Happy Sunday!
I like to write this newsletter about something I’ve been thinking about, reading or working on this week.
We’ve been really busy recently, FINALLY finishing the latest edition of Barry Magazine, but we also made time to celebrate 2 years of being together, and what a couple of years it’s been!
So many things have changed since we first met. There’s now two dogs taking up space on the sofa, the camping stove has been replaced with a real life kitchen and our businesses have both grown.
Tom is an amazing graphic designer and he’s taught me so much about design which has helped HI Communications and my clients too. To be honest I’m surprised he stuck around after seeing the logo I made myself in Powerpoint (lol)
So, as someone who is not a graphic designer, I thought I’d share a few things about design for small businesses that I’ve learnt along the way!
A logo isn’t a brand
A lot of businesses will pay for a new logo, or go on a free logo website, and that’s it. Whack it up, pop it on a business card and you’re done. But there’s so much more to branding a business (and it’s not something I’m an expert on either!).
When Tom made me a new logo and website he also changed the way I feel about HI Communications and think about how my customers feel too. We started with that - friendly, helpful, bright, easy going and the rest of the branding came from there. Your business is more than just a logo, so think about what you want it to say before you start. Less is usually more
I’m usually team ‘make it jazzy, make it bigger, add more bits’ but I’ve learnt especially with Barry Magazine that less is often more. When it comes to social media graphics and websites, keep it simple and let your words do the talking with lots of space and make sure there’s a purpose behind it.
Step away from the curly typeface
There are so many different typefaces, more than I ever realised, so why do we keep using curly, italic and unreadable on our websites (you know the one I mean!) In some magical way Tom will pick a typeface that is easy to read and fits with the business we’re working with, but it comes with years of practise.
Whether you’re in Canva or making yourself a new website, ask a few people if they think it's easy to read and check it on different devices. It’s so disheartening when a business has spent so long working to find no one can actually read it.
I’m still learning everyday and one of the best ways is by trying and getting things wrong and figuring out how to make them right again!
If you’d like to take a look at our latest edition of Barry Magazine, pop the kettle on and click here to read it.