New financial year, new you – and a great time to implement a refresh of your corporate identity. Whether it’s a signage change or a complete overhaul of your visual strategy, these insights from Programmed’s experts can help you achieve this more quickly, at less cost and with greater success.
Changing colour
Changing the colour of your signage can completely change the look and feel of your brand. But as signage is expensive and the frontline to any brand’s image, it pays to decide on an appropriate suite of materials, colours and coatings early on.
Dean Crowfoot, General Manager – Corporate Imaging at Programmed recommends this step takes place sometime between the origination of the design concepts and their final approval, rather than prior to implementation or production. The choice of colour, materials and formulation is vital, and according to Crowfoot, it pays to steer clear of custom colours in initial marketing and concept designs.
“A lot of the pre-existing colour formulations for paint, vinyls, powder coat, composite sheet and so forth are chemically formulated to last for a long period of time.
Their vast array of choice means brands won’t lose out on individuality and creativity. If the colour you want is a minor shade away from a pre-formulated colour, it is worth considering altering that original design colour to match in. The average layperson will not notice a Pantone shade either side, and ultimately it will make little difference to brand loyalty or end result.
Working within these ranges provides the best balance between price, availability and performance.”
Rethink custom colours
According to Crowfoot, many companies who decide to create their own colour often run out of time or face missing their launch dates due to a four to five month production time for custom colours.
Custom colours need to be re-created from scratch, with formulations and samples typically produced overseas. Delays of this type are seldom factored in, having a detrimental impact on the overall cost effectiveness and timing of the rebrand.
If you choose a custom colour, there’s a potential for inconsistencies between batches and production runs, and a risk around durability, whereas an existing colour or product formulation is easily replicable.
For brands with multi-site networks, pre-existing formulations provide consistency and uniformity. This is true for colours as well as materials, whether this be for paint, vinyl, laminates, buildings, or cabinetry.
Pre-existing formulations also have an edge on durability and lifespan.
“Bespoke formulations or colours can reduce seven-plus year warranty terms by up to two thirds. Brands and organisations may have to re-do their signage in three years’ time if customising their product formulisation and colours, instead of utilising the max lifespan which off-the-shelf products or applications are typically designed for,” Crowfoot explains.
Brands who forge ahead with custom colours can also be forced into using a less than ideal digital print that uses CMYK processes and inks mixed without Ultraviolet stability.
This creates significant pitfalls. Firstly, external signage or any signage consistently exposed to sunlight could fade prematurely or delaminate (separate into layers). The lifecycle of the sign is shortened, and consequently, budgets are exhausted by the need to make corrections after installation. All these adversely affect the brand and its impact.
Consulting signage experts and selecting off-the-shelf colours as part of a brand’s launch further helps future proof expansion plans, reducing costs and minimum order quantities for customised assets, especially when subsequent production runs are required.
It is possible to achieve timely successful rebrands by circumventing delays and costly production. Consult a specialist like Programmed early on in your rebrand project to ensure you pick the most suitable materials, colours and coatings for your circumstances for an on time, on budget rebrand, that is also on point.
