Don't rely on technology alone to create a great Website for you or
your company. It's great to have cool technology but you need to
leave a favorable impression on your user. Instill confidence and
create an engaging and memorable experience for your user. Do that,
and they will stick around, buy something and come back another time.
Use good design to bolster the great content and cool technology of
your site. The user will remember the way all three elements work (or
fail to work) together.
When designing your Website, be sure to look to established design
elements for inspiration. Your Website needs to function as a part of
a greater marketing and brand positioning package.
USING YOUR IDENTITY:
At the core of any company image is the brand identity system.
The identity system is really a set of objectives and ideas that manifest
themselves in the form of a tangible piece of artwork, like a logo (the
Nike swoosh, or Apple's apple symbol for example). This system includes
information about the company's perceived image, it's audience and their
expectations, the company's position and differentiation in the
marketplace etc. etc. etc.. The logo, corporate mark, product
system, the trademark, whatever you want to call it, is the single
most important way to identify the who, what and why of a company,
brand or product.
Because the identity itself is so vital, it becomes the starting point for
all other forms of brand communication. This includes, brochures, business
stationary, advertising, annual reports and most recently, Websites.
All of these elements need to communicate a similar if not the same
message, and to communicate the same message, we need to speak the
same language. A company with a high-tech brand position would not do
well with a traditional, corporate looking brochure. A company with a
feminine image would not do well with a
high-tech Website treatment. Picture a Website like women.com done black
and day-glow green! Or IBM.com done is pastels with illustrations of
flowers and waterfalls.
Maybe it would help to think of it in terms of an established brand...
like the GAP. The attitude of the identity, the feeling of the stores, the
look of the print ads and the essence of the TV ad campaign all speak the
same language. And the Website is a direct reflection of all of these
other elements. In fact most brick and mortar companies that have
moved to the Web are
relying on the essence of the established brand to influence the look of
the corresponding Website.
This is not to suggest that everything looks exactly the same. The
identity is the starting point, but the annual report, the Website and the
print ads are like different children of the same family. Not exact
knock-offs of the original but similar enough show they are related.
The bottom line is that the Website should look like it is a part of the
company or product it represents. Fonts, color, voice, and attitude should
all be related across the marketing board. Similarly, the website
should communicate in the way a Website needs to communicate. It
needs to feel
like a Website, but it need to represent it's company's brand and image
effectively. It must retain the integrity of the brand.
About the Author
Dom Moreci is the president of Plumbline Studios, inc. a brand
identity and design firm located in Berkeley Ca. You can learn more
about plumbline at http://www.plumbline.com