How Often Should I Update My Business Brand?

There are many aspects of a business brand, consisting of everything from how you interact with customers to your website and logo. As your business grows and develops, you'll find that the brand that you started out with may no longer fit the variety of clients you are dealing with today. In this article, we’ll walk you through some clues on when you need to give your business brand a makeover.

Since there are so many different variables in a brand, we’ll go over the most common changes business face throughout its lifetime. Updating a logo may seem like a fairly diminutive process, and for many companies this also includes updating uniforms, brochures, business cards etc to fit the new logo. If there is any inconsistency within your brand, it is important to update them to display the persistent message you are trying to portray to your customers. It is important to seek feedback from your customers to determine how successful your brand is, and which areas can use improvements or updates. Your logos, brochures, business cards, menus etc should reflect the culture of your company and its services in the most effective manner possible.

When it comes to any business, your company website is easily the most effective tool you can provide your potential and existing clients with. That is however, if your implementing and updating it properly. If you answer “No” to any of these questions, it’s likely time to update your brand and its’ online presence;

Signs that it’s time for an upgrade;

• What is the feedback you are receiving from your customers about your brand? Based off this feedback, is the material you are providing your customers with useful and informative?


• What new features or services have you added to your business, and can clients find information about them across your print and online material?


• Has your logo, print material or website changed or developed along with your target market? What are their expectations in the material and information you provide for them?


• Is your print material, uniforms, website etc consistently styled?


• Can your logo easily be identified from your competitors’ logos?


• Does your website fluidly fit on various screen sizes and on mobile devices?


• Does your website provide the most recent and accurate information about your business?


• Are your employees spending too much time resolving questions from clients in which answers could be provided on your website?


• Do you provide your customers with current information about your business through social media?


• Is the amount of clients you receive from online sources enough to cover the costs to maintain your website?


• When you look up your business on an online search engine, is your company website the first result?

The average business updates their entire brand (logo, uniforms, packaging, website, location, etc) every 10-20 years, however this factor genuinely depends on the relationship people have with your brand. When it comes to print material, companies tend to stay more current with this based off of new features or services they provide, price changes, and other consistent updates. Since your website should be the easiest to update using a Content Management System such as Caster CMS, businesses can change or update their website content themselves every day, or as often as required. Updates in location, blogs or newsletters, new services, general content, and images are the most common and frequent changes companies can easily make themselves on their website using this tool. If you’re considering an update within your companies’ branding and online material, click here to talk with our team about your branding and online needs.

The Difference Between Creating a Business Card and Designing an Experience

Consider your business card as a window into the experience that you provide your customers. Are the shape, texture and colour consistent with your branding, and does this differ from your competitors? Thankfully, there is no law stating that all business cards must be 2×3.5”, flat, and contain only a company logo and contact information. A business card is a great way to express what your business is all about, in a physical form that clients keep on hand for future reference. The unfortunate truth is that most business cards end up in the recycling bin, or amongst a stack of other business cards, never to be admired again. The trick to having potential clients remember your business based on your card, is to make your business cards unique, something that they will want to hold onto even if they are not interested in your services.

There are many ways to make your card memorable, but perhaps the most effective ways is through implementing the human senses. A client is more likely to remember ‘the thick round card that feels like water-colour paper’ than ‘the blue card with a guy’s face on it’ when searching for your information in a stack of other cards. Variables such as texture (also known as ‘tooth’), finish, embedding, shape, typography, and colour all play a roll in how people retain information from a physical card.

Shape and size are fun to play around with, but often cause headaches for designers trying to fit in tons of information onto a custom shape. Straying away from the standard business card size typically requires a minimalistic style and content to keep the information legible and effective. Another important note to keep in mind that although various sizes of business cards are cool, many people still use business card holders. If this is consistent with your target market, make sure that it is still able to fit into the standard 2×3.5” slot.

My favorite, and the most efficient way to ensure that a client holds onto your card, is implementing interactivity. Although this is a fairly unique method, as it typically adds plenty of additional costs, it’s really the full package when it comes to creating an incredible experience. Interactivity doesn’t necessarily require making your business card unfolding itself to reveal a tiny robot who tells the potential client all about your business, but involves the receiver of the card to get absorbed in transforming the card from it’s original form or message into something new. By making the card something useful and relevant to your business, the client is more likely to keep it and show to their friends in the future.

The primary goal of your business card should be to communicate the most basic information about your business in a memorable manner that your target market can perceive immediately. To ensure success, ask yourself:

- does this card fit the style of my company?
- would I keep this card if I was comparing businesses?
- is this card physically restrictive to it’s content and where it will be stored?
- what makes my card stand out against my competitors?

If you would like to learn more about how I can improve your brand’s experience, feel free to check out some of our print and brand design projects at http://camilleblock.com/

Tailored Tips

My quickest project yet! Business cards and rip-able flyers for Tailored Tips. By using only one colour, I drastically reduced the amount of ink used to produce each element.

MyImagination Letterhead and Envelopes

Keeping things simple with the MyImagination Interior Design Letterhead and envelopes!

CrazyCrafts Brochure

What's more exciting as a kid than to open mail that is addressed to YOU!? I loved working on this project for a brochure that would be sent out to all CrazyCraft customers. Upon opening the brown paper envelope, you will see the recycled paper brochure/card, that contains a die-line with gold varnish along the edges. Inside the brochure, there is a small pocket full of goodies! This includes stickers, a dry finger-paint palette, and most importantly, a very cool coupon for CrazyCraft products. Instructions on the back of the coupon include an easy-to-read guide for kids and parents to go online and insert the coupon code for great deals. I wish I got one of these when I was a kid!