Heroic Designs – March 2009

cowboytimsm

Developing Your Brand

As a little boy in rural Oklahoma I got to help my hero, a cowboy named Steve, brand a cow. As much as I wanted to be a cowboy for the rest of my life, little did I know that I would leave rustling cows behind but keep the branding iron with me. Now I help individuals and businesses develop their own brands (and yes, that is a picture of me above).

I’ve been slowly developing and exploring my own personal brand for several years. Recently I pushed it a little bit further by buying the domain GraphicDesignHero.com. Instead of selling myself as a graphic designer I’ve started making the bold claim that I’m a graphic design hero. My customers agree.

I found a great article entitled “9 Branding Tips For Small Businesses”. I thought I’d share a few tips with you. For sure, check out the entire article here.

  1. The design of your logo really doesn’t matter as much as what you do with it. Use it everywhere and use it consistently.
  2. Have a professional website and don’t let more than 2 years go by without an update. Be certain people are looking you up online.
  3. Data shows that people need to be exposed to a brand at least seven times before they buy. If you simply do one touch and stop, you’re wasting valuable budget dollars.
  4. Stand for something. If you’re trying to be everything to everybody, chances are you’ll attract no one.

no-men

Brand Camp

I’ve learned a lot about branding from a comic strip artist named Tom Fishburne.  Tom is a marketing professional and part-time funny guy. He runs a blog that features his doodles and thoughts on marketing. At first I started reading his comic strip because they hit close to home, but as time has passed he’s been teaching me a lot about branding as well.

Another interesting is Under Consideration: Brand New.  They review brand revisions by major corporations.  I found them because they exposed an over-the-top creative brief developed by Pepsi to justify their new logo.  You can review it for yourself and decided if it’s a joke or for real.  My favorite comment regarding the controversy can be found here.