So my question is if you guys have got any good ideas towards a brand name, what trends are in at the moment? I was thinking of going for more of an illustrative approach which will make it a bit more gritty and give it more of a hand made feel opposed to digital design.
So if you’ve got any ideas about names, colours, trends, any web-links I should check out please chuck your thoughts down here in the forum!
I hope you guys can help me out
Thanks
First, awesome, very few people hear about the video rule and make one, so kudos to you.
As far as branding goes, I actually studied branding as part of my obsession with learning everything there is about marketing and so here are some things and also how they are reflected in snowboarding right now.
I assume you already know a lot of the first psychology behind most of each topic already and just want the 'how it relates to snowboarding' key themes, but my OCD makes me have to explain stuff in detail, so you can probably skip the first half of each section to jump to the snowboard related stuff.
1) Hidden symbolism in names
Think of companies like Amazon or Google, they may just be names, but they make the person unconsciously connect the brand to something else.
Amazon = huge amazing jungle
Google = insanely large number
So if you look at snowboarding you notice a lot of snowboard companies try to tie their name to something epic in snowboarding:
K2 = massive mountain
Pow Gloves = epic powder
Summit = top of a mountain
Ride = riding a snowboard
2) Colors
Note: This whole 'color' section is probably way too far into marketing for you if you're just designing the logo/slogan etc., but I included it just in case you're doing any other materials for your project, such as info packs or websites.
With marketing these days, the best companies keep using specific colors for specific meanings to the consumer.
In particular, you may want to have an 'action' color. I'm not sure how far you're going with the branding, but if you're designing mock price tags or web sites or information packs, an action color is important to keep the same in all your branding and to not use for anything but that 'action'.
So you may pick orange as your action color, and that means you should limit your use of orange for the specific things you want a consumer to do to take action with your brand and it trains them to act a certain way when they see that color in your brand.
For example, in websites the smart designers right now design their email opt-ins and buy buttons to be the only areas on their website with that particular color because they train their audience to notice and see that color as something to pay attention to when they come across it.
It's like how we're all trained to look at blue underlined text as a clickable link on the internet.
It's similar with a brand, you want everything in the brand to have the same 'feel' and same general color scheme, although I'd guess you know this already if you're studying graphic design.
3) Everything in branding aims at their big key 'something' in their niche
All the best companies stand for something that their audience wants/craves for and it's important to make that known in the branding.
Eg - Apple = Simplistic, clean and highly user friendly products.
When was the last time you saw an iPad that had the most powerful processor or specs in their category? Never.
But the difference is they made the tablet so simple and user friendly that a child can pick up their first iPad and instantly know how to use it.
The key is notice their logo, website and design reflect that feeling too. Their logo is a simple apple with a bite taken out of it. Every apple product is simple and clean. Even their website is simple and clean too and always uses clean looking sans-serif fonts.
In snowboarding the common one a lot of companies try to position themselves as is the 'rebels' and 'underdogs' like the supposedly good old days of messy/gnarly snowboarding when snowboarders were still banned from resorts.
Or a while back Special Blend outerwear had the slogan 'First Chair. Last Call.' to stand for the guys that ride the first chairlift and are still shredding when last call is made at the end of the day.
Definitely don't copy the overused and cliche 'by rider for riders' nonsense, but you still want your brand's slogan/branding to stand for something important to snowboarders, something that resonates with them, whether it's epic powder days or shredding with your friends or the quiet simplicity of riding by yourself etc. etc.
4) Logo
Adding to what I already mentioned, the best logos reflect some symbolism they're trying to convey as I'm sure you know.
I'm sure someone in your design class may have brought up the Amazon Logo being the famous example of their arrow underneath the name making a smiling face while also pointing at the letters A and Z to stand for them having everything from a-z.
Or the Ex in FedEx's logo having an arrow formed in between the E and X.
In snowboard logos here are some trends in their design:
- Burton = arrow
- K2 = mountain
- Quiksilver = wave meets a snowcapped mountain
Overall, the whole powder/mountain/epic snowboard sessions motif seems to be the popular one I see a lot in snowboarding.
Oh and here's probably more of what you were looking for to help with the branding...
Things I think of when I think snowboarding:
- deep powder days
- sunny bluebird park days
- epic lines
- fresh tracks on a powder day
- the 'peaceful' sound of avalanche blasts echoing to signal the start of an epic day
- getting the first chairlift of the day
- getting the last chairlift of the day
- the epic adventure of riding with a group of friends
- the serenity of just riding by myself
- that feeling of flying when I hit a jump
- working towards and finally landing that one trick you were working so hard on
- overcoming the challenge and fear of an obstacle that scares you
Anyhow, that's what I could think of right now, hope that helps and good luck with your project.