Your star of branding is your logo and its unique hue or colors. That’s right, your branding colors. However, your visual position is the cornerstone of how customers perceive your brand, and they have strong opinions about, well, everything.

Your unique color system may vary a few shades depending on where it appears, but you want it to represent your brand in the best possible way. Your customers must still understand your mission and the message you are sharing. But what do your customers think when branding colors vary?Continue Reading..

Many companies turn to retro branding to bring out nostalgia and a sense of trust. In 2014, Coca-Cola released Coke Life. A new product with less sugar and more natural ingredients. Also with the classic Coke taste — minus one component, its red branding color. Coke Life came in a green to match its natural transition. Needless say, the product was pulled from many shelves over the next few years.

So color is essential to branding. And over time, brands grow and adjust. But they may find themselves revisiting their roots and boosting retro branding.Continue Reading..

By now, most people know that the best press-ready materials don’t originate from designs in PowerPoint. However, you may still be left scratching your head when you think you’ve done everything right. But the final products don’t match the proofs. Seriously. And: Why?!

Color matching on all print materials must prove successful to ensure strong brand integrity. You would notice if Coca-Cola switched a shade over from their iconic red. The original red is three different shades and came from a time in the ’90s when the company painted the barrels of Coca-Cola bottles so that tax agents could tell them apart from alcohol during shipping. The color would later inspire the pop artworks of Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol.

So, for over 30 years, every designer that the brand has used always has had to match that iconic color from proofs to final product. Yes, movements and sustainable brands are made by getting one color right. The stakes are high and rightfully so.Continue Reading..

Is sustainable packaging the new enemy of print experts?

Color management can be a challenge at the best of times. Introduce a new variable like sustainable packaging into the mix, and brand color consistency suddenly becomes even more complicated.

After all, how a color shows up on a specific type of material is going to vary. That seems obvious enough. But knowing that colors look different on different materials doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.

For print experts, brand color consistency isn’t just the goal anymore – it’s a requirement. So, here are several steps you can take to ensure you’re ready for any challenge that comes your way.Continue Reading..

So, is G7 certification what you need?

Companies tend to be quite particular about their branding elements — especially colors. So, when you’re producing print materials for your clients, the pressure is on. And, you want to ensure that all materials are as close to perfect as they can be.

But what can you do to create consistency in the finished products you produce?

Are you in the business of helping companies strengthen their brand? Do you help them achieve visual similarity across printing processes? Then the G7 certification is for you.

So, what is the G7 certification? How can it help you in your career? Read on.Continue Reading..