Category: Graphic design

What is brand identity and why is it important?

Graphic design by Hannah0 comments

Your brand identity is how you want to portray your business to your customers, and includes how you choose your business name, the design of your logo, the colours and shapes or graphics you use, and the type of language you use (your “tone of voice”).

Branding is important for every company. It allows you to set yourself apart from the competition, and define your company’s USP. 

Here are just a few other reasons why your business should invest in a strong brand identity…

 

Strong Branding Makes You Memorable

While many consumers take the time to research and compare options, others choose whatever they happen to recognise. It is for this reason, established companies like Coca-Cola, Starbucks and KFC spend billions a year on advertising.

 

Brand Recognition Builds Trust

A smartly designed website can make your company appear stronger and bigger than competitors. Customers tend to place greater … [Read More]

7 simple steps to the web design process

Graphic design by Hannah0 comments

Web designers often think about the web design process with a focus on technical matters such as design, code, and content management. But great design isn’t about how you integrate the social media buttons or even slick visuals. Great design is actually about having a website creation process that aligns with an overarching strategy.

Well-designed websites offer much more than just aesthetics. They attract visitors and help people understand the product, company, and branding through a variety of indicators, encompassing visuals, text, and interactions. This means that every element of your site needs to work towards a defined goal.

So, here are 7 of the main steps our team follows, when creating a website. 

 

Goal identification

The first step in the creative graphic design process is the creative brief. It helps the designer learn more about the needs of the client. This step is critical since the designer needs … [Read More]

The Studio 4 look to create a “Stunning and Lasting Impression” at the Construction Marketing Awards

Graphic design by Anthony0 comments
What is it?

The construction marketing awards (CMA’s) “showcases the construction industry’s creativity, innovation and effectiveness in marketing”.

To enter the awards you have to be invited by an organisation within the UK Construction and Built Environment. These organisations comprise of Architects, Specialist Consultants, Contractors, Developers, Manufacturers and Specialist Suppliers.

Entries are submitted by a marketing team or individual that is responsible for a business development or marketing strategy, within the Construction and Built Environment. There are 23 categories that you can enter which include Agency of the Year, Best Product Launch, Best use of Advertising and Best Branding & Positioning.

Our Entry

The Studios entry for the CMAs is for the ‘Best use of Advertising’ for a product launched by flooring specialists Gerflor. The product being advertised was the Taralay Impression Control & Uni Collection, which is a new vinyl flooring product for 2018.

The range is full of … [Read More]

The Design Process – Concept to Completion

Graphic design by Charlotte0 comments

As one of the designers at The Studio 4 I have had the opportunity to work on some really exciting projects over the past 12months, Including advertising campaigns for a leading flooring manufacturer and websites for some of our biggest clients. Producing artwork for projects like this is always a challenge, I’ve written this blog to give insight into how I tackle these briefs.

Every designer is different and there isn’t one single way of working. It all depends on what works best for you, the timescale and the project. But for me as a rule of thumb I break my design process down into 6 key areas. Reaching each step helps me get to the next, and gives me a structure to a more often than not hectic day. It also allows me to understand where each different job is up to, and makes picking them back up easier. … [Read More]

Sans Serif vs Serif: The right font to use

Graphic design by Anthony0 comments

90% of fonts can be split into two categories serif and sans serif. A serif font has small lines tailing from the edges of the letters, symbols and numbers. A sans serif font has straight edges as the name suggests, Sans the French word for without: Without serif.

So how do you go about picking between the two when it comes to your design? Well there are a number of different aspects to consider first.

What is the medium?

Serif fonts as a rule of thumb are easier to read when they are used in print than when they are used digitally. This is because print works have a higher resolution than digital screens. With print documents having between 300 – 600 dots per inch and screens a much lower 100 dots per inch, however more modern Apple device can reach up to 300. This means in some cases the … [Read More]