Informational Archives – Lauren Rogers

Why re-branding takes time and our top tips

laurenrogers — Tue, 03 May 2022 03:59:53 +0000

We’ve worked on alot of re-branding projects and wanted to give you a few tips to make sure yours goes smoothly.

Let’s start by addressing what exactly is re-branding and why you might find yourself in the position of needing to re-brand in the first place. Re-branding is a strategy to change your brand image by developing either a new name and/or your logo and branding assets. There can be many driving factors behind re-branding, you need to go through a discovery phase first before jumping in and keep touching base throughout the process and even after you launch.

Re-branding takes time, we know! It’s a really big commitment and once you’ve made the decision you have to stay focused and commit to the roll-out. You need to dedicate tasks every single day or week towards the launch, there will be lots of busy work in the background and a long list of admin tasks before you’ve even made the big announcement. This will be more in-depth for larger companies who will need to think about where the brand shows up and make a plan to update every touchpoint, this is also why it’s so important to get it right the first time but that’s a whole other article.

TIP 1. GET CLEAR ON WHY YOU’RE RE-BRANDING.

A re-brand won’t allow your business to grow if you jump into it without first asking some crucial questions. It’s important to reflect (ALOT) before jumping into a re-brand. What are you hoping to achieve by investing in a new corporate brand identity? Having a goal for the re-brand will really help when you brief in your designer, you can also invest in a brand strategist to assist you in updating your companies vision & mission and target audience first. This is highly recommended if you have some budget so you have copy and a clear direction.

A few questions to ask are;

Are you re-naming and creating an entirely new brand?
Are you doing a refresh and need to remain familiar to your existing customers?
Do you want to appear more premium?
Are you upgrading from a DIY and need all your collateral to work as a cohesive identity system?
Is your image is too premium and doesn’t reflect your current product?
Do you want to sell your product for more?

TIP 2. INVEST IN AN EXPERIENCED VISUAL BRAND DESIGNER.

As designers writing this, we will obviously always recommend this step. But honestly, we’re not just saying it because we are designers, we have seen first-hand brands gone wrong and have done plenty of re-designs because this crucial step was skipped trying to save a few bucks.

Please don’t go to 99 Designs or Fivvr, you will get a logo yes but will it be thoughtful, strategic, and set you up for growth, probably not. Will you have to go through another re-design process a few years down the track, probably.

You will have your new brand for years to come so it’s a worthy investment to make sure you get it right, we recommend setting aside a budget so you know what you want to spend and start looking for the perfect designer to work with you to create your killer brand.

When looking for a designer make sure you pay close attention to their portfolio and the brands they have rolled out. Someone with a page of logo’s most likely won’t understand the importance of building a brand identity over designing a logo. And no, you don’t want “just a logo”, this will not help you move forward and will really leave you feeling flat when you start to market yourself.

“Please don’t go to 99 Designs or Fivvr, you will get a logo yes but will it be thoughtful, strategic, and set you up for growth, probably not.”

TIP 3. GET ORGANISED

File your brand guidelines and any other assets that were included in your brand identity project in a neat filing structure which will make using or sharing them with your team easy. I have a Brand Assets folder which contains;

BRAND ASSETS

Logo Suite
Brand Guidelines
Collateral
Image Library
Social Media Assets

This way I can share my whole brand assets folder with my team or remote workers and they can hit the ground running.

TIP 4. PLAN THE LAUNCH AND STAY ON TRACK.

Your launch plan will be broken into many parts, my recommendation is to start from your launch deadline and work backward. What date do you want to launch? What needs to be completed each week to ensure you hit this deadline? A lot of re-brands run over their deadlines, it’s no small feat refreshing a brand, but having a rough deadline in mind will ensure the needle keeps moving and it doesn’t get put on the back burner.

You don’t want confused customers landing on your website and wondering who you are? Work out which tasks need to be done and structure them most to least important, for example, your online presence and first touchpoints will be most important, your staff back end operations least important and possibly can be done after you launch.

I always recommend a Gant chart which will set your deadline and plan the key dates of what needs to be done. I also use Asana boards to assign tasks and keep track of what’s happening within the team.

A few tasks in the roll-out will include;

Building your new website
Create a redirect from your current website, which will tell your customers you’ve re-branded and take them to the new website. You may need to enlist an IT team to assist with this.
Update your name and logo on your Google Business Suite
Admin tasks like updating your email signatures and emails
Update your re-brand across your online platforms, this can include Instagram, Facebook, Behance, Pinterest, Linkedin, and anywhere else you have your brand listed.

“You don’t want confused customers landing on your website and wondering who you are.”

TIP 6. TELL YOUR CUSTOMERS.

One of the most critical steps is to keep your customers in the loop, you don’t want to lose loyal fans if they think you no longer exist or have not considered them in the process. Explain how the re-brand will impact them and how it will improve your services or product. If they know things will get better through re-branding they’re more likely to move over with ease and not make assumptions or move to the competitor. Also if they need to action anything, tell them clearly what needs to happen. For example, contact you at your new email address or if processes are changing you can let them know now, most people just care about what they need to do, and if it’s nothing they’ll move on with their lives but continue to use your services.

TIP 7. MAINTAIN AND GROW.

Now it’s all about growing your new brand, keep nurturing it and checking back in with your values to ensure it’s aligning with your newly created company vision. Now is the time to also have a team meeting to ensure everyone is in-line with the business goals and vision. If you had brand guidelines designed you can print these and give them to your staff which ensures they’re always checking in with the companies values too, this will be worth its weight in gold.

Other ideas are to create a suite of posters to hang in staff areas, create an internal reward system for those showcasing the new values, get staff excited about it and your customers will notice.

“Now is the time to also have a team meeting to ensure everyone is in-line with the business goals and vision.”

The post Why re-branding takes time and our top tips appeared first on Lauren Rogers.

Why your brand needs a style guide

laurenrogers — Tue, 03 May 2022 03:45:20 +0000

When you go to a designer to create your brand or logo, you are essentially asking them to create the “face of your business”. A logo can be enough to simply put onto a business card and get going, but if you’re a business that needs to sell your services you’re most likely going to need a brand identity, this is where the style guide comes in and I will explain why you need a style guide and best practices for using it within your company.

As a graphic designer I have realised with many years in the industry that creating a logo is not enough. Your customers are giving you money for a few reasons, they love what you do, they trust you and they believe you can supply value to them in some way. Yes you can have ana mazing product or service that does just this, but if you are lacking in the brand department and your logo falls flat you will not only seem unprofessional, but un trustworthy and your image may just down play the value you can provide.

But why do I need a style guide?

Let me explain in a few dot points below;

To create a vision for your photography and keep it consistent.

Having a page which outlines the style of your photography is a game changer, you will be shocked at how different people have different ideas of photography so outlining exactly how your brand uses photography will help keep all your touch points consistent.

To share your brand vision and mission.
You need to convey your story to multiple people, in a consistent way without losing the main purpose of your brand. Sharing not only your vision and mission but in a branded guide will really cement who you are and create a strong impression on anyone dealing with you and your business.

To get everyone talking in the same voice.
Imagine this, you’re starting out and talking to web developers, designers, copywriters and trying to pitch your company. Imagine how easy life could be if you had one document you could send to all your touch points to give clarity around how the company’s tone of voice comes across. It explains the call-outs and words used in every day communication, and hooray you have a consistent brand talking to the right people.

To make sure your logo is always being used correctly and consistently.
Logo’s come in all shapes and sizes and if they are not used with consistent spacing and sizing it can look very unprofessional. One of the key ways your customers are going to trust you enough to spend their hard earned money with you is if your branding has a professional feel to it. A thorough style guide will help you always use your logo in a way that will make your brand feel trustworthy, consistent and it will also mean you’ll spend less time tweaking your logo, and just following the rules set out in your trusty style guide.

For easy reference to your brand colours, typography styles and brand assets.
So coming on from point 1, having all of your colours listed in an easy to copy and paste format is a life changer for consistency. You will be surprised how many people will try to guess your colours and you will end up with a mix matched brand which never looks professional.

For creating specific rules to keep your typography consistent.
Having style guide listing out all your fonts with the specifics on how to use them is so important. A well-thought-out style guide will outline spacing, leading, uppercase or lowercase and the weights used to keep the branding consistent. Without this you will be constantly looking for your font name and worse risk others using an entirely different font, which is really not something you want happening if you want to keep your branding looking professional.

Sign up for my newsletter to get helpful tips and advice straight to your inbox… or if you’re looking for a packaging designer to work with you on your packaging design make sure you check out my portfolio before you leave.

The post Why your brand needs a style guide appeared first on Lauren Rogers.

What to include on your food packaging design in Australia

laurenrogers — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 00:29:50 +0000

Read this article if you’re curious about the things you MUST and SHOULD include on your packaging design in Australia. I’ve included quick links so you can reference this article when you’re hunting for the information. It’s a tool I wish I had when I was designing my first packaging job. It can be a tool for you to use to help you better source the information you need to brief a designer.

As a Packaging Designer in Australia I have many times attempted to Google this information and this has led me on a goose chase around multiple Government websites to try and find the appropriate information. This is what has prompted me to write this article to hopefully help you with finding the right information for your food packaging and fast! There are various places to find the information you need as a start up or company launching a new product so, here it is in one place (most of it anyway). There may be things I have missed so please also do your own research but use this as a tool for the foundations to get started. Note: This article is written on October 2020 and information may date.

If we take a step back, generally the steps in the journey of your packaging design go like this;

Decide on a product you’re passionate about and want to spend 1/3 of your waking hours working on.
Hone in on your brand messaging, the why, what and who (I’ve written another post on this, go check it out.)
Find an awesome brand identity and packaging designer to develop your brand.
Read the article below to figure out what the heck to include on your packaging and what information you need to put on your packaging.

Information you SHOULD include

From experience here is a list of information I would recommend including if you’re a food startup business in Australia. This is broad and will really depend on your product and how you are positioning yourself. These are not required by law but are definitely nice to haves that will help move your product off the shelves and into your consumers baskets.

During my time as a graphic designer I have learnt alot about packaging design, I have summarised my view of the items that SHOULD be put on your packaging to give it the best chance of making it.

Callouts. Up to 3 callouts on the front of your packaging. Why will someone pick up your product? After defining your target persona you should know exactly the sweet spots that will make them go… Oooooh I MUST have it.

Cooking Instructions. People like some help! Better yet a new recipe and a link back to your website and social media. People also love feeling apart of something so create a buzz. What?! Your mango juice can create a mango curry, I didn’t even think of that! That’s the reaction you’ll get.

Your brand story. Do you have a cool or authentic story to tell? If yes then share it, more likely people will connect with you and buy your product again (even if they don’t read it on the shelf they may read it when they get home while they are waiting for the kettle to boil). Put this on the back generally to invoke connection to your prodouct and brand.

Tips, advice or referral to another one of your products. People need prompting and if they know you also do other flavours that perhaps weren’t available at time of purchase this pushes up selling in a casual way.

Product benefits, maybe your customer buys your product for their skin and find out it also helps with digestion. Tell them, they won’t figure it out themselves.

Recycling information, sometimes this will help someone decide to buy a product if they are environmentally conscious. Again look at your persona and figure out if this is an important thing to them.

Health Star Rating is voluntary to put on your packaging design and help people make informed decisions about their health. This isn’t mandatory but most professional packaged food companies include this. Perhaps don’t include it if you have a low star item where this doesn’t work in your favour.

Health Star Calculator

A detailed description so at first glance they can see what’s in it or what it might taste like. I’d recommend bringing on a copywriter to help make it sound like the most delicious thing ever!

Photography, Illustrations or Cutouts: Asses your product and figure out if you want a photographed image of your product or if you want to show it through the packaging with illustrations. If your product doesn’t look that appealing best to go with photos of beautifully curated food images.

You can see 3 packaging designs I have designed below which have gone down different routes based on their product offering and target audience.

vEEF is a frozen burger pattie so won’t be appealing to show. In this case we have used the photo of a fully cooked burger with oozing vegan cheese to make the product appealing and picked up on the shelf.

This product is a frozen but slightly more appealing product, as it’s a full meal people generally want to see what the actual product looks like. I have seen too many times the cardboard ripped from packages so we want to avoid this by showing a small portion of the product through a cutout area and adding freshness with basil leaves.

Little Cove Dairy is a refrigerated product that doesn’t look overly pretty but customers want to see the grate size. In this case it is a food service product so a simple cutout area and clean design with colour being the distinguishing factor between cheese types enough.

Information you MUST include

Below is my list of must include items on your food packaging in Australia. This list may need to be added to but should get you started on your hunt for the information. Having this information from the beginning when you brief in your packaging designer will really help streamline the process and make sure nothing is missed.

I have summarised a list of items that MUST be put on your packaging to make sure you don’t run into trouble. Please note this is correct as of October 2020, please take this as a resource to add to your own research.

Name and/or Description of the food

Always outline the name of your food and a detailed description is recommended.

The weight

Always include the net weight on the front of your packaging, there are detailed specifications on the industry.gov.au website.

[button open_new_tab=”true” color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/guide-to-the-sale-of-pre-packaged-goods/labelling-requirements” text=”Weight Specification Guide” color_override=””]

Ingredients list

Following the correct Food Standards guidelines. As this information is suuuuper bland I like to make it a bit fun. On the vEEF packaging we wrote “Ingredients… We Love” as the heading. This helps just inject your brand personality into every aspect of the packaging, even the super dry bits.

[button open_new_tab=”true” color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/code/userguide/Documents/Guide%20to%20Standard%201.2.4%20-%20Ingredient%20Labelling%20of%20Foods.pdf” text=”Ingredient Labelling of Foods (PDF)” color_override=””]

Nutritional Information

[button color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/code/userguide/Documents/Userguide_Prescribed%20Nutrition%20Information%20Nov%2013%20Dec%202013.pdf” text=”Nutrition Information User Guide (PDF)” color_override=””]

Country of origin label.

It is required by Australian Law to outline the country of origin percentages.

[button open_new_tab=”true” color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”https://www.business.gov.au/Products-and-services/Product-labelling/Country-of-origin-food-labelling-resources” text=”Product Labelling Resource” color_override=””] [button open_new_tab=”true” color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”https://www.business.gov.au/products-and-services/product-labelling/calculating-australian-content” text=”Australian Made Percentage Calculator” color_override=””]

Distribution information

Name and street address of the supplier.

Barcode

The standard for retail in Australian is GS1. Tip: Make sure you get your barcode tested through GS1 before printing 1BILLION products (ok overexaggeration) but get tested. I promise you won’t regret spending the extra money. It’s like insurance for your packaging.

[button open_new_tab=”true” color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”https://www.gs1au.org/how-to-get-a-barcode/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwn7j2BRDrARIsAHJkxmwLpSg07JOeAycLd1cNSHyw6zm5QZc2kePcXJ79piW2BYH7zQEmNfkaAuG8EALw_wcB.” text=”How to get a Barcode (GS1 Website)” color_override=””]

Warning or advisory Statements

Advisory statements must be provided for certain foods or ingredients which may cause health risks for some consumers. Below is the link to more information on what needs to be included and the minimum size.

[button open_new_tab=”true” color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/labelling/advisory/Pages/default.aspx” text=”Advisory Guidelines (Food Standards Website)” color_override=””]

Best Before or Use by date

This is generally a white space where overprint of the best before or use by date will be printed or a sticker.

I welcome you to come back here to access the links you need, when you need them.

So in summary below are the should have’s and must have’s for your food packaging design in Australia. Do your own research and reference this article for the links to some of my most used resources.

Should have’s

Callouts
Photography, illustration or cutouts
Cooking instructions
Your brand story
Tips, advice or referral to other products in the range
Product benefits
Recycling information
Health star rating
Description

Must have’s

Name and/or description
Weight
Ingredients list
Nutritional information
Country of origin
Distribution information
Barcode
Warning or advisory statements
Best before or Use by date

Sign up for my newsletter to get helpful tips and advice straight to your inbox… or if you’re looking for a packaging designer to work with you on your packaging design make sure you check out my portfolio before you leave.

The post What to include on your food packaging design in Australia appeared first on Lauren Rogers.