Own Your Brand Assets

One of the services I provide my clients is creating promotional pieces: online or printed, mugs, tshirts and every manner of clever marketing concepts. But the staggering and unfortunate realization I’ve come across more often than I’d like is that many companies – even national, high-end businesses – don’t own their branding assets. Somehow in the creation of their branding, they weren’t given proper access to their logo or other important facets of their brand.

This lack of availability to branding assets creates a range of problems: The logo might not be crisp on printed materials, and sometimes not even in digital applications; the brand colors might not be accurate, and the font might not be available or even knowable. Not having these pieces correct detracts from a company’s professionalism and more importantly, the ability for their audience to recognize the brand rapidly is deeply diminished.

As I work with clients, I provide them with a folder of everything they’ll need for all types of promotions and marketing activities. Here’s a check list you need to secure from your graphic designer:

Style Guide:

Optimally you’ll receive a comprehensive style guide that details your logo and its preferred applications, brand colors listed with multiple color formats, and the fonts used. This style guide can be kept on your computer desktop for easy access.

Logo Formats:

•           High resolution jpeg – 300 dpi minimum – for digital and some print applications

•             High resolution png – 300 dpi minimum (transparent background)

•             Vector – pdf, ai, eps or svg files for printing and promotional items

Many of these terms are likely to be foreign to you, but don’t worry - a capable graphic designer speaks this language fluently! Each designer has their preferred formats, so have a conversation about what they include in their final package to you to be sure you get everything you need. Also, settle at the start what rights you have to the logo, as well as what the designer plans to do with the logo when it’s complete.

All these practices make sure you shine in your marketplace!