In the past few weeks I’ve written about effective design and what branding really is.
I was flipping through an old issue of Advancing Philanthropy (I’m a little behind on my reading!) when I came across a great side bar article called “Your Campaign’s Visual Messages” by Edward Fierro.
He reminded me that the visual language/message is the design. You have the words and you have the design. The design can be determined and driven by a graphical or visual identity – commonly and incorrectly referred to (by some) as your “brand”.
I strongly suggest that having even a simple graphic identity helps define who you are as an organization. The guide could/should contain your logo, colour scheme and typography (fonts). It may also contain types of images that are appropriate for your charity, different versions and formats of your logo, design templates for certain materials like letterhead and brochures and anything else that will help anyone creating a message on behalf of your organization stay consistent in your design.
Fierro writes, “The visual language is particularly useful in developing campaign communications because it offers opportunities to define both an institution and a cause and is ideal for making the many parts of a fundraising program easily understood as practical and emotional messages. In concert with written and spoken campaign material, graphic identity provides the structure, familiarity and navigation needed by the target audience.”
He goes on to point out that your graphic identity creates recognition and is memorable in ways that the written word is not. It also helps build confidence and loyalty.
Your well thought out graphical identity will help you with that.
You should expect, no matter how large or small your charity is, that your designer or agency provide you with some bare bones identity guide as part of your new logo design.
And with that guide in hand, it will help you define your visual language for all of your marketing materials.