What is Branding?

Branding is not only your logo but also your business name. Great names evoke intrigue, savvy and class, and tell customers a lot about who you are. When you begin the branding process, think first about your name. Next, envision an image that works with that name. Finally, create a byline, which is a short sentence that describes who you are or what you stand for. Here's an example. I named of one of my first coffee bars "Caffe Primavera." In Italian, "Primavera" means springtime. For my logo design I used a Corinthian column with a floral theme at its base, surrounded by two renaissance angels. The byline I chose was "Coffee delivered from heaven."

There are many examples of expired branding in the coffee world. Let's look at Seattle's Caffé D'arte (Italian for "coffee of art"). Its simple logo incorporates the company name and a cup in a design that uses traditional Italian colors. Its byline, "Taste the Difference," tells you a lot. It indicates this company has traditional Italian coffee and suggests it is a high quality product.

Another Seattle coffee company with impressive branding is Caffé Vita. Its logo design features an Italian clown holding a cup. The image is classy, whimsical and reminds me of Carnival in Venice, reinforcing the link to Italy, the Mecca of espresso. The company uses its name and branding in fun and unique ways, probably more so than any other company in the industry.

Recently the company gave away black hats with an embroidered logo design that simply said "Caffé Vita." But for the younger crowd, as a very creative and unique promotion, the company created cheap black and white foam baseball hats that from a distance read "VITA SUCKS." Upon closer inspection, you could read small print that said, "VITA is great! What SUCKS is when you can't find any!

Written by: Bruce Milletto

Web Designers vs. Print Designers

Many Web designers come to the Web with a print background. Either they were print designers, or they are just used to the control that a print world gives. When you print something, it provides permanence and stability. You don't have this on the Web.

The problem is, that it's easy to forget. When you build your Web page and test it in your browser, you get it looking exactly how you want it to look. But then you test it in a different browser, and it looks different. And if you move to a different platform, it will look differently again.

As you're a designer, you'll need to work with customers. You will be doing them and yourself a disservice if you don't explain the difference between print and the Web. Especially if you bring your portfolio as print outs. This is a common problem, where the customer expects the printout to represent exactly what the page will look like.

What To Do? Working with Customers
Printouts as a PortfolioIt is always important to have a portfolio, but remember that the Web is not print, and bringing a print out is not a strong representation of your Web site design skills.

• Setting ExpectationsBe up-front with your customers. If they want their page to have very specific layout, font, and design elements, be sure to explain the tradeoffs such as download speed and maintenance before simply building them a completely graphical page.
• Know what your customer usesIf you're a big Netscape on the Mac fan, and your client only uses Internet Explorer for Windows, you should keep this in mind in your designs. Your page could look very different to them.

Design Techniques

• Know your audience
  Know the characteristics of the audience of the site you're building. If they are propellor-heads, they might browse in Unix on a 21 inch monitor. Or if they are more conservative they might have a 12 inch monitor running Internet Explorer 3. If you design a site that suits your audience, your customer won't be complaining to you later.
• Test test test
  Test your designs in every browser and OS combination that you can get your hands on. Emulators work if you have no other choice, but there is no substitute for hands on experience.
• Don't forget resolution
  Browsers and OS are important, but if your readers and customers are browsing on a smaller screen than you design on, they could be unpleasantly surprised.
  

The Web is Not Print
While it is possible, with CSS, to get very precise layouts, but it will never be as precise as print. If you can remember that as you're designing your Web pages, you'll save yourself a lot of stress.