Why is Branding important?

Branding is something that small business owners are familiar with and often know they need it too, but sometimes can’t justify the investment or are unable to explain why they need it. Being a Brand Designer, I’m going to explain as why branding your product/ service or organization is important and why I believe it is worth an investment.

• Essential for a successful brand

Branding is one of the most important aspect for your brand. Think about your favorite brand and one thing you really like about them. It could be anything from the way they package their product to brochures to their websites to their weekly newsletters you receive from them to the way you feel while entering their store. This is all Branding.

• Branding is client’s first impression

Branding is like a first date. We always understand that looks are not an important part, but when you first meet someone, that first impression always has a count and we do remember it through our entire life. Same is the branding, it needs to resonate with the client/ consumer.

• Branding sets you apart from your competitors

As a creative small business, it’s likely that you’re working in a saturated industry. Be it any business – wedding decorators, events, photography, graphic designers, there’s no doubt that there are many competitors. How do a brand stands out- while one of the way is branding. Do not follow the crowd and do the same branding as they are doing with their brand. Every brand has their own vision, target audience and service/ product range. Create something which is different from your industry and use that to create your brand that also speaks to your ideal client.

• Branding makes your business memorable

You want to make sure your brand is consistent throughout, right from the identity, symbol, icons, web-banners of the website, newsletters to the brochures, advertisments, etc. Also, social media platforms play a huge role in the market since its easily accessible and has to have the same consistency too. Do not worry if the material is all over same, because that’s what you want them to, so you can relate it to a single brand.

• Branding done right, attracts the ideal client

Well thought out and designed branding will catch the eye of an ideal client you want to attract and work with.

Branding can change how people percept your brand, it can drive new business and increase brand awareness.

Branding is storytelling!

“Design is the visual articulator of the brand’s expression. Brands often do the same thing and compete in the same field. What makes the difference between one company and the other is how they do it. Design is what translates this into the tangible – the interaction, the function, how it works. Design is how the brand proves itself.”

-Stefano Marzano

#brandingisstorytelling #designisstorytelling

Happy 2018

Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing 😇

Can’t wait to say a hi to 2018 ❤️

#newyearseve #goodbye2017 #hello2018 #happynewyearseve #happynewyear

Christmas vibes

Merry Christmas to all… because it’s the best time of the year 😍

Reindeers, Santa, Christmas Cake, Winters, Gifts, Etc

🎄🤗🎊

What I learnt from my Lettering Class?

How are you beautiful people?

I think we all love gifts, no matter how small or big. Talking about gifts, I believe in the concept of customized and hand made things, be it a card or a D.I.Y. Every year I make sure I make something good for my family and I religiously follow the custom of something hand done. A card with some hand lettering or a drawing provides the personal touch where it involves the real paper and pen and tools giving us an authentic wonderful look. We all know that a typed email and an iMessage cannot replace the beauty of a hand written note.

Don’t you all agree with me?

My Inspiration Wall

I’ll tell you something about myself when I was in my 4th Grade. Though I don’t talk much about it, but this is how I got into hand lettering and typography a little and since then I never stopped experimenting new and different ways to write a word or a note or an essay!

I was enjoying my summer holidays and suddenly all of colony friends and children my age were enrolling for various classes to do something new and learn something new. For me it was lettering class. Are you also wondering why a lettering class?

I’ve my father’s genes in me and so many things between him and me are similar, one of them is our hand writing. So I used to think why lettering class for me, strange right? So it was my first day at the class and my instructor started with alphabets and I was like why alphabets, doesn’t she know that I’m already in 4th grade?

Here are some of the snippets from my work…

It was a 30 day class and I was very sure in the beginning that I’ll discontinue in a day or two, rather I used to enjoy going to the class and meet other kids who actually an interest. My instructor taught me some Twenty different styles of writing an ‘A’ and I used to always wonder when can I actually start using these. As the years went by, I forgot about the lettering and I got busy with my academics. In my 9th grade, we were given an opportunity to participate in an inter school cultural and historic exhibition. I love history and I was always up for these extra projects happening in school. I was assigned to design a file about the Egyptian Civilization. It was then I realized that I could make this file totally a hand done piece. Starting with the titles to the drawings to the essays, and also the cover of the book, each and everything was purely and religiously hand done. I started experimenting with lettering since then!

I later realized that lettering was not just cursive hand writing but something very much more. I’m now a Calligraphy Tutor and a Hand letterer. I’ve been a tutor to more than Thirty students since the last Thirteen years.

If you have any questions and want to know more, you can simply get in touch with me at: quibbletrunk@gmail.com

Have a lovely day!

Love,

Isha

Something Retro!

When you use the word ‘Retro’, people will consider it to be similar to ‘Vintage’ designs. But that’s not true! Vintage designs have been popular in the past movement.

So, what is Retro?

Retro is typically been is use since the 1960’s. The word Retro comes from ‘retrospective’ which means looking back. Retro is known and famous its strong, fresh, and bold look from from the 70s, 80s and the 90s. Retro means a style that is derived from the recent past. The style was made to cater the needs for bold and eye-catching graphics that can be easily mass produced.

In art, retro is referred to as a genre of ‘Pop Art”.

When talking about retro, we time travel to an era where the life was much more simple, fearless, less stressful and relaxed. Design, in fact all the art forms, are forever evolving. It is because, the inspiration is taken from around the surrounding. Like fashion, design trend also come and go. The Retro style is not only within the fashion world, but also with the graphic design world which we use and come across in our surroundings in our day-to-day life. Retro is used widely in architecture, interiors, food, television and how can we forget music.

The best example would be the ‘Disc Era’.

Working with this theme, The designs are moving from the complicated to the simple designs. The flat design (2D Design) is the type of angle you look forward to when you’re talking about Retro!

The best example for a flat but a retro look would be ‘Google’. The logo says it all. 

While choosing color palettes, people are up for more fresh and bold colors rather then opting for dull colors. The audience, now are okay to use the bold color for their interiors, as they feel that a wall with a yellow color will be more energetic and lively. People are now believing the term ‘contrast’. Sometimes, a little play with neon should not hold you back.

Color

If you want to create some modern retro design, an inspiration from the pixel art, space themes can be considered as well. The first PCs, Video Games, technology played an important role and these iconic gadgets from the past spices up the design as well.

Technology

Retro in Typography

Typography

Retro in Shapes

Shapes

Retro in Design

Design

Though the Retro look gives us a fresh look and feel, but at the same time it also has its own pros and cons. Whenever taking up a next project, do consider the below list of its pros and cons.

Pros:

• Fun, light style
• Easy shapes and bright colors
• Pixel-based style
• Fun way of communicating
• Technolog, Music, Movies are the themes which are easy to understand Retro
• Flat design makes it look good

Cons:

• The typefaces used with the retro designs are not always user friendly
• The Retro trend come and go, and you don’t want your audience to know about your site going away
• It is not easily followed by each and every individual
• These designs sometimes can be too much to our eyes
• The retro design doesn’t go well and mix well with the other trendy things around

The touches of Retro design is everywhere, in our mobile devices, movies, our wardrobe, etc. The witty and fun elements of the Retro look, will look awesome if one finds and knows how to connect with it.

Importance of Grid System in Graphic Design

Why are the grid lines thrown over your canvas, are so important to your design project?

Every designer has their own answer, but the basic idea behind those grid lines is to make your layout neat, clean, organized and structured so that it is less time consuming and troublesome for your design projects.

Whether you work on web or on a print media, you need to know the reasons why grid system is important for your designs and how does it help you achieve your goals.

Below are some of the reasons why grid is an important tool in every designers toolbox:

1. Helps you Organize your content: This is one of an important subject where using grid helps you keep your your design aligned, structured, neat and clean. This is the main job description of the grid system to keep the design aligned and organized. Using the grid lines you’re forming a structure for yourself which helps you for your future design project in its completion. Build your rough ideas using the grid lines with the help of imagery, typography, graphics, etc.
2. Helps Balancing the Design: Balance is one of the most important principle of design, The beauty of the grid system helps keep the design consistent and even. It works both the ways – symmetrical layout and asymmetrical layout. It makes it easier to judge as in which part of your design is overpowering the other.
3. Helps making Job Quicker: In the world, where we’re always wanting to get things done easier and quicker, grids can help greatly to speed up and improve your design layouts. The grid lines act here as a guide to place your elements, position and at the same time scale them, instead of randomly placing your elements, consuming more of our time. Think grid as the foundation to your layout, its one of the first thing you lay down and then build upon your story. 
4. Helps to make it easier for Team: At work, we are not the solo owner of a particular project as a whole. We believe in team work and hence we work together on projects. During certain period of time, due to time constraints, we do divide our work among the fellow colleagues. In this situation, grids play a very crucial role. And that is the only answer to relieve our stress, frustration to miscommunications. As earlier mentioned, grid helps in building a structured layout, as in where the elements should be placed, here a solid grid system helps the other designers to continue with the design without any difficulties. There will be less back and forth among the designers about certain things like ‘how wide should be the column?’, ‘how much space is needed for an image to be placed?’ because these questions are already answered by the grid lines.
5. Helps with a Multi – Page Layout: Grids are the saving grace for a multi page – layouts. Establishing a strong grid, helps transfer from page to page maintaining the connection throughout the layout keeping it constant.
6. No Cluttered Layouts: Grid id an amazing tool to free your design from clutter and confusing layout. Margins are used to do this. Margins, the basic definition, is the space around the design. The tighter the margin, The more cluttered the design looks and once these margins loosen, less clutter and design is more neater, clean and open for the eyes. Like the margins, gutters also play the same role as the margins.
7. Helps for a Pleasing Design Layout: One of the chief reasons to use these grid for a designer is a thought helping you towards a pleasing layout. The rule of thirds is the most commonly used in the design project. We have often heard this term in photography. This is basically an intersection of horizontal and vertical lines where the meeting points are marked as to help focus on certain elements within the frame, also applied the same way in the design.
8. Breaking the Grid for an Eye – catching Effect: We obviously like to view layouts which are neat, clean, and pleasing to our eyes. Sticking to your design with the help of grid will ensure you a clean and a beautifully aligned design, But breaking that grid sometimes will give that clean design, a unique and en eye-catching effect. By breaking that grid, you can highlight certain elements as well. 
9. Change of Layout (Diagonal): If you want a different approach towards your design, it can also be angular based rather then a horizontal or a vertical grid system. You can go for a different but a stylish angle which is diagonal, giving it a modern and an amazing look. 
10. Grids can be used Everywhere and Anywhere: While grids are majorly used in magazine and editorial layouts, they are not the only mediums where grid theory is applied. They can be applied throughout any medium of design. Grids also play an important role in Logo making, keeping each element consistent, neat, clean to build an iconic design. Many times, grids are also used in the illustrations based projects, giving a soothing and an eye – catching layouts.

Whatever medium, grid can be super handy to every designer, giving amazing and wonderful layouts and a different style. Whether you like grids or you don’t, following the above reasons, there’s no doubt how useful is the grid system in very designers life. The grid system is dated back the 13th century. Grids have so many uses, from aligning your designs to the cool diagonal typographic layouts. More than just a line, they structure, guide and help you to achieve the desired look and feel to your respective designs.

Understanding how and when to use a grid can only really come from experience, so experiment.

 

The source for all the imagery above is Pinterest. You can view many more examples for the grid system in design here: https://in.pinterest.com/isha0778/grid-in-design-study/

The day has come!

There will be days when you’ll feel there is nothing around. There will be days when you’ll feel everything is becoming dark. There will be days when there is no sleep and sore muscles. There will be days when you’ll come across many and no one will even notice you. People will be cruel. There will be days where you’ll have to make your presence notice to cruel people around you.

But then spring arrives. The darkness is gone. There are flowers blossoming around everywhere. Then there are days when the good days start coming to you. The days seem more brighter then anything. People will find you. You deserve to be surrounded by good things, good food and a safe place. Remember you deserve to feel good. Remember that bad moods pass and that all bad days are gone. And that no matter where are you and where will you be and how lonely you are, some one will find you and is waiting for you and will love you.

So a day will come and we will then say, “ we found our paradise ”.

Balance in Design

Any design created or in process, we should always think about the principles of the graphic design, be it empathy, contrast, unity, etc. In order to make your design aesthetically beautiful, we need to ensure the visual balance in it. Balance should be considered in every design you make. Balance in graphic design is the placement of elements, which has a visual weight to it. When you view an object with half of it with the dark color and the other half with a lighter shade, you will find the dark color to be heavier in the design. Balance, thus play an important role in graphic design.

If you don’t have a sense of balance with your own design, naturally the viewers around, wont know where to look, and also wont connect themselves in the context of what are you trying to communicate with it. Balance doesn’t mean equal distribution of elements as symmetry, but also it can be achieved in an asymmetry design. The best example for balance would be a seesaw. We all played back in our times when we were young. We have two people with different weights on each side and make it balance by the positioning of the heavier person.

Symmetry Balance

With the symmetrical design, the visual weight is distributed evenly, either vertical or horizontal. A symmetry balance in the design is usually shown with a straight line through middle and a visual balance is evenly distributed. The composition below will give a basic idea of what the symmetry balance is all about.

Both sides of the composition carry an equal weight. You also have to keep in mind though the symmetrical design gives a great balance but sometimes it doesn’t always relate to an interesting design.

The best brand Logo example for a symmetry design is Motorola.

Asymmetry Balance

Asymmetrical composition is intended to create a deliberate imbalance of the elements in the design. The elements of the design are not evenly distributed on the composition. In these particular designs, one of the sides is heavier than the other, but still there is a balance to it. Below you will see a simple composition of the asymmetry designs. A simple example would be like a bunch of smaller elements at one side of the design with a large element on the other side and still giving you a sense of balance, while creating an aesthetic view.

The other best example for asymmetry design would be of Mondrian. Want to know who Piet Mondrian is?

The best brand Logo example for an asymmetry design is Pepsi.

There are many other ways to show balance in your won design. One of the ways is to apply colors and achieve the balance with different weight of the objects. The other way is to use different shape of the objects and show a visual interest through this principle of design. Now that we have a strong understanding of how balance plays an important role in your design, we make sure we use this in our next design projects.

Whether its symmetrical or asymmetrical balance, you should also think about what is appropriate for your composition.

Day One!

You, yes you! You will have to decide whether you want to start from today (day one) or some other day? Some other day, we all know is never coming. Regretting it for rest of the life, why not do things since day one which is today and now.

Day one – Start somewhere!