Visual style on the cheap
June 16, 2015 4:36 PM Subscribe
I am helping a small non-profit which does almost everything wrong when it comes to visual design. There are very limited financial resources and I'm not a designer, just someone who knows the basics. I think I need to produce a simple style guide which can be used across multiple channels, but I also need someone to redesign the web site and I don't know what comes first.
The non-profit has a website, social media channels, posters, an A-board, leaflets, an email newsletter, a paper news sheet, business cards etc. Aesthetically, these range from acceptable to breathtakingly ugly (the paper news sheet is full of BOLD UNDERLINED CAPS), but the main problem is that none of them look alike.
I want to redesign everything based on a single visual brand identity, meaning that everything uses the same typefaces, logo, colour palette etc. I'm fine with it looking a bit cheap or amateurish, we're not pretending to be anything other than a small non-profit.
We're very short of funds and so I'd like to do as much of this as I can myself. I know basic DTP and brand documentation, the parts I can't do on my own (and don't have time to learn) are the website theme and redesigning the slightly dull logo. I was therefore wondering if I should buy a good-looking responsive Wordpress theme and base the rest of the visual identity on that? I've seen small design agencies advertise budget brand packages which include e.g. a website design, stationery and a business card. They cost more than I planned to spend, but perhaps I should go with that and adapt the designs they give me to work across all our channels?
What should I do and in what order should I do it?
The non-profit has a website, social media channels, posters, an A-board, leaflets, an email newsletter, a paper news sheet, business cards etc. Aesthetically, these range from acceptable to breathtakingly ugly (the paper news sheet is full of BOLD UNDERLINED CAPS), but the main problem is that none of them look alike.
I want to redesign everything based on a single visual brand identity, meaning that everything uses the same typefaces, logo, colour palette etc. I'm fine with it looking a bit cheap or amateurish, we're not pretending to be anything other than a small non-profit.
We're very short of funds and so I'd like to do as much of this as I can myself. I know basic DTP and brand documentation, the parts I can't do on my own (and don't have time to learn) are the website theme and redesigning the slightly dull logo. I was therefore wondering if I should buy a good-looking responsive Wordpress theme and base the rest of the visual identity on that? I've seen small design agencies advertise budget brand packages which include e.g. a website design, stationery and a business card. They cost more than I planned to spend, but perhaps I should go with that and adapt the designs they give me to work across all our channels?
What should I do and in what order should I do it?
I would not recommend basing your non-profit's identity off of a Wordpress template. Base it off of what the brand represents and do some modifications to your template based on that.
Perhaps you can reach out to some local design students for help?
posted by thirdletter at 5:10 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Perhaps you can reach out to some local design students for help?
posted by thirdletter at 5:10 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Since you have non-web site stuff to coordinate, I think it might actually be worth trying to do this yourself. You don't have to be an expert in design to get things to a better place they're in now. I'd set up simple guidelines and insist on strict adherence for a while:
- Only one font of your choosing. Make it boring old Helvetica if you can't decide. Yes, two fonts paired well can be fantastic, but make it easy on yourself.
- Two colors. White for the backgrounds, slightly-lighter than black (#333 in CSS) for the type.
- One logo per page.
- No images for anything else except photos.
- No underlining.
- Three font sizes – one for body text, one for headings, and one for titles.
This is austere and plain-sounding, but it'll result in materials far cleaner and more professional-looking than what you've described.
posted by ignignokt at 5:29 PM on June 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
- Only one font of your choosing. Make it boring old Helvetica if you can't decide. Yes, two fonts paired well can be fantastic, but make it easy on yourself.
- Two colors. White for the backgrounds, slightly-lighter than black (#333 in CSS) for the type.
- One logo per page.
- No images for anything else except photos.
- No underlining.
- Three font sizes – one for body text, one for headings, and one for titles.
This is austere and plain-sounding, but it'll result in materials far cleaner and more professional-looking than what you've described.
posted by ignignokt at 5:29 PM on June 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
Yeah, simple is better, clearer, and more professional looking. You might be interested in reading the great and very-short, "Don't Make Me Think."
posted by rhizome at 6:38 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by rhizome at 6:38 PM on June 16, 2015
The Non-Designer's Design Book will get you up to speed quickly.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:50 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:50 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: mandymanwasregistered: Thanks for the procedure. I don't think we're going to be able to afford a graphic designer, much as I can see the benefits of using one. It's either stick with the current disaster or do the best I can on a very limited budget.
thirdletter: I've tried to find students etc. but no luck so far, thus this question. I hear your advice on not starting with the website template, but I've no experience with modifying Wordpress themes - do you think it's something I can pick up fairly easily?
ignignokt: Exactly what I'm talking about - I may not be able to do a great job on my own (or with cheap resources), but it will be so much better than what we have at the moment. Good tips on what to put in the style guide. I'm still a bit unsure about what to do about the website design, though.
rhizome and Johnny Wallflower: Thanks for the reading suggestions. They will be very helpful once I get going - I just need to figure out where to start.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 8:26 AM on June 17, 2015
thirdletter: I've tried to find students etc. but no luck so far, thus this question. I hear your advice on not starting with the website template, but I've no experience with modifying Wordpress themes - do you think it's something I can pick up fairly easily?
ignignokt: Exactly what I'm talking about - I may not be able to do a great job on my own (or with cheap resources), but it will be so much better than what we have at the moment. Good tips on what to put in the style guide. I'm still a bit unsure about what to do about the website design, though.
rhizome and Johnny Wallflower: Thanks for the reading suggestions. They will be very helpful once I get going - I just need to figure out where to start.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 8:26 AM on June 17, 2015
Since this is a non-profit, get in touch with your local Graphic Artists Guild chapter or AIGA chapter, and ask if anyone's willing to do pro-bono work. This page from AIGA lists a bunch of resources for connecting non-profits with designers and agencies looking to do pro-bono work.
Also get in touch with any design instructors — not the students, but the instructors — at your local universities and see if they're looking for potential class projects.
What you're asking for is a complete branding campaign. Brand identity is much more than just using the same font on all collateral across all media. Sure, you can just pick a font and a Wordpress template and have at — no one can stop you — or you can bring someone on who will do it right. I recommend the latter, but then again, I'm an art director.
posted by culfinglin at 9:15 AM on June 17, 2015
Also get in touch with any design instructors — not the students, but the instructors — at your local universities and see if they're looking for potential class projects.
What you're asking for is a complete branding campaign. Brand identity is much more than just using the same font on all collateral across all media. Sure, you can just pick a font and a Wordpress template and have at — no one can stop you — or you can bring someone on who will do it right. I recommend the latter, but then again, I'm an art director.
posted by culfinglin at 9:15 AM on June 17, 2015
Response by poster: culfinglin: Thanks, but I'm not in the USA, so I don't think those resources would work for me. I can look into local universities, but there's something of a language barrier. I totally appreciate that I'm looking to do something big and complex on the cheap and in my own field I react the same way as you when I see the equivalent. However, money to do it right just isn't there, so I'm trying to figure out what I can do with the limited time, skills and money I have.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 10:00 AM on June 17, 2015
posted by Busy Old Fool at 10:00 AM on June 17, 2015
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My process started with ditching a confusing old website design for a placeholder wordpress template, second came the new graphic id, very simply applying that to the website (font, logo, color palette), and now third is the actually designed website.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 5:03 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]