Author name: Chris

Branding is a realm that designers confront almost on a daily basis. Through their designs, they are usually expected to create a brand, maintain brand standards, communicate brand-building strategy to customers, and also build their own brand. If you are a designer who is having a difficult time conforming to these expectations, the following branding essentials for designers could come to your rescue. Keep Things Eye-Catching Yet Simple According to a specific survey, visitors create an opinion about a website within less than a second. Just a mere glance of the site’s design and layout makes them judge on the site’s quality. Generally, brands that are successful the most are predictable. You have an understanding about their character – which means you can sense how they would act, feel, sound and even smell. Actions Speak the Loudest For various reasons and to varying degrees, people create a relationship with brands. As far as human relationships go, people deduce a person’s personality and character by the way he behaves and not by what the person says about his behavior. People are assessed and comprehended based on their actions, and not by their intentions. Similarly, a brand is perceived by people based on what it communicates to the buyer, and not necessarily through advertising and marketing. Should Be Stable Products could fail, firms are sold and bought, and technologies constantly change, but brands stay the same throughout. The brand is probably an organization’s most sustainable asset and when equated to an organization’s overall strategy, it becomes the fulcrum for every business decision. People Participation A good brand is something built on the support lent by people. People’s participation is crucial since they tend to tilt their behavior and actions in favor of brands they contributed to. A particular approach to developing brand team entails establishing a cross-company core team, along with sub-teams that look into particular aspects of brand development, such as design development or business analysis. Standing Out This applies more to your personal brand as a designer. Your personal brand must reflect things you can accomplish that your clients or bosses would not be able to do by themselves. If that’s not the case, then people would have a hard time justifying hiring you or buying what you sell. Tell a Story Developing a brand as a designer should also include a story that you would like people to know. In case of personal brands, it could be your own story. And if you are creating a design for your client, try to weave in your client’s ethos and business journey into the design. Creating a social media presence won’t suffice – you must leverage the platforms to communicate your story.

A strategic plan enables businesses to formulate a practical strategy when expanding an organization, turning around a declining business, introducing a new product or service. The plan acts as an operational blueprint, which outlines current operating conditions, planned objectives and how to achieve them. The plan makes it easier to develop marketing strategies. It provides guidelines on campaigns and states the timeline. Experienced consultants can help organizations develop viable strategic business solutions. The journey to a successful venture starts with choosing the ideal legal structure. Sole proprietorship are easier to run because decisions are reached much faster and eliminate double taxation. Provide complete operational control of the business, which eliminates the need to seek partners’ consent in the decision-making process. Tax preparation is simple because there is no need to file forms separately. They are inexpensive and easy to form. However, business owners assume unlimited personal liability and deprive the entity of complementary skills because there is one owner. There can be difficulty raising operating capital; many investors and banks are not keen on taking risks associated with sole proprietorships. A C corporation is a more complex entity that is legally independent. Unlike partnerships or sole proprietorships, a C Corporation is owned by shareholders who enjoy limited liability to business risks. Running this type of business entails a lot of administrative fees, paperwork as well as complex legal and tax requirements. It is a viable option for established firms with multiple employees. Owners can raise funds by selling shares through stock offerings. Corporations often use the offering to attract both capital and highly qualified employees. The majority of states recognize both stock and non-stock corporations (nonprofit organizations). Articles of incorporation, the issuing of stock certificates and the appointment of directors are some of the key regulatory requirements associated with the registration process. It is also necessary to set rules (bylaws) governing the entity’s daily operations. This requirement encompasses various aspects, including appointment and responsibilities of officers, shareholder as well as director meetings. The board of directors must schedule at least one meeting annually. They are responsible for making major decisions, some of which require the approval of shareholders. States apply different rules regarding the decision-making process. The same applies to incorporation without a board of directors, among other regulatory variables. The entity uses a separate bank account and maintains corporate records. Corporations comply with the tax rules applicable under the IRS Sub-chapter C of Chapter 1. The taxes are payable to the state and federal authorities. Income taxes are also payable, which is not the case with partnerships and sole proprietorships. C Corporations remit taxes on two instances. They pay out after earning profits and during the disbursement of dividends to stockholders. The later is applicable on personal tax returns.