Branding

Branding, Logos & Stationery

What Are You Really saying about your company?

Whether you're in Brisbane or any market around the world, having the right branding on your marketing is imperative for any business, large or small. People do judge a book by its cover. Most markets won't want to hear anything you say if you don't pitch it right, and this is where branding comes in.

Put simply, your brand must appeal to the right people in the right way. More often than not, this means articulating things about your business that appeal directly to what they are really wanting out of their purchase, not the purchase itself. This principal has existed for decades, but more often than not it is ignored by small to medium business and graphic designers. At Ronin, we spend just as much time working out what needs to be expressed by your brand as we do designing it. The results of which are:

You appeal directly to your market's "real" needs
You are more effectively differentiating yourself from the competition
The nature of your business is conveyed more efficiently
You attract more of your ideal customer that you're targeting
You filter out time-wasters
Premium-branded businesses earn more.

Brand Auditing

With Ronin’s “Brand Auditing” services. We compare your current branding with what you should ideally be representing to your particular market/s. We then prepare an analysis that takes into account the strengths and weaknesses of what you have to offer, the nature of your market, and establishes a visual representation that gets results. Brand Audits include your Audit Analysis as well as a Branding Pack, typically including a new (or reworked) logo, letterhead, business card, with compliments slip, and fax & email headers.

Company Logos & Stationery

The following are examples of the range of work that Ronin Marketing has performed for our Brisbane Logo & Stationery Design clients.

Earthsmart: Logo, Branding & Stationery

The Earthsmart brand was developed as a way of tying 4 company divisions that trade across Australia, the United Kingdom and the Philippines together under one banner that represented the core qualities of the range of businesses.

Earthsmart was the name of the Doors & Windows subsidiary, and was rolled out to the Elevators & Escalators, Access & Mobility, and Mining & Engineering divisions. The logo had to represent being a green manufacturer via high-tech methods - and to live up to the tagline we developed - "Engineering Solutions for an Evolving Planet".

Care and attention was given to the logo device, as well as the custom font that was used to divide the 2 core qualities of the business. The "Earth" font was softened to contrast with the sharper treatment of the "Smart" lettering. Each division has its own colour palette, and sub-branding that is articulated in other media such as online, profiles and so on.

CSO: Logo and Stationery

Private security company CSO had grown primarily by word of mouth, but lacked a logo. Both Ronin and CSO's director wanting to avoid the overused policing-style shield designs, so Ronin developed the logo to the right.

The branding uses traditional "law and order" colours, but in a different way. The blues and golds are lighter than normal, and make the brand feel more approachable - an important part of the brief.

It was also important that the logo "explain" how CSO is different from the competition in other ways - that they can provide different styles of guards for any occasion, from uniformed static guards to VIP protection to event security.

Jeffrey Budd & Associates: Corporate Identity

This accounting firm has differentiated itself on the basis of good, proactive service with a focus on helping to move its clients businesses forward.

In this case, providing the image of stability and serviceability was important, and the brand also needed to overcome the fact that it was a relatively new firm.

In order to appear original (unlike the standard navy blue &/or gold lettering of most accountants) while conveying these values, we established a brand that looks simple, old school, classy and classic like a 60’s era gentlemans’ club.

DLPC: Logo and Stationery

An electronics components broker and consultancy business, we identified that Digital Linear & Passive Components needed to establish itself as a polished brand in order to both compete with its larger competition as well as overcome the diffused nature of its services.

The logo presents the “DLPC” lettering in an high-tech 1980’s style font, with the circuit board tracks representing it as central to people’s needs (with “arms” reaching out as though gathering stock) and a natural part of electronics construction.

The predominant green was chosen to both differentiate from the competition as well as represent fast yet relaxed use.

Norman Manufacturing: Logo & Stationery

A cut & edge, cabinetmaking and shopfitting management service, Norman required a new logo. On doing a brand audit where Ronin established the central qualities of the Norman brand as being precision / accuracy, and good service, we set about designing a logo with these qualities in mind.

The laminate panelling lent itself well to being represented as a square, rich “blueprint” blue in colour to denote accuracy, which is echoed by the tape measure markings.

The “n” is bold yet approachable, being a small n which allows a curve rather than the sharp, abrasive slashes a large N would make. Simple, but effective.

Empac Australia: Group Branding

This plasterboard panel wholesaler and contracting company is undergoing a major rebranding to go with its company restructure. We considered it important that all of the sub-brands match (via the font, and the repeating “EM”); yet tell their own story.

The idea of a sort of “dynamic rectangle” has also been used to represent how the plasterboard they provide is contextualised in different ways. The owners have a strong vision of the “Empac” parent company potentially growing to be a multinational, so this logo was designed to appear all-encompassing but doing so via representations of the board product.

Similarly, the construction arm, Emcon Constructions uses a single, italicised “board” that is being speedily put in place by their teams. Empire is the wholesaling arm, and in this case represents multiple boards, efficiently delivered (again via italics). All 3 logos use a simple, solid allcaps font that provides solidity and stabiltiy.

Urban: Logo & Brand Modernisation

Urban’s original logo looked quite drab in muted 1990s dark colour tones that were not appealing to the trendy architectural set that this street and outdoor furniture company needed to target.

Importantly, Ronin identified that though the competition were projecting themselves as “architectural looking”, they came off cold and impersonal. Given that Urban specialises in custom work and that good service is everything, it meant the logo needed to convey this. We heavily revised their logo, simplifying it as much as possible while retaining the same recognisable font.

This allowed it to be simple and dynamic so as to appeal to the target market, as well as relaxed and approachable-looking so as to project the idea of the human touch. Wherever possible, it is used like a label over regular people enjoying the streetscape Urban helped create, so as to further emphasise the “friendly, approachable angle of the branding.

Ausbox: Logos and Stationery

Ronin developed the new Ausbox logo to directly appeal to the average ute-driving tradie.

It combines a straight forward, blocky and masculine font with both aggressive blood red colouring and a brushed steel finish a represent the qualities of a tough, no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners type.

If an aluminium ute box were a movie character, it would be Rambo. This was also designed to be an effective, highly visible rivet-on box label, almost like a Levi’s red tab for boxes.