Why Graphics Matter – Creating an Impressive Brand

Many business owners underestimate the power and importance of their graphics. Whether it's a logo, a vehicle wrap or a wall decal announcing a product special, your graphics convey a lot about your brand and business to your customers. Having bad graphics can hurt you – having no graphics at all is inexcusable. In order to present your brand in ways you want to be perceived by your target customers, you need to carefully consider colours, shapes, designs and the execution of your graphics and print.

Your graphics, together with your written marketing materials, represent two of your strongest opportunities to take control of the way the public views your brand. This is why large companies are constantly updating their logos, trying to create a more 'modern' edge. Consider, for example, Shell oil's latest re-brand. They recognized that their old logo – the simple red and yellow shell outline – was carrying a lot of negative connotations built up over many years of bad press. They changed their logo to something completely new and different in an attempt to shift those public perceptions (whether that has worked for them or not is up for debate).

Most customers relate the professionalism of your graphics and print materials to the professionalism of your business itself. In other words, if your graphics look like they were drawn by an amateur, or your website is covered in pixelated images, or your vehicle wraps look tacky and low-budget – potential customers will assume the same things are true of your business, that you're tacky and low-budget. And that is not the impression you want to put forward.

Colours and shapes are important to take into account when it comes to branding graphics. People associate different colours with different emotions unconsciously (think about how the colour red makes you feel, for instance, compared to the colour blue). It's important to think about the brand you want to create and the target customers you're pursuing, and line up your graphics accordingly. Should your logo include hard angles or soft lines? Bright or dark colours? These are important questions to consider which may ultimately have a big effect on your brand building outcomes.

So what's the best way to determine how you should shape your brand through graphics and design?

It's simple: ask your customers. If you have existing customers, talk to them and find out what's most important to them. Find out what attracted them to you in the first place and then emphasize the most important aspects of your brand. If you're just starting out and you don't have customers yet, talk to people in your target market. The best feedback will always come from the people you want to spend their money with you – don't leave it up to guesswork and never assume you know what people like and want, because you'll often be surprised by how far off the mark you are.

Shuriken Design is an Auckland-based graphic design and digital print company, specializing in vehicle wraps, decals and digital signage.