Understanding Branding
Branding is everything that visually creates your company. It identifies and differentiates your product or service from other products and services. Maintaining consistent branding is important to keep your company recognizable within the marketplace.
Key Elements of Branding
Logo File Types: What Exactly Are They?
- AI or EPS (Adobe Illustrator or Encapsulated PostScript): The most important file type to have. Vector-based, scalable to any size, and best for print.
- PDF (Portable Document Format): Versatile and widely compatible, suitable for both print and digital use.
- JPG/JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): Bitmap, non-scalable, good for web use, with a default white background.
- PNG (Portable Network Graphics): Bitmap, non-scalable, good for web use, can have a transparent background.
Color Profiles: CMYK, RGB, HEX
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black): This color model is primarily used for printed materials like brochures, magazines, and business cards. CMYK colors are created by mixing cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks. For example, a pure white would be represented as C: 0, M: 0, Y: 0, K: 0 (meaning no ink is used).
RGB (Red, Green, Blue): RGB is the standard color model for digital media, such as computer screens, televisions, and mobile devices. Colors are created by combining varying intensities of red, green, and blue light. Pure white in RGB is R: 255, G: 255, B: 255 (all colors at their maximum intensity).
HEX Number: A HEX number is a six-digit hexadecimal representation of a color. It’s commonly used in web design and app development. Each pair of hexadecimal characters represents the intensity of red, green, and blue, respectively. For instance, white is represented as #FFFFFF.
Design Language For Non-Designers
Copyrights
Copyright is an invisible set of laws to protect the use and distribution (free or paid) of a creative work. It gives only the user who created it access to use it unless they pass rights along to another person or entity. A copyright goes into effect the
moment somebody creates something.
Click here to consult the official copyright website to learn more.
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a bit different, but it should still be paid attention to. Creative Commons, or CC, is a set of rules attached to images. There are multiple CC licenses, and the creator chooses which one is used. Make sure to read through it and abide by what is asked of the creator.
Click here to explore Creative Commons licenses.
Photo Resolution
High Resolution vs. Low Resolution
- HIGH: Large physical size, 300 dpi, Always use in printed material for best quality.
- LOW: Small physical size, 72 ppi, Use in digital media.
- DPI / PPI: Dots per inch (term used in print) / Pixels per inch (term used in digital)
*NOTE: You cannot make a photo any size larger than the original size, or it will be blurry
Stock Photography Websites
Free Options:
Premium Options:
What Size to Download
Cheat Sheet!
- X-SMALL / SMALL: These photos are low resolution photos. They have a small physical size and are 72 ppi. Use only in web or digital based projects. Cheapest.
- MEDIUM / LARGE: These photos are high resolution photos. They have a large physical size and are 300 dpi. Use only in print based materials. More expensive.
*NOTE: Always download the largest size you can afford.
Why You Should Kick Your Google Images Habit
Google’s a pretty useful tool. It should, however, not be your go-to place to find images for your marketing. Yes, it’s quick and you can generally find the type of image you’re on the hunt for in the first few that display. But Google Images is a habit you should really stop.
So what’s the big deal?
When you do an image search in Google, their robots are crawling the web to find any images that are relevant to what you typed in. They are NOT taking into account copyrights and the Creative Commons licenses. They are just pulling in images from all across the web. A good majority of these images are under copyright law or a Creative Commons License.
A copyright gives only the user who created it access to use it, unless they pass rights along to another person. A copyright goes into effect the moment somebody creates something. When you Google an image, right click + save as, and use it on Facebook, your website, postcard, etc. you are violating the copyright by the creator. Essentially, if you are doing this, it is stealing. On the light end of being notified of this you could receive a cease and desist notification asking for the removal of all work up to, on the heavy end, dealing with lawsuits.
Neither of these would be good to have happen to your company.
Creative Commons is a bit different, but should still be paid attention to. Creative Commons, or CC, are a set of rules attached to images. There are multiple CC rules and the creator gets to choose what they allow you to do. Some licenses only allow you to use the image as is and give the original creator credit. Some allow you to modify. If you come across something with a Creative Commons license make sure to read through it and abide by what is asked. Many of the Creative Commons licenses require you to give credit to the creator.
Click here to explore Creative Commons licenses.
What can you do to avoid this?
Switch where you go for images/graphics to use in your marketing. Use a stock photography website instead of Google. This way you are buying the rights to use an image or graphic on your marketing. This is the surest way to make sure it is okay for you to put it on a blog post, website, postcard, poster, etc.
On a budget?
Consider taking or creating your own. This is the best way to make sure you have ALL the rights to the graphics. This also means you have the ability to change and modify them as you wish.
Need something premade? Use a stock photography website listed above. This is another way to ensure you have the rights to a photograph. Yes, most of the time you need to pay for it, but that cost is giving you copyrights to use the photo as you need.
- Sites to consider: iStock, Shutterstock, and Dreamstime are a few of my suggestions.
- Dreamstime is a good, low cost website for stock photography and illustrations.
You may be interested in: 101 Copyrights and Creative Commons
Need help implementing these design principles for your business or have questions about the information shared here? Talk with our team today! Give us a call at (320) 587-8974!
