Business Guidelines
Mission Statement Sparks & Sons are an small, independent, family run welding business specialising in furniture. We are based in the heart of York where we have a small local shop on The Shambles. Our furniture is bespoke and one of a kind which we make to order for our audience, that is the local community which is emphasised by our small size. The tone of voice we use is approachable and homely in feel. Due to the nature of welding, we strive to be a company which is as ethically responsible as possible. The furniture we produce is made from scrap materials and unwanted, existing furniture which we manipulate into specialist pieces of work, restoring it to its former glory. As a company, we strive to produce the a unique product for every customer which is of the highest quality and standards.
History Sparks & Sons began in 1989 in the garage of a young, 6-year old Maria Sparks who would watch her father and grandfather fix the furniture of their neighbours as a pasttime. They had been doing this practise since the 1960s. Soon, the began to teach Maria the skills necessary to be a welder and would help them during the holidays. After the birth of her sons, George and Brian Sparks, she began to teach them in the same way that her grandfather and father had taught her. Soon, they were fixing the furniture of the whole city which sparked the idea of setting up the business. Putting in her 25 years experience of welding, Sparks & Sons was born.
Normal Scale7mm
Spacing around logo10mm Smallest Scale5mm
ComapnyLogo Our logo must always be in the shape of a circle that encompasses all information within the logo. The logo cannot be shortened, cropped or manipulated and must be shown in its full, original form. The largest scale of the logo is unlimited so that the advertising of the company is not restricted to the largeness of the logo. Normally, on top of business collateral, the logo is 7mm in height but, at its smallest scale, it should be no smaller than 5mm for legibility of the script font within the logo. In regards to reproducing the logo onto other collateral, the spacing around the logo should be kept clear, with 10mm spacing around the circumference of the logo to ease clarity of the logo
Dragon Is Coming- 48pt Header
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Apercu- 14pt Body Copy ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Typography The header font used for the brand is ‘Dragon Is Coming’ to highlight the joining together of materials during the physical process of Welding. The font size for the header must be 48pt so that it has a large impact as well as aiding the legibility of the scripted nature of the font. The body copy font used for the brand is ‘Apercu’ which has the aesthetic of being a traditional legible font whilst the sans serif element of the font gives the brand a modern twist. The font size for the body copy must be 14pt so that it is easy to read.
C= 78, M=38, Y= 50, K= 30
R= 51, G=102, B= 102
C= 0, M=28, Y= 14, K= 0
R= 255, G=204, B= 204
Colour Scheme The main colour scheme for our brand is based around a teal blue and a pastel yellow. The teal is to highlight the chemical reaction which takes place when metals are heated and the colour variations that can be produced, with teal highlighting the effect that heat has on copper. The pastel yellow is a reference to the sparks that are given off when welding together metal as well as a reference to the family name. The colour scheme can only be deviated from these colours when printed in a black and white only format.
BusinessCollateral In order to compete for business and to stand out from other competitors, we have a business card which is unique due to the circular format of the card. This is so that it reflects the logo design of the company and that it is easily memorable. These cards will be given out to any customers or visitors to the shop as well as be available to pick up or be in the shop windows of other local stores so as to reflect the morals of our business which is to support local businesses within the area together.
BusinessCollateral Due to the small nature of the business and the fact that our main audience is the local community, we feel that we do not need to produce large, wide-scale promotional advertisements. Instead, we feel that a low-scale but equally effective local campaign would help to promote our business officially. This will be done through flyers that could be posted into letterboxes and adverts which can be posted into the small ads in the local newspaper. This also reflect the ethical, eco-nature of the company.
BusinessCollateral The range of collateral we produce is relevant to the size of the company and the scale of the business as well as the nature of the store itself, which is an independant company. Thus, the production of letterheads, invoices and quotations work to the ethos and needs of the company as they will be things that are constantly in use. For any paperwork for the company, the background must be cream in colour with the text being in teal. The Logo must always be to the top right hand corner have a space of 10mm around the circumference.
BusinessCollateral To show approval for any of our products, they must have our company logo stamped onto them using a rubber stamp or onto a parcel tag attached to highlight that they meet our standards and it has been approved for sale after production. The logo must be at least 20mm in circumference and should be printed in teal ink so that it reflects the brand identity of the company. The stamp will make our product trustworthy to our audience as it shows that we have quality control and regulated standards towards our products.
Website Our website is minimalist in style and gives a platform for customers to visit so that they can get to know more information on the company. The website will be updated to show latest work produced and where we source our materials from. The style of the website reflects the brand guidelines as well as fits with the rest of the identity.