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Posted July 23, 2008 By admin

Designing Temporary Materials to get through an emergency Brand

Raise your hand if you ever "fixed" something important with tape. Come on, you know who you are.

I admit it? I know I'm guilty. In college, during a quarter in particular, low income, I fixed my broken backpack with tape because I could not afford to buy a new one immediately. More recently, I have arranged a tent with duct tape while I was camping because there was nothing else around to repair it with. In both cases, these repairs were less-than-not ideal, but much better than doing nothing to solve a problem rather urgent.

What if your urgent problem is you have no marketing materials for your business?

There may be several reasons why you do not have materials marketing. Maybe you've just started your business, and you're still testing the waters. Or maybe you're having trouble writing the text for your website or brochure. Perhaps there is a fair deadline imminent or marketing who would rush into the creation of permanent marketing team. You could also have cash flow problems that prevent him from creating his "Dream of marketing materials, and you may be reluctant to commit to their brand for the life of your business.

In any case, have something to market your business with is better than nothing. In some cases, may even help you get to the next step in your brand.

How can you use temporary materials to help you reach that next step?

Sometimes having something to promote your business, with in the short run is more important than having beautiful, custom engineered materials immediately. Even with a simple temporary card and the website can help you get your business off the ground.

You can use a temporary site to test your marketing text to see if it works for their customers and to see what you have additional questions after reading it. You can use the temporary cards or brochures to more customers in the door, while saving for their permanent designs. And you can use while you are most comfortable with their trademark, so you can be sure you're ready to make a commitment long term.

How can you make a temporary fix that will not hurt your brand in the future?

– Get more temporary materials original you can afford. This may mean that you can only get free VistaPrint card template (not pay the small fee to have their name and logo removed the back, though!) If you can afford to have a little design work or at least have a professional look at your materials and give some feedback, then can get something that looks a little more unique for not a lot of money.

– Simplification of temporary designs are often a better option that more complicated designs. The whole point of having temporary material is to act as a "patch" for your business? not to stand against your competition. If you choose a business card or website template with visual character too, your clients can begin to involve your business, which is not what you want.

– Text-only logo design for use in their materials. Instead of committing too soon for a graphic or logo to go with low cost logo because of flow problems cash, only to expose your company name on a single source. You can add a little personality with the color? Whether through a background color or apply color to the source directly. Once again, you're going for something that looks professional, but it will not direct their efforts later graph. You do not want to spend money here that would better spent on a permanent mark.

– Remember that the plan for the design of a permanent mark when you can. It may be tempting to use temporary materials for the duration of your business? After all, are complete and ready to go. But the design of a brand that communicates the personality of your company to your target audience when you're ready to commit to these factors can help your business stand out instead of getting lost in the crowd.

These four tips will help you get the most of a temporary solution and marketing can help you solve your urgent problem and the next phase of your business.
About the Author

Erin Ferree is a brand identity and marketing design strategist who creates big visibility for small businesses. Through her customized marketing and brand identity packages, Erin helps her clients discover their brand differentiators, then designs logos, business cards, and other marketing materials and websites to reflect that differentiation, as well as to increase credibility and memorability. http://www.elf-design.com