BRAND GUIDE 2020
INTRODUCTION
“D&S Commissioning Ltd is striving to be uniformed in its approach to documents that get delivered. This brand guide is intended to give guidance to allow for us to achieve that. A professional approach is what will set us aside from our competitors. Please use the this brand guide to help you to make any documents or items that will be representative of D&S Commissioning. “
Nick Shires
January 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS
D&S COMMISSIONING LTD
Welcome from the MD Table of Contents Your Logo What Logo where? Brand colours Brand fonts Document set up DOES & DON’TS Your brand and the future
YOUR LOGO What is a logo? At the very basic level, logos are symbols made up of text and images that help us identify brands we like. But they can be so much more! A good logo is the cornerstone of your brand. It helps customers understand what you do, who you are and what you value. That’s a lot of responsibility on a tiny image! Let’s look at how to make the most of your logo. What does a logo do? Logos do something aside from look pretty, right? Yes! Logos serve many functions. A logo makes you stand out from the competition. Perhaps the most fundamental function of a logo is giving your business a unique mark that differentiates you from other businesses. This is especially important if your business has competition (which 99.9% of them do). A logo identifies key information about your business Along with demarcating your business, a good logo also provides your customer with some crucial information about your company: it can communicate the industry you exist in, the service you provide, your target demographic and your brand values. For example, a company might use water imagery into their logo to show that they operate in a water industry, or they might use a specific colour to communicate the same. Or they might use a strong font to highlight that they are reliable. A logo builds brand recognition. Logos also leave a visual impact that reminds your customers that, well… that you exist! In other words, logos can create strong visual associations with a business. This association helps customers keep your brand in mind. Think about brands like Nike or McDonalds, whose logos are so ubiquitous that they can be instantly recognized with or without the name attached. It’s no surprise that logos are such a central part of brand identity. What are the elements of a logo? Now that we know what a logo does, let’s look at what they are made of. Star-dust, chocolate chips, recycled board games? Close but not quite! While there is no definitive answer, we can break down some of the common logo design elements. Typography. When it comes to form, a logo will usually contain some kind of typographic element. This can range from a monogram-style single letter, to an abbreviation or the full title of the business. Sometimes typography is accompanied by symbols or icons. These can be representative or composed of abstract geometric elements. In certain instances, logos also include decorative elements such as line work or visual punctuations—such as small stars or dotted lines—that don’t necessarily create a specific, standalone image. Colour. Beyond form comes colour. Logos can be black and white, monochrome or multicoloured. Multi-coloured logos often have palettes that are either analogous, meaning colours of similar hue, or complementary, meaning colours of distant or opposite hue. Context. In some instances, a logo is also defined by the context in which it is used. With that said, it’s important to think about when and where logos can be applied. Commonly we see logos online, on business cards, in storefronts, advertising and it print. But your business might have specific needs. In the example, the circular design is a perfect fit for drink coasters!
Some of the most successful logos are not conceptual or complex at all. We hope the new D&S Commissioning logo is perhaps the most perfect possible solution for this business. The name tells the viewer exactly what the service is, the design communicates their noBS brand values and the typeface lets you know that they take business seriously!, all while keeping a connection of form with the past while surging into a new future. How is a logo different from branding? One common confusion we see comes in understanding the difference between logos and branding. It sounds complicated but the difference is quite simple: Your brand is the set of perceptions people have about your company. In other words, it can be thought of as the big-picture impression that your company leaves on the customer. This impression can be left by many things, such as your advertisements, commercials, customer service, and yes your logo as well. That’s right, your logo is PART of your branding (not the other way around). For example, while the Apple logo is iconic and instantly recognizable, it’s not the only thing that creates their elegant, easy-to-use and customer-friendly brand identity. Those qualities are expressed through their design choices in billboard ads, commercials, web design and on-site store layout. The logo simply holds the visual association to those things. Plus let’s face it, Apple just wouldn’t be the same without the Apple. As you read though the brand guide our hope is that you will understand how the logo, typefaces and fonts, and colours combined with other elements make up your brand.
D&S COMMISSIONING LTD
D&S COMMISSIONING LTD
D&S COMMISSIONING LTD
WHAT LOGO WHERE? You will have recieved or have access to various different files which make up the logos in your deliverables package. The different files have been designed to be used in different situations. (samples of the logo on a dark back ground and also a light one can be seen on the facing page and ablack & white version at the bottom of the page. Below is a list of the file names and where they should be used.(this is not an exhaustive list and if you are sure contact the marketing/brand manager. On the following pages there are mock up samples of the logo in various uses along side which is what logo version has been used as a further idea of correct usage.
DS-BANNER-LOGO-12-19
In any horizontal space
DS-BANNER-LOGO-12-19-BW
as above but where colour will not be used
DS-BANNER-LOGO-12-19-SINGLE-COLOUR
in instances like the back cover or where something needs to be engraved or embossed.
DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19
In any square or circular space
DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19-BW
as above but where colour will not be used
DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19-DARKBACKGROUND
on dark backgrounds
DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19-SINGLE-COLOUR
in instances like the back cover or where something needs to be engraved or embossed.
D&S COMMISSIONING LTD
Baseball cap using: DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19-DARK-BACKGROUND
Coffee cups using: DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19
Cut out card using: DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19-SINGLE-COLOUR
metal cut out using: DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19-SINGLE-COLOUR
White flag using: DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19
Hoddy using: DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19-DARK-BACKGROUND
Flash drives using: DS-BANNER-LOGO-12-19 on the main body DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19 on the lid
Rubber stamp using: DS-BANNER-LOGO-12-19-SINGLE-COLOUR
CARDBOARD BOX using: DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19-SINGLE-COLOUR DS-BANNER-LOGO-12-19-SINGLE-COLOUR
business card using: DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19
Letterhead using: DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19 DS-STACK-LOGO-12-19-SINGLE-COLOUR
HEX CODE #283686 FOR WEB USE R: 038 G: 066 B: 146
FOR PRINTING USE C: 099 M: 089 Y: 007 K: 000
HEX CODE #EFEFF8 FOR WEB USE R: 239 G: 239 B: 248
FOR PRINTING USE C: 007 M: 006 Y: 000 K: 000
HEX CODE #989899 FOR WEB USE R: 152 G: 152 B: 153
FOR PRINTING USE C: 043 M: 035 Y: 035 K: 001
HEX CODE #000000 FOR WEB USE R: 000 G: 000 B: 000
FOR PRINTING USE C: 091 M: 079 Y: 062 K: 097
BRAND COLOURS Your brand colours are the four found in your logo, these have been given the names:
Finley Blue Florrie White Spanish Grey Black Black These four colours not only make up your logo but are to be used where possible throughout your branding. Including business cards, letterheads, web site banners and many other things. Brand is important and the colours have been chosen to work well together to produce an image that is not only pleasing to the eyes but speaks to the brand. Shades in the blue colour range have been found to make the customer believe a brand and therefore a company is trustworthy, dependable and has strength; grey evokes a feeling of balance and calm. The white is actually an off blue shade of white to create a softer blend. Black in itself are not actually a colour in the purest definition as it is an absence of colour but does produce a strong platform to present colours on and offer an inegral part of the look. Contained on the previous pages of this guide are samples of different mock ups of the brand to show examples of this.
Registration of your colours can be found at kolormark.com/ followed by the six digit hex number (drop the #)
BRAND FONTS The logo uses TWO fonts, the main ‘DS’ is Franklin Gothic Heavy and the logotext (business name) is Helvetica Neue Lt 75 Bold. Although these are both suitable to be used as header fonts when use in text it is recommeneded to use Garamond (as will be seen when the document page set up is explained later in the guide.) For use as ‘body text’ I recommend Garamond (all of these have been included in your deliverables package).
Franklin Gothic Heavy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = !”£$%^&*()_+ qwertyuiop[]# QWERTYUIOP{}~ asdfghjkl;’ ASDFGHJKL:@ zxcvbnm,./ ZXCVBNM<>? Helvetica Neue Lt 75 Bold 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = !”£$%^&*()_+ qwertyuiop[]# QWERTYUIOP{}~ asdfghjkl;’ ASDFGHJKL:@ zxcvbnm,./ ZXCVBNM<>? Garamond 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = !”£$%^&*()_+ qwertyuiop[]# QWERTYUIOP{}~ asdfghjkl;’ ASDFGHJKL:@ zxcvbnm,./ ZXCVBNM<>?
DOCUMENT SET UP Across the page you will see a sample of a page set up on the new letterheaed, the font used as stated previously is Garamond. There are two main reasons for this, the first is that is is a serif font (it has small â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;tailsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that is easier to read when there is a large body of text) that fits well with the two fonts in the logo (Franklin Gothic Heavy and Helvetica Neue Lt 75 Bold) and it is also installed on most computers so the file will look the same when you send it as a word file. (note: if a computer does not have the same font files as your it will substitue one it feel is closest so to ensure your document arrives as wanted we would always recommend saving it as a pdf and sending that version. Please take a look as if you set your document right the first time as a template it will save the need in the futute. The margins are set as per the ilustration below.
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DOES & DON’TS YOU WOULDN’T WEAR A BLUE AND AN ORANGE SOCK TOGETHER you wouldn’t need someone to tell you that doesn’t work SO TAKE A FEW MOMENTS TO THINK ABOUT HOW YOU USE YOUR LOGO. The brand belongs to you so it is up to you to create your own rules but here are a few pointers on how to make the most of your logo/brand. 01. SPACE AROUND THE LOGO. Always leave some space around the logo to give it room to breath, try to place it on white or neutral colours. 02. RED ALERT!!!! Please don’t use the logo on horrible colours, this is subjective but we would describe horrible colours as those that vibrate or clash with the brand colours. 03. CLUTTERED BACKGROUNDS. Try not to place the logo on top of a cluttered photograph or overly textured background. 04. A LITTLE UGLY. The logo has gone through a long design process so please don’t change the colours or add unneeded effects.
YOUR BRAND AND THE FUTURE As it is with a business a brand although a constant in many ways is also in constant growth. developing to meet new market needs but staying secure and the same to facilitate a solid base which is instantly recognisable.
It is very important to realise YOU are part of the brand. Each time you greet a customer, make a phone call, or send an email you are representing the brand and the company. Take your time to read digest and ask questions about the new brand because you really are one of the most important parts of it.
Designer Contact Information David R Shires Tel: + 353 83 184 7580 E-mail: create@theimagedesigns.com www.theimagedesigns.com