signature of your email” move. I see it all the time where businesses don’t realize the faux pas they are committing in the interest of looking more professional.

Basically, emails with graphic signatures have a few problems.

Great Brands Are Not Born, They Are Raised

Wed Feb 01 2012

Those of you who know me well may already be aware that my wife and I are expecting. With a baby on the way I guess I couldn’t help myself but to see the design process through the lens of parenthood. Forgive the unintended sexism.

Responsive Branding Standards for the Mobile Web

Tue Dec 06 2011

The web has an ability to shed its skin and emerge anew every couple of years. It should not be news to you that the future of web browsing is mobile.

So you decided to name your business

Mon Oct 10 2011

You are starting up a small business and it needs a name. Exciting! Given your budget you’ve decided to take on the responsibility yourself. You named your kids after all and Brandon and Brenda turned out okay so why should your business be any different?

Before you launch Brendco, I would like to humbly ask you to read this blog post.

Slow Branding – for small businesses with limited budgets

Tue Sep 06 2011

While there are many reasons that small businesses work with the wrong design partners, the most common would appear to be cost. After all, doing it yourself, off shoring the work or hiring the cheapest designer around would seem to be motivated by price.

However, I have found that bargain hunting is often a symptom of a larger disease. They are in a rush, and in attempting to budget for everything at once they are willing to accept anything in terms of quality. I call it the “fast food” approach to branding.

Content Driven Design Grids

Wed Jul 13 2011

The first thing every designer learns when they go to school is the power of using grids. That is, to establish a framework from which all of your content can be arranged. Thus, it will all be neatly organized and consistent.

At best, design grids make work easier and can be proprietary – as much a part of the brand’s toolkit as its color pallet or typeface. At worst however, it can be an obstruction, as it may prioritize mathematical cleanliness above visual and contextual considerations.

Choosing the right partner to brand your small business

Tue Jul 05 2011

It is not remarkable to encounter a small business in need of a holistic refresh of their brand’s look and feel. However, it becomes noteworthy when you are informed that they have just recently invested thousands into their design, only to be disappointed by the results.

There are a myriad of reasons why this occurs. At the center of them all is the fact that many small and early-stage enterprises simply don’t have any familiarity with the process and they choose the wrong partner. What should they have been aware of?

Conventional User Experience Means Diminished Brand Experience

Tue Jun 28 2011

Last summer at the Boston Design4Drupal conference and again at DrupalCon Chicago I had the pleasure of watching Jared Spool speak about web usability. He is the kind of presenter that sneaks up on you with a dry subject matter but leaves the crowd rolling with laughter as he quips his way through examples of UX failures.

Among the lessons learned from Spool was the idea that there is sometimes a gap between what users know, and what they need to know to operate your site. That is where we call upon design to bridge the gap.

The New Canvas and the Old Masters

Fri Jun 17 2011

When visual communication was rendered through oil on canvas one would not have a hard time arguing that it was the oil, and not the canvas that mattered most. While a well-crafted substrate was essential it was also something to take for granted. The great masters were painters and the skill with which they applied their medium was the measure of that greatness.

Drupal Association Badge Redesign: Part 2

Fri Jun 10 2011

For the uninitiated, last month I produced an unofficial design exploration in an effort to rebrand the Drupal Association’s membership badges. I want to thank those of you who offered feedback and voted in my poll.

When Brand Extension isn’t the Answer: Coors and Blue Moon

Fri Jun 03 2011

Brands are like people in the sense that they can be related to each other. And like people, those associations can open doors or become a burden. I feel like this latter point if often missed when organizations consider rolling out a new product as a brand extension.

I recently put together a strategy presentation for a client to explore this topic using Coors Brewing Company as my example. I thought it might be of interest to those considering extending their brand.

Unofficial Drupal Association Logo Rethemeing

Mon May 16 2011

UPDATE: Take a look at Part 2 of this post where we make some revisions and incorporte the wordmark into our exploration.

The other month I finally got off my can and became an individual member of the Drupal Association. I’ve been using the CMS increasingly since ’07 and the Chicago registration process reminded me that I should chip in.

Brand Inception

Fri May 06 2011

By now, most of you have probably seen the hugely successful Christopher Nolan film Inception. It is a movie that explores that possibility that an idea can be planted in the mind of a person without them knowing it.

From Hollywood’s standpoint, it is a science fiction twist on an old-fashioned heist film. However, from the standpoint of a marketing communications professional, it is something much closer to pornography. For decades these folks have sought to plant ideas in the minds of consumers. Albeit, less dramatically.

Brand Excavation Before Brand Demolition

Tue Mar 08 2011

When an organization or initiative is born, one has to look at the competitive landscape and attempt to define a new brand. This is exciting, challenging, and often much easier than attempting to renovate an old brand. New brands are new construction, and they are free from the burden of legacy.

Don't Design in the Browser

Mon Feb 14 2011

For the past two years I have attended the Boston Drupal Design Camp at MIT. Understandably for a Drupal camp, most sessions focus on the technology but with a unique slant toward its use in the service of aesthetics.

I guess you could say it sprang from a movement that began at DrupalCon DC, where many designers gathered to set an agenda during the code sprint. I was a fly on the wall of that meeting and I saw many leaders voice concern that their presence within the community was undervalued.