Written, illustrated and produced by

A little bit of heart and soulPutting personality into your online presence to really engage with your visitors.

Your brand’s personality How you act.What you say.What you look like.

And what do you stand for?

Personality is good for business.

Emotional and psychological factors are known to drive choices and encourage loyalty.

Brand-connected customers are more likely to seek you out and recommend you to others.

How does your brand make your customers feel?

Your web site: their first impression.

TwitterFacebook

Pinterest

LinkedIn Google+

Other networks

Your web site: your brand’s online hub.

Your content presented the way you want it.

Does your web site reflect your brand’s personality?

Or is it like your competitors?

The same colours, fonts, visual style, copy, stock images...

Another web site

Yep, it’s pretty much a template!

Another web site

Yep, it’s pretty much a template!

Another web site

Yep, it’s pretty much a template!

Another web site

Yep, it’s pretty much a template!

Your brand is unique.“How do we stand out?”

Traditional ReliableAssuredAuthoritative

Because even a small business has a brand personality.

...even a micro business has a brand personality.

Friendly ProfessionalHonestTrustworthy

Where to start?What is your brand really like?(Let’s make this fun)

Stephen FryIrreverent

Witty

Intelligent

Progressive

JK Rowling Creative

Pioneering

Benevolent

Inspirational

Alan Sugar Straight-talking

Rational

Driven

Headstrong

Mary Berry Traditional

Formal

Graceful

Methodical

If your brand could have any spokesperson...Someone who represented your business/organisation and what it stands for.

Who would it be?

Witty, self-deprecating,

Friendly, informal and easy going.

Simple, corporate and formal.

Erudite, considered and formal.

How does your brand talk?Establish ‘voice and tone’ to guide your communications

Colour and type

Colour and type

Colour and type

Colour and type

Visual elements and styles to reflect brand personality

Brand traitsProfessional but not stiltedFriendly but not too familiarApproachable but not disorderedAssured but not condescendingModern but not voguishWelcoming but not laid backSerious but not stern

Personality mapI’d say quite friendly and a little bit submissive (or more ‘passive’?) - dentists can be scary so dominance would not be good.

VoiceOMG should speak with clarity and a calm assurance with a ‘human voice’. Knowledgable but softened with a relaxed and friendly tone. It should avoid colloquialisms and technical jargon.

An example:OMG began life when three dental practitioners Catherine Oliver, Tom Macgregor and James Green set up a practice in a converted 1920s detached house on Rushgrove Way, Wilmington. Now five years later at our new location in Farringdon St. we’re proud of the quality of service we provide for our patients in the Wilmington community.

Visual Lexicon

ColourMuted greens and blues to convey healing, safety and trust.

TypographyClean sans-serif typography to aid clarity, simplicity and to convey a clinical and modern attitude.

General style notesClear and unfussy buttons, white space, uncluttered.

Other engagement methodsHelpful and appropriately placed (unobtrusive) ‘signposts’: ‘Did you know we’re open late on Thursdays?’ ‘We have Spanish speaking practitioners’ ‘We can now offer you a range cosmetic treatments’

Design Persona for OMG Dental

A Design Persona document: flesh out the brand

www.aarronwalter.com/design-personas

User personas and scenarios

Your web site visitors

What are they like?

What do they care about?

Why are they there?

What will they do?

What would you

like them to do?

‘Style tiles’ are a useful way to create the right visual language

styletiles.es

Get the style right early on in the project.

Future-friendly sites with brand personality.

Getting started with brand personality on your web site.

What does your business stand for, what makes you different?

What are the brand traits? Imagine your brand is a famous person, or a car.

Create some simple guidelines on how your brand will ‘talk’.

Establish a visual language and style that reflects your brand’s personality.

Good news! Everything you just read about we’ve done and we know

how to do.

Need help or advice?

We do more than just make good web sites.

Let’s talk, we’re friendly!

www.seedr.co.uk

Steve Morris is on Twitter

Web, Marketing, Business @SeedrSteve

Design, Tech, Music, Art, History @mozbloke

All images that are not ours are licenced under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike. The pictogram fornt is Entypo - get it here www.entypo.com