Shining a light on things...
Building a Motion Identity
You have brand guidelines, what about motion guidelines? There should be a certain way your brand moves, that's in-line with the overall brand personality.
Adapt and Live Motion Identity
Here's an example of a motion identity se created for Adapt and Live. We talk you through the core concept for the brand, and how we used motion to bring it to life.
Unpopular Opinions on Web Design
They may be hard to hear, but Dave's unpopular opinions on web design make total sense to us. From overcomplicated design through to accessibility, hear his unpopular opinions and see if you agree.
The Website Testing Process
A lot of testing goes into the website development process. You need the website to work perfectly, and look great, across all screen sizes, browsers, and combinations of them all. Here's what we have to say about it.
Website security
You wouldn't leave your house unlocked, so why would you risk the security of a website? There are so many ways people can gain access to things you don't want them to if you're not careful enough. Get yourself an agency that takes it seriously.
Ongoing website maintenance
Just like a car needs to be maintained to stop it falling apart and keep it roadworthy, your website shouldn't be neglected for long periods of time either. At Dawn, alongside being able to host your site, we make sure it has all the updates and maintenance needed to keep it in good shape.
Consistency across a brand
Why would you start from scratch on every new project you do? Having one agency to do your branding, another to design your website, a freelancer to design your uniforms or van livery... it doesn't make sense. Get consistency across your brand by having one point of contact.
Website load speed
We recently reduced a website's load speed from 17.2 seconds to 1.2 seconds. But how does a website become so slow in the first place? It's a bit like packing a bag to go swimming...
UI and Brand Positioning
It's a connection people don't tend to think about, but even the interface and micro-interactions on your website are a reflection of your brand, and its positioning.
Creating efficiencies
We talk about consistency a lot. One way of maintaining a good level of consistence across your brand is by having the same agency do your brand and website work. We're biased, of course, but it's always made sense to us to do it where you can.
Values in web design
We've said it again and again, and we're not going to stop saying it. Your company values should be in absolutely everything you do. That includes the design of your website.
Design Language
You shouldn't think of any brand asset in isolation. If you don't consider the whole journey and the other brand assets that run alongside something like your website, you're likely chipping away at the quality of your brand.
The Importance of UI
UI (user interface) can make or break the experience someone has when visiting a website. It should never be difficult for someone to buy from you. Here's Dave exploring this when it comes to buying a holiday.
Bank brand colour evolutions
Why were bank brands so dark and gloomy? What has caused them to change to the bright Cyan of Barclay's, the bright purple of Natwest, and we've all seen Monzo cards. What's brought about this change?
Navigating cultural nuances
How do cultural and regional nuances affect the development of a brand? It can be a hard one to navigate, but with the right people involved, you can uncover certain regional and cultural elements that might just add something special to the meaning behind a brand, that we'd never have thought of otherwise.
Sound and motion example
Here, we talk about a brilliant agency that we partner with, called Molecular Sound.
They produce brilliant sound and motion assets, and sound and motion guidelines for brands such as Huel.
Colour and Tone of Voice
Within a brand identity, everything works together to convey a message. That message should tell a story of what the brand stands for, the brand personality, values, and what the company does. But how do some brand elements work with others? How does something like the brand colour palette influence the tone of voice?
Surreal's TOV and Colour
You scroll down to the bottom of the website, and instead of "sign up to the newsletter" you see "stay in the loop", which is a nod to the cereal itself. They use stand-out, bold colours within their brand, different to the rest, and this matches their TOV.
LIDL's TOV and Colour
You've seen the primary colours of LIDL's branding. Did you ever pick up on the associations of the colours and their simple Tone of Voice? This video might help you make the connection between these two core brand elements.
Brand Archetypes
Brand archetypes can be extremely useful in helping to define a brand’s identity and how it should present itself to its target audience. By understanding their own archetype (or multiple archetypes), a brand can better understand who they are, what their story is, and the values that drive them. What's yours
Simplicity in Design
One core message. No over-communication. That's what we believe makes great comms. Here we show you an example of an advert we believe does this well, and one that doesn't, and why.
Web Design Trends 2023
We've picked out our top web design trends for 2023 and beyond. Spatial UI, AI and Simplicity all make an appearance. What would you add to this list? Check out the blog for more on why we think these trends will be making an appearance more in the next 12 months.
The Brand Workshop
The first step in any brand project. The discovery session, the beginning of bringing your brand out of the dark and into the light. Learn about everything we do in the workshop, from understanding your audience through to your brand architecture and values.
Workshop Activities
Want to know what we get up to in our brand workshops? The hands-on, interactive stuff that will really get you thinking? Dave goes over everything in this video.
Brand Personality
If your brand was a celebrity, who would it be? Exercises like this have a deeper meaning - it's not about the person you choose, it's the reasons why. It's bringing out characteristics of your brand, discovering how you want to be perceived.
The Brand Core
The words behind your brand. The vision, the mission, the values and points of difference. We put this together before creating a visual identity, as your brand core is the driving force behind the decisions we make.
Visual Style
Your visual style is unique. But we believe all visual styles should have an element of simplicity. We run this exercise to show you the importance of simplicity in brand visuals. Communicating one core message. Not over-communicating.
Brand Positioning
If your brand was a car, which would it be? Are you forward-thinking and modern like Tesla? Reliable and trusted like VW? Or traditional and classy like Rolls Royce? Your brand positioning determines your price point, and shapes your brand.
Why we love in-house designers
In-house designers are brilliant. We love collaborating with them, getting to know them, and ultimately working together to create a fantastic output for the company we're all ultimately working for.
Why use a creative agency?
We're going to be biased on this, but working with a creative agency is one of the best decisions you can make for your creative team. Here's Dave's take on why.
Agency Partnerships
Our little black book of partners is incredibly important to us. From copywriters to videographers, illustrators to SEO pros, we all need each other.
Should marketers be doing graphic design?
Marketers have always worked very closely with designers. Sometimes, those lines get blurred. Dave has a few thoughts on what he thinks the "right" thing to do is, and why.
Brand Architecture
Is your brand architecture monolithic, a house of brands, sub-brands or endorsed?
Figure out where you sit, and why it matters.
In-house vs agency
The answer to the question “which is best” is… it depends. If you’re a company with a relatively small output not looking to increase that, an in-house designer could be perfect for you. It’s a fixed monthly cost, and they can be there with you in person.
Tea Towel Memory Game
Remember the game where you would cover a load of items with a tea towel, and try to remember as many as you could? This is a perfect game you can play to demonstrate why consistency in brand messaging works best.
The history of the in-house vs agency debate
It isn’t a straightforward choice to employ an in-house designer or hire an external design agency. Either represents an investment, and has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The best option may depend on your requirements and vision for your marketing, but here we’ll look into the pros and cons of each.