Branding Information

My business logo and color scheme started one lovely spring day in my office, after two years of working with words and images. I purchased some rubber stamps and played with them. A logo emerged: simple, elegant, with the right feeling for my business. I took the ideas from the stamps and played with Photoshop on the computer until I had created an original business logo that felt totally right.

Luckily for me, in my day job I worked among some of the top designers in the world at the Department of Architecture at MIT. An elegant Italian Ph.D. student named Maria was doing me the favor of giving me feedback on my business logo. She loved it! That was reassuring, but what really helped was what she said next.

"And this can be your color scheme, too! You can get green boxes, or white bags or boxes with green ribbons, and make all your packaging match up with this. Oh, it will be so pretty!"

This started the wheels turning for me. Until then, I had gone with a rich, sparkly look. My display had used deep colors: black velvet, sheer purple fabric with silver snowflakes, and black velvet displays. Using this logo, and getting the advice from Maria, meant that I would need to go in a different direction.

I decided that the color scheme for everything in my business would be the colors of my logo: lime green, white and grey. First I designed business cards that were professionally printed on white glossy cardstock. Then I designed my website in these and coordinating colors.

For packaging, I used kraft boxes with round logo stickers, then moved to organza bags in white and pale lime green. I gradually changed my show setup so I had the perfect color tablecloths in pale lime green, with white and black displays and fixtures; even my tent is green. I also added a little color and whimsy in the form of bright bowls from which I hung flowerpot creatures purchased from a crafts shop. The creatures have proven so popular that I bought extra to resell at shows!

Little by little I continue to improve my setup, making it more elegant and professional. Each time I set up, I receive many compliments on the setup itself, and it does attract customers. People find the color scheme peaceful and inviting, and it doesn't compete with the jewelry. I also found this when I designed a brochure. The jewelry is quite colorful, and the subtlety of my color scheme provides a good background for it.

My advice for when you are setting up a business logo, website and/or booth is to find a color scheme that matches you and the feeling you want your business to convey. Don't be afraid to experiment with different pieces to get the look you want; it has taken me three years to get to this point, and it's still developing. You may want it to be as colorful as the rainbow or as sophisticated as basic black. Whatever it is, the important thing is to be consistent. That way, people will start to recognize the look of your business and remember you, helping to build business over time.

Author Susan Midlarsky of Aspiring Arts handcrafts jewelry with stones that harmonize well and are beneficial to the human body, color combinations that are connected to refinement, and sometimes offerings from nature. She has also recently started making glass beads; you can see her progress at her online blog. Susan loves the magical glow people feel upon finding a piece of jewelry that suits them or fills a need.