You may have come to realise that a rebrand of your business is necessary, but where do you start when you don't have the budget for a full and strategic rebrand? Let's explore the small but effective tweaks that can be made in the interim to elevate your brand on a budget.
Simplify
High end brands are never messy or confused, they are clear and simple. Evaluate your website, marketing and social media - are you trying to cram in too many messages? Simplify your communications and keep designs clean. Embrace more white space, as it provides viewers with visually relaxing areas that allow them to absorb the messages you are conveying.
Avoid the excessive use of graphics, patterns, filigrees, and clip art unless they have been designed professionally for your brand and matches your aesthetic. These elements can clutter the visual appeal, potentially undermining your credibility. Eliminating them can significantly enhance the overall look and feel of your website and communications.
Avoid using panic offers
This happens a lot in the hospitality sector but can also be an issue in other industries. Quiet times can make business owners anxious so they reduce prices, put on multiple offers and competitions to try and engage customers, but this can in fact cheapen your brand. To maintain a premium image, aim to offer seasonal and relevant promotions only, avoiding running multiple offers simultaneously.
Review your colour palette
Is your colour scheme out of control? Do you have a defined palette that you stick to? Brands may get lost in the crowd if there is an overload of visual elements - the world is full of colour and chaos, which is why using a monochromatic, duotone, or limited colour palette in our communications can actually boost visibility. There's a reason why many of us believe we look better in black and white photographs!
If you are confident in doing it yourself, you can refresh your colour scheme by utilising the colour and brand tools available on our resources page and seeking inspiration from platforms like Pinterest. Alternatively, consider enrolling in our brand basics mini course for £10 to kickstart your rebranding efforts.
Review your typography
Fonts can date, especially if we restrict ourselves with system fonts. Gone are the days where we all had to conform to Arial or Times - Google fonts, Canva and Adobe have opened up a world of typography that can be viewed online - meaning we can choose the typography that best suits our brand.
When updating your fonts, consider what vibe they communicate and whether that is in alignment with your brand personality and values. To achieve a high end look, a designers hack is to expand the leading of body copy (the space between lines) and the tracking for titles (the space between the letters). Check out the typography tools on our resources page for help in understanding font psychology.
Harmonise imagery
Amateur or inconsistent image style can give a lower end brand away. Even if we believe our own photography is great, it's always worth reviewing images with similar content on platforms like Pinterest to see how others conceptualise the same themes. I like to start with a mood board, gathering visually related images that share similarities in tone, filter, colour scheme, or composition style. Ensuring that your chosen images complement each other and appear cohesive as a collection is crucial for enhancing and elevating the overall aesthetic of your designs. Check out my mood board mini masterclass to learn the best ways to create a mood board.
If you've decided it's time to elevate your brand and would like to work with me direct, please get in touch with fiona@roccoco.uk.
Or, if you are interested in working on your brand identity yourself and would like the skills to do so, register your interest for our entrepreneur's course on Brand Alchemy for your Business.
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