My friend asked me to look at his messy brand. It was a cathartic session for him when I pointed out that he had three different logos and two different “reds”. He has been doing things by himself and contracted different people to help with the design. This isn’t an exceptional situation. I have a messy brand sometimes too. Checking your brand is a good job we all should do every quarter or 6 months and here is how to do it.
Gather
Gather all the assets that have your brand on it. Start with guidelines book, if you have one, and then continue with social media, website, flyers or brochures, stationery, advertisements, packaging, etc.
You will need to have all the information visually, create a folder with screenshots, pictures and PDFs. You will need to refer to it later, but also good to keep a spreadsheet, noting the assets.
TIP: This might sound like a pain in the neck, and it actually is, but once you’ve done it once you can keep a record of the assets in a spreadsheet or a notebook, so next time is just a matter of gathering the new assets.
Crosscheck
Once you have all the information, try to spread it through your screen and table, for the physical assets such as flyers. Once you have good visibility of everything, it’s time to crosscheck.
To do it, it’s best to look at specific elements, but before you do that look at the whole and see if everything looks part of the same brand. It’s when you look at an advert, and you know that is Coca-cola before you even know the product or logo. Are there any assets that stand out to you?
Right, let’s get into detail.
Logos
If you had a rebrand, you might have more than one logo laying around. Check the logos in all asset and mark anyone that isn’t the latest version. Does any of the logos look squashed, too small, not in the right position?
Colours
Typography
Also as known as fonts. You should have one or two fonts (one for titles one for long texts). Check that your different elements contain the same fonts.
Tone of voice
The way your brand speaks (or reads) should be consistent too. If you talk colloquially, it should be throughout the whole channels: social media, flyers, etc.
Solve
You have now a good overview of what’s going on on your brand. But this is like the MOT of a car if you don’t repair the problems it’s useless. It’s your opportunity to put together some guidelines and get rid off the things that are off-brand.