In 2021, we anticipate companies messaging will be all about authenticity and simplicity. As brands become more and more social media savvy, the competition is becoming even fiercer. In addition to looking for eye-catching graphics, consumers are more conscious than ever of trying to support ethical brands that align with their values. 

What makes a brand stand out has become about more than just a company’s products and marketing – it’s also about the cause a brand represents and the lifestyle they support. 

After a long year of trying to fight for attention and having to pivot business models, we anticipate that many brands are in for another intense year. Many scrappy businesses were able to distinguish themselves in 2020, and we think pulling to the forefront in 2021 will hinge on strong and distinctive marketing. 

1. Authentic Representation + Socially Conscious Design

Graphics featuring “Stop the spread” and “Black Lives Matter” messaging took center stage in 2020, and we foresee this trend continuing well into 2021 (and, hopefully, beyond). Whether it’s putting an activist message front and center or paying closer attention to representation, brands are being held more accountable for their role in our culture. In addition to socially conscious messaging, marketers are paying closer attention to the representation in their work and featuring a wider array of races, sizes, and ages in their advertising. 

As brands rally around a cause, we suggest making sure the cause makes sense for your brand – and feels authentic. The only thing worse than tone-deaf messaging is the overwrought and inauthentic messaging that comes from a brand trying to co-opt a cause to turn a profit. 

Zappos Goods for Good campaign.

Image source + some food for thought on corporate responsibility.

2. Gold, Terrazzo, and Texture 

The trending textures we anticipate in 2021 are similar to what we saw in 2020. When it comes to home décor, gold and an all-white aesthetic have been reigning for years – in 2021 we anticipate gold will continue to trend… but with hints of soft pinks, dark navy, and other pops of color. We also think terrazzo will continue to appeal in millennial-targeted product photography. 

Purchase this background here

Source

3. Muted Color Palettes

Bright colors and intense duotones have been reigning since early 2017. That’s why we anticipate a shift toward more muted color palettes this year. 

Muted colors are soothing – they can also evoke feelings of nostalgia, safety, comfort, and nature. We saw many health brands using a more muted scheme in 2020, but we think the trend will reach a wider array of industries this year. 

4. Data & Text Heavy Video

Working remotely has ushered in a new phase of more text heavy video design. In addition to clearly communicating a message, these videos work well for people using smaller teams, working remote, or those on a limited budget. 

We see this shift toward text heavy video also working well with current data trends. Gone are the days of complicated infographics – these days big, bold, simple statistics reign. They’re easily shareable and grab people’s attention on the ever-more-crowded internet. 

5. Black and white branding

Black and white branding allows product photography to really stand out. This isn’t a new trend, but it’s certainly something we’re seeing an uptick in. Clean, minimal branding is a great way to stand out from the noise and colorful landscape of social media. As products try to distinguish themselves from the crowd, we think we’ll see more and more colorless branding in 2021. 

6. Dark Mode

This trend relates back to designing for accessibility and ease of use – something we covered in more detail in 2020. 

Dark mode has been gaining reach in online product advertising this year – and we think this shift is going to impact brand design trends in 2021. Apps and operating systems are all offering dark mode options and these dark mode user interfaces help highlight design elements. It’s worth considering how the dark mode experience impacts your users and then tweaking your designs accordingly. 

For example, white fonts on a dark background tend to appear bolder –  does that impact the way people interact with your app? Do your design elements work well at all screen brightness’s?

7. Authentic Photography

Genuine messaging isn’t the only authentic content audiences are looking for – they’ve also got an eye for spotting posed or ersatz stock photography. 

We’ve been a long-time proponent of investing in a branded stock photography shoot. Take a few hours to collect shots that will represent your business for the year to come – you’ll invest a bit more than you will for a stock photo subscription, but the result will be authentic photos that you can use across all of your digital and print advertising.

A few examples of more authentic stock photography from Twenty20.

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Hue & Tone: Your partner in design for 2021

Realizing your brand needs to get with the times? Let’s use more impactful marketing to make 2021 your highest grossing year yet. Reach out to set up an initial consultation now.

Note: Today’s installment of the branding series is a guest post from Meghan Frick

You probably don’t need to be told that social media’s a powerful tool for your business – whatever your business is. And social media is important for your business for the same reasons it’s such a force in your personal life – it’s a way to build real friendships and networks, based around pretty much anything.

At its core and at its best, social media is about relationships. You are in the best position to strengthen your business when you are building genuine relationships with potential clients, customers, and partners.

That’s easier to do when your social media accounts are tied together with a consistent visual and editorial brand. When you post and when you interact with other users, people should know – seamlessly, easily – who they’re interacting with. Here are a few easy ways to strengthen your social branding.

1. Brand your images

Watermarking the photos you post to social media is a simple way to include a visual reminder of your business and what it stands for in nearly every post. Here’s how we do this at my day job. There are a ton of different options for branding your photos, but we accomplished this effect by converting our logo into a Photoshop brush preset.

Tip: Unless you’re a photography business – meaning your images are the product you sell – don’t make your watermark so obtrusive that it would deter other users from sharing your images. In most industries, you want people sharing your images on social! The brand is more of a visual cue than a banner proclaiming “this is mine!” 

2. Take advantage of valuable real estate

Any social media account you create comes with some built-in real estate that allows you to communicate your visual brand. Think cover photos, profile images, “about” sections, etc. Don’t let these go to waste. For your cover images, create collages or sharp, appealing graphics. Use sections like your Twitter bio to point to other content, like your most recent blog post or your business’s other social-media accounts. Never leave a profile picture or a bio blank – be strategic in your use of these “built-in” sections.

3. Pay careful attention to consistency of quality

Put another way: if you’re going to put it out there, make it good. Shoot and select sharp photos. Carefully proof your writing – and, if you’re prone to mistakes, let someone else comb through it too. Develop a consistent editorial style (for example, refer to yourself and your business in the same way; no fluctuating between I and we). Develop a reasonable consistency of written tone – many accounts do well with a decidedly untraditional tone, but you don’t want to switch between that and super-seriousness.

I’ll end with a warning, though.

I approach social media – even for business purposes – with an attitude of “inspiration, not rules.” If I’m tweeting live and don’t have time to brand a photo, I post the photo anyway. If a slightly blurry image reflects an exceptional moment, I sharpen it up as much as I can in Photoshop…and then I post it anyway. You don’t want to seem canned, and you don’t want your branding efforts to detract from real communication and opportunities to share what you and your organization are all about.

How do you brand your social media accounts? How has social media been valuable to you as a professional? Let us know in the comments!

Meghan Frick is a communications and social media specialist for the Georgia Department of Education by day, and a blogger and freelancer by night. Connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, or her blog.

Of all the elements of branding your business, selecting a name may be one of the strangest, most challenging parts.

In my first round of owning a creative business, I was just “Hannah Pomphrey Graphic Design.” It became pretty clear to me by the second time around that I wanted a distinct name for my business…but I wasn’t sure yet what that name was going to be.

As you know, I eventually settled on Hue & Tone Creative – which I LOVE – but it took a while to get there. If you’re lucky, your first idea will be a totally original one, and no existing businesses will have a similar name. That’s not quite how it happened over here, though.

If you’re starting the process of narrowing down a name, here are a couple of questions to ask yourself to help streamline the process.

1: Should I use my name?

Whether or not you want to use your own name for your business is one of the first things to consider. Often businesses start organically and individuals naturally fall in to using their given name. If you’ve already built your business using your own name, and have significant recognition in your community, chances are you should keep it that way.

Not liking your name, having a super generic name or having a name that’s a little tricky to spell are considerations if you’re starting a brand-new business, but they’re iffy justifications for changing the name of an already-thriving operation.

Tip: Not sure about your name? How about your initials?

If you’re starting from square one and aren’t sure which route to go, think about where you want to position yourself in your market. If you’re running a web based business and your name’s Anna Smith, you’re making it hard for potential clients to find you. If you’re aiming to reach local clients only, this might not be a problem.

Take into account whether you plan to remain a one-person operation long-term. If you’re looking to grow your business quickly or might acquire a partner, you may want to go ahead and incorporate and build your business under a less personal name.

Tip: If you’re in a small town market and want to keep business local, a corporate-sounding name risks making clients think you’re going to be charging corporate rates.

2: What are my services?

Make sure your business name reflects the services you’re offering to customers. It sounds obvious, but you’ve only got a few words to communicate to clients what you do and it won’t serve you to mislead them.

Make a list of your services and see what fits best. Should you be New Name Creative, New Name Social, New Name Marketing, or New Name Studio?

For example, if you’re really looking to work primarily with social media clients, you’re going to confuse people by using the word “Creative” in your business name. Likewise, if you’re a broader creative business you shouldn’t be “New Name Social.” Some words might be catchier or trendier, but if they don’t reflect what you do, you’re going to miss out on potential clients.

If you’re not sure what fits best, go back to the drawing board and figure out who your ideal client is before naming your business. You can’t appeal to everyone – so don’t try. Tailor your branding to the clients you hope to attract.

3: What are some things people might associate with me or my business?

Is there something you’re known for? Do you always wear pink; do you have a well known nickname? Are you obsessed with a certain animal?

Make a list of words people may associate with you, interests and hobbies. Star the ones that would be most relevant to your business’s services and see what you can do with that!

Exhausted those ideas? Move on to making a list of qualities you’d like people to associate with your business or a list of industry terms.

Tip: Try to keep your name around or under 13 characters. 

4: Is this name taken?

Once you have a list of potential names, use GoDaddy to see if a similar domain is available. Then, conduct a Google search to see if anyone else has the same name. Next, make sure there is something that works available on all the major social media networks. People need to be able to find you as easily as possible – and consistency is key.

Things like being consistent with the editorial aspects – for instance, whether you use a numeral “4” or spell out the word “four” – will only increase your brand cohesion. The shorter the better – we opted for “@hueandtone” on our social media, even though our website also has the word creative (www.hueandtonecreative.com). 

Tip: Ask yourself -- is this name clear, concise, compelling and consistent? 

I was originally obsessed with the idea of “Top Knot Creative,” but someone had recently purchased the domain and claimed the Facebook page. Instead of getting stuck on trying to make one thing work (I then got fixated on Top Knot Studio) keep looking around and trying new names.

Can’t seem to find anything that’s available? Don’t get discouraged. Keep trying different combinations until you find something that works. You’ll get there!

5: What do other people think?

When you finally think you have a winner, conduct a quick focus group with your friends and family and see what they think. I’d originally decided on “Mood Creative” – I even had the domain in my GoDaddy Cart – when all my friends told me it made them think of tie-dye and drugs. After hearing this from four different people, I realized I should probably move on.

If your friends and family who love you don’t like your new name, imagine how hard it’s going to be to get complete strangers on board. 

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After making my way through these steps (some more than once), we are now Hue & Tone Creative – and I couldn’t be happier with the name.

If you already own a creative business, how did you come up with its name? If you’re making business plans for the future, what other branding info would be helpful to you?