How to Look a Million Bucks: An entrepreneurs guide to creating a kick-ass brand identity.

How to look
a million bucks.
An entrepreneurs guide to creating a kick-ass brand identity by Aaron Fifield

Hey, you’re awesome!
Thanks for viewing our guide. I hope you find this valuable on
your journey to world domination.
I’ll bump into you again at the end. See you shortly.
Follow @aaronfifield

Words you need to know.
There are only three words you need to know to make the most
of this guide. Here is a brief summary to bring you up to speed.

Brand.

Identity.

Logo.

Perceived emotional

Visual aspects that form part

Identifies a business in its

company image as a whole.

of the overall brand.

simplest form via the use of a
mark or icon.

How To Look A Million Bucks

3

Contents
Facing the tough questions

pg08

Preparing to get creative

pg16

Crafting the perfect logo design

pg22

Creating an impact with the identity

pg37

Bringing your identity to life

pg55

Where to from here

pg63

Look a million bucks – what for?
Okay, not literally! But as the saying goes, when you ‘feel a million bucks’
you’re in excellent health and spirits. Well the same applies to your brand;
when you’re identity is in tip top shape you give off the vibe of being an
excellent company that can be trusted.


5

Reality is perception.
Another reason life’s better when you look a million bucks...

Perceived as:

Brilliant Brand Identity

Bad Brand Identity

Trustworthy
Credible
Established
Recognisable
Consistent


6

Before we get started...
It’s worth noting many ‘brand wizards’ like to overcomplicate and flood the topic of
branding with unnecessary technical jargon. While we certainly understand it, our
goal is not to knock your socks off with an extravagant vocabulary, but to be relatable
and help you create an exceptional brand your customers will love. Lets go!


7

First things first.

Facing the tough

QUESTIONS

Pinpoint who you are
and why ears should prick up.
What is the niche market you specialise in?

How do you want to be perceived?

It’s better to do one thing really well, than a dozen things poorly.

Exclusive, friendly, creative, delicious, affordable etc.

What are the most popular services or products

Are there certain emotions you need to trigger?

your company offers?

Joy, desire, happiness, relief, surprise, excitement etc.

What are your company values?

What is the single most important problem your

Efficient, reliable, integrity, excellence, teamwork etc.

company solves?


9

Small businesses can effectively
compete with large companies
by targeting a niche market.

Profile your perfect customer.
If you could clone just one customer over and

Does this person fit a certain stereotype?

over again, who would that be?
What’s their income bracket?
Are they male or female?
Where do they live?
What’s the age of this person?
Where do they hang out?
What demographic do they fall into?
What websites and blogs do they visit?


11

Stick out like a sore thumb.
Difference survives and excels in competitive

What’s your point of difference?

markets.

Cheaper, faster, more experienced, track record of outstanding
results, more of a variety, local experts etc.

What can you offer customers that your
competitors can’t?

Steer clear of being another ‘me too’ business.

Is there something that makes your company

Avoid points your competitors could potentially

truly unique?

promote as well.


12

To create a brand that stands out
we need to find a design solution
that hasn’t been used by any of
your competitors.

Drill down and identify
your closest competitors.
Whether you like to admit it or not, they’re out

Get the inside gossip from your suppliers – all

there and they’re hungry for your customers.

you have to do is ask.

To get crystal clear on your competitors, you

Who are the key players and influencers in

must dig deeper than a Google search...

your industry?

Monitor social networks, attend trade shows,

Make a note of your 3 closest local competitors

visit conferences and go to networking events

& top 3 inter/national competitors.

to see whose really making waves and leading
the way in your field.

14

Sure, not all of these questions will be in-line with your company and
the direction you are headed in and that’s okay.
The important thing to remember is; the more you can narrow down
on identifying who you are, how you’re unique, whose your ideal
customer and who your closest competitors are – the easier things
will be from here on in.


15

The warm up.

Preparing to get

CREATIVE

Explore the endless possibilities.
After answering the tough questions, the next point of call is to find that
visual inspiration. Browse the websites responsible for inspiring some of
the worlds most amazing brands. Save anything you like the look of, it
will come in handy for the next step.

behance.net

brandingserved.com


dribbble.com

awwwards.com

designspiration.net

17

While the creative
wheels are in motion...
Create a mood board using.. Pintrest. A collection
of textures, images and text related to your company
helps to create a theme for your brand direction.

THIS
SOMETHING LIKE


By this stage you’ve probably seen a
few things that take your fancy. Right?
Now is a great point to get a brand
designer on board to work their magic
and transform your ideas into a crystal
clear identity.

Choosing the right designer for the job.
Find a designer with a shmick website and a

Where on earth would you like your

brand that catches your attention.

designer to be?

A designer who doesn’t take pride in their own appearance sure

With the internet the way it is, it’s possible for you to join forces

isn’t going to take pride in yours, keep moving.

with a designer anywhere in the world. Although in saying that,
many prefer to stick with local designers who are familiar with

How does their portfolio look, pretty crash hot?
If they have a tight showcase of previous projects and you like
their style, that’s one tick in your favour.

the market you’re competing in.

Prices can vary greatly from company to
company, so it’s important to...

Not all designers are the same, some
specialise and others generalise.
When it comes to branding you’re typically best to go with a

Find a designer who can work within your budget. But,
remember what the good man Sailor Jerry once taught us,
‘Good work ain’t cheap and cheap work ain’t good’. Use your
judgement to find a happy medium.

specialist seeing as they solely create identities all day, everyday.


20

What’s involved.

Crafting The Perfect

LOGO DESIGN

What makes the perfect logo?
Ah, great question! As you would already know this is an
important step to get right, considering a logo is with you for the
long haul. There are roughly 5 boxes every logo should tick, so
lets make it count.


23

Simple + Memorable
Time and again, it is the simple logos that prove to be most
memorable. Soundcloud is an all round perfect example of this.


24

Clever + Appealing
It’s safe to say MailChimp have hit the nail on the head when it
comes to clever logo design. I mean c’mon, who could get mad at
a face like that?


25

Relevant + Convincing
What better way to convince someone of your speedy express
service than with a forward moving arrow. Don’t see it? Look at
the negative space between the E and the X.


26

Scalable + Versatile
The recent overhaul of Telstra’s brand identity is nothing short of noteworthy for
scalability and versatility. Notice how the logo is still incredibly effective even when
scaled down to the size of a mini sim card. And the array of colours on their palette
gets a whopping big tick for versatility.


27

Full Colour + Mono
The City of Melbourne logo is another beautifully versatile logo that
showcases how an icon can appear in both full colour and mono while
remaining loyal to the brand.


28

Lets break it down even further.
There are two more key factors that contribute to the success of a logo
you should be aware of. Firstly there is fonts, this is a big one and equally
important is a colour scheme. Creating the perfect logo is about getting
the combination just right between all factors.


29

Get your fonts in check.
This is by no means a hard

When experimenting

What style of font is best

and fast rule, but two fonts

with logo fonts it is wise

going to compliment your

is generally the limit for

to consider how they will

brand? The three common

creating a logo, anymore and

impact headlines and body

styles being; serif, sans serif

it begins to look too busy.

type across your website,

and custom fonts.

If using a single font – then

stationary and marketing

Examples on the next page.

even better.

material etc.

For a real eye opener on how fonts alone
can change the face of your company,
visit: typographyserved.com


Browse thousands of typefaces on the
worlds number one marketplace for fonts,
visit: myfonts.com

30

Serif

Sans Serif

Custom

Serifs are the small lines tailing from the

Sans serif is a typeface that does not

These fonts are in a league of their own,

edges of letters and symbols.

have the small projecting features at the

coming in all sorts of weird, wacky and

end of strokes.

wonderful shapes.

Times New Roman

Helvetica

American Typewriter

Avant Grade Gothic

Bellevue

Klavika Basic

Geometric Slabserif

Proxima Nova

Sentinel

PhantOm


31

KANYE SAYS
IT BEST

chrispiascik.com

Mixing the colour palette.
With a spectrum of unlimited colours, shades and hues available, how do
we know what select few are best for your brand? Unfortunately there is
no right answer, however here is some food for thought...


33

Triggering emotions with colour.

Yellow

The brightest and most energizing of warm
colours, yellow is happy, warm, stimulating and

Purple

expansive.

Orange

Not as overwhelming as red, orange is a
balanced colour that is vibrant and energetic

Purple represents nobility, abundance and
dignity, but can also stand for creativity and
imagination.

Blue

Blue represents dependability, trustworthiness
and security. It can also characterize calm and

while being friendly and inviting.

Red

spirituality.

The hottest and the most dynamic colour, red is

The cool secondary colour is calming,

activating, stimulating, passionate, exciting, and

Green

balancing and rejuvenating. Green represents

powerful.

Pink

stability and inspires possibility.

Pink is commonly perceived as a romantic and

Black represents power, elegance and

nurturing colour. Often associated with feminine
products and services.


Black

modernity, but can also characterise
mysteriousness and appear exclusive.

34

The ultimate sin!
When a designer creates a logo using Photoshop

Illustrator are made up of paths (known as vector).

they commit the ultimate sin. This is a massive

This is important to know because pixels cannot

no, no! Logos should only ever be created using

be enlarged without losing quality, meaning you

Adobe Illustrator.

are very limited where you can use your logo. The

Files created in Photoshop are made up of pixels
(known as rasterised), whereas files created in


reason paths and logos go together like peanut
butter and jelly is, paths are 100% scalable and
much sharper.
36

Reinforcements.

Creating an impact with

THE IDENTITY


37

Along come the reinforcements.
With the logo taken care of it’s now time to set the overall theme for your
brand. This is how we enforce memorability and create consistency.
Without a theme there is mixed messages flying all over the place. Now
let’s narrow in on how we pave the way for a lasting identity...


38

Awesome supporting graphics.
Common examples of supporting graphics are things like
patterns, logo elements and sometimes even characters. These
not only enhance your image, but are easily associated with your
brand, as well as your logo when it is not present.


39

Using patterns to support your identity.

Cosmetic company, Uzuri effectively use patterns throughout their
brand, including stationary and packaging. Taking inspiration from optical
illusionary art, and the idea of makeup as a way of creating illusions.


40

Using logo elements to support your identity.

Using enlarged elements of their logo, DayDreamer achieve a powerful
sense of brand and recognition. A versatile approach that works
effectively across all media.


41

Using characters and personalities to support your identity.

Every chocolate-lovers favourite, M&M’s have done a brilliant job using characters
to support and grow their brand. You could almost say the characters are now
more popular and recognisable than the actual logo itself. Wouldn’t you agree?


42

On point imagery.
As we are aiming to have your brand look a million bucks,
consistency is what will make it or break it. This means defining
the style of everything, right down to the style of images. It’s
important images remain consistent whether they appear online,
in a brochure or even on a billboard.


43

Say your thousand words the right way...
It’s amazing how one photo can give off so many different vibes depending on
how it is styled. Here we have three colour variations of one photo, each creating
a very unique feel. It just goes to show how every factor of your identity can play
a role in sending the right message.


44

Inviting fonts and typography.
Without trying to sound like a broken record, fonts and
typography are another one of those ‘must-get-it-right’ points of
brand design. But seeing as we already touched on fonts for logo
design we will keep this brief.
This is the stage where we decide on a collection of inviting fonts
and styling options for headlines, sub-headlines, body text and
captions. Here are a few tips to take on board...


45

Great typography encourages people to
read all the cool things about your company.

Establish a hierarchy. Use uniform fonts or

All fonts should be easy to read, but even

styles for headlines, sub-headlines and body

more so when it comes to the body font. When

text. Don’t mix and match.

fonts are hard to read they are uninviting and it
creates resistance between you and a prospect.

Font pairing. To avoid a crisis of too many
fonts, it can be a good idea to use the

Handwritten fonts often work well to create a

secondary font from your logo for headlines

personal touch, but don’t over-do it. Use in small

and one font family for everything else.

doses for things such as added confirmation for
a call to action.

Minimise clutter by ensuring everything is
spaced out neatly, including line-heights and

All CAPS is bad, very bad. Just don’t do it,

paragraphs. Make it easy on the eyes.

seriously...


46

Consistent colour scheme.
Again, colour is a topic we touched on during the logo design
phase but it still requires a little extra attention here. Beyond the
logo it’s important to keep the emotional triggers of colour flowing
throughout your identity. Here’s a few pointers...


48

Did you know, colour increases brand recognition by 80%?

A tight colour scheme will have you on the

When a logo uses just one colour and shades

right track for a successful identity.

aren’t the answer, by all means introduce another
colour or two. But make sure those colours do not

Utilise the colours from within your logo

change, stay consistent at all costs.

whenever possible. You need to have a pretty
good reason to use additional colours.

Large amounts of text should never be seen in
super bright colours, it simply won’t be read.

When a logo uses a limited amount of
colours and more are required to create an

Keep the colour scheme of your identity in-line

awesome identity – shades are your friend.

with the colours of your logo as much as possible.


49

More than 90% of buying
decisions are influenced by
visual factors.

Style Guide: Protect your brand.
A style guide is a set of standards to safeguard your identity
from heading off the beaten track. It is essentially the guidelines
spelling out what can and cannot be done with your logo, as well as
supporting graphics, imagery, fonts and colours.
Soundcloud have created a fine example of what should be
displayed in a style guide. Here are a few pages to give you an idea...


51

SoundCloud Logo
For width smaller then ~80px
use the side-by-side version
instead of the stacked version.
SoundCloud is orange!
We prefer the gradient version
or the white version on an
orange gradient background

In digital applications, don’t
scale the logo; use only what
you find here:
https://soundcloud.com/press
If you really can’t live without
a special size, please ask
Sarah:
assets@soundcloud.com

SoundCloud Logo good use

100%
min 125%

A cloud needs air!
At least 12.5% space in each direction
around the logo.
Apply on monochrome and quiet
areas. If you prepare a background,
use only circles or rectangles.

SoundCloud Logo bad use
Don’t modify our wordmark or add any
other term
Use the gradient in the correct way
Don’t use on fuzzy background

SOUNDHOUND

Don’t turn, distort or recolor the logo
If you want to fail - scale
Please don’t build your own SoundCloud
logo

Post-groundwork.

Bringing your

IDENTITY TO LIFE


55

Taking shape.
With the groundwork now in place it’s time to bring your
super-versatile identity to life, offline and online. We’re talking stationary,
marketing material, signage, websites, social media and more.
We thought what better way to carry us through this phase than to
simply show you a few examples of appealing identities already in
full swing. Check it out...


56

Example 1 – Leichardt Group
3
1

Pencils
2

2

Letterhead
4

1
3

USB Sticks

4

CD Artwork
5

5

Business Cards

6

Website (Responsive)

6

6

56

Example 1 – (continued)
7

Report Cover

8

Vehicle Signage

7
8

9

With Compliment Slip

10

Advertising
9

10


58

Example 2 - Hydroforce
1
1

3

Coffee Mug
2

2

3

Business Card

4

Diary

5

4

Notepad

Website (Responsive)

5
5


Joining the online world.
When spreading your brand to the world wide web it is crucial to stay in-line with your
identity, both offline and online. Not only with your company website, but also when
branding your social media pages through display photos, cover photos and tabs etc.
This is what often separates the companies who look a million bucks and the
companies who don’t. It’s all about staying true to your brand and mastering the art of
consistency.
One company to master this extremely well is Baskin Robins. Flick through to see
how they have created an almost seamless transition between their website, Twitter
profile and Facebook page.


60

Example 3 - Baskin Robins

1

Company Website


2

Twitter Proﬁle

3

Facebook Fanpage

61

46% of people say a website’s design
is the number one criterion discerning
the credibility of a company.

Growth resources.

Where to from

FROM HERE


63

Onwards and upwards.
Once you’ve established a kick-ass identity it’s time to get out there and be
found in front of your niche. How to do that exactly? Well that’s a story for
another day, but in the meantime you might like to peep some of our own
favourite growth resources to help you on your way.
Some of these sites we visit on a daily basis and have taught us massive
lessons about growing our own brand. Believe me, being on the front page
of Google isn’t everything. If you want to get creative and unleash the
entrepreneur spirit you will soon see there are plenty of other ways that are
just as effective, if not better. So with that being said...
Read. Listen. Watch.


64

Read plenty of quality blogs.

Quick Sprout

Inc.

Entrepreneur

The blog of content marketing beast

The largest entrepreneurial network

Business ideas, trends, expert

Neil Patel. Learn how to generate

in the world. Plenty of advice, tools

advice and growth strategies for

BULK traffic!

and services to help you grow.

small businesses.


65

Listen to inspiring podcasts.

Entrepreneur
On Fire
Daily podcasts with entrepreneurs

Australia’s no.#1 marketing show run

from all parts of the world, at all

by industry veteran Tim Reid as he

stages in life.


Small Business,
Big Marketing

speaks with other success stories.

66

Watch incredible videos.

Growth Hacker TV
Awesome for online startups, but

The home of incredible videos,

often similar strategies can be

presuming you’re searching the

applied to service companies too.


You Tube

right topics... No cats!

67

Great to see you again!
Well done making it all the way to the end. It shows you must
really care about your brand and I’m impressed.
I hope you now have a better understanding of not only how to
look a million bucks, but also how the creative side of a brand
identity comes together.
If you would like to know more about anything we touched on,
Follow @aaronfifield

just shoot me an email at aaron@onedeepdesign.com.au.
To your success,
Aaron Fifield – One Deep Design


69

Creating exceptional brands for entrepreneurs.

Aaron Fifield
0403 566 743
aaron@onedeepdesign.com.au

To learn more visit: onedeepdesign.com.au

How to Look a Million Bucks: An entrepreneurs guide to creating a kick-ass brand identity.

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How to Look a Million Bucks: An entrepreneurs guide to creating a kick-ass brand identity.