How to Build a Brand:
The Paisley Marketing Logo
Is a logo that just says your name, or a clipart picture of what you do really a logo? It can be, but a logo is so much more to your business. We’re going to get into more branding tips in later posts, but your logo becomes the identity of your company and needs to project who you are as a company.
The story of the PMG logo starts with coffee with one of my favorite marketers and branding experts, Wal Ozello, the Owner & Wizard at Emerald City Agency. He’s also my good friend. Having someone who is in your industry who you can bounce ideas off of only elevates both of you. After all, in small business it’s lonely at the top. During one of our many coffee meetings, Wal said “why don’t you just pick a color and go from there?”
THE PAISLEY IMAGE
When your last name has been Paisley your entire life, you tend to gravitate toward that traditional Paisley teardrop for lots of stuff. During my first wedding, my mom embroidered a paisley in the hem of my wedding dress so I could always be connected with my family. And I think I’m the only one of my siblings, siblings in law, and cousins that doesn’t have the paisley tattooed on their bodies! I knew that the logo had to include that paisley image.
CHOOSING YOUR BRAND COLORS
With Wal’s advice, I picked a color, and I start where I often do, with Pantone. The company was being launched in 2023, a year of great transition and new beginnings. I ran my first half marathon, ended a job I loved, started a company, and endless personal transitions. The 2023 color of the year was Viva Magenta, and this was the description:
“Pantone’s Color of the Year, Viva Magenta 18-1750, vibrates with vim and vigor. It is a shade rooted in nature descending from the red family and expressive of a new signal of strength. Viva Magenta is brave and fearless, and a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative. This year’s Color of the Year is powerful and empowering. It is a new animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying, and a boundaryless shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta welcomes anyone and everyone with the same verve for life and rebellious spirit. It is a color that is audacious, full of wit and inclusive of all.”
https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year/2023
It was perfect. And after consulting the people who know me best – my friends and family – they agreed that if you had to describe me and the future I was building as a business owner, this was it.
A couple of days later I was out on a run and snapped this photo in my neighborhood. One of my favorite things to do is pull color palettes from nature, and there was Viva Magenta out in the wild. A color scheme was born.
The lesson? When defining your company, look to what is around you. And look to the experts in marketing and branding to help you craft the message, through both branding and words, of who you are and who you want to be to your customers. With the right advice it’s a winner every day.
To your Success!
