Top 10 Website Trends for 2023

website trends 2023

The internet is inherently ever-changing, and as we move into the new year, these are the top 10 website trends for 2023. We can expect to see several new design trends that will reshape the way websites look and function. For us as Calgary web designers, identifying trends like these is an important way to ensure we can provide the expertise that keeps your business relevant and contemporary.

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JYZ Unveils New Kananaskis Nordic Spa Mobile First Website

Kananaskis Nordic Spa Mobile First website, innovative website design

An Explore Kananaskis tourism website has launched that details all the wonder of this natural, mountain paradise. Developed by Calgary web design company JYZ Design, this web portal was designed with the majesty of the area in mind, to give the viewer an intimate feel of what to expect when they visit. For those more local, it serves as a reminder for the endless natural wonders right at their doorstep.

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The Top 18 Things You Need to Check Before Launching a Website

Branding is a visual and written company’s identity. The particular words we associate with colours, logos and a companies’ key mission all play a part in creating a brand. These features stabilize advertising and marketing to powerfully impart the “face” of your business. How you brand will be how customers view you and the loyalty they attach to what you offer.

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17 Elements of Branding You Need to Build a Growing Business

Branding is a visual and written company’s identity. The particular words we associate with colours, logos and a companies’ key mission all play a part in creating a brand. These features stabilize advertising and marketing to powerfully impart the “face” of your business. How you brand will be how customers view you and the loyalty they attach to what you offer.

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How professional creative makes digital marketing WORK

Why great design makes a difference

Today, consumers are constantly confronted with an overload of information. Great creative design is how forward thinking businesses are standing out among the rest. How your social media presence or website should be engaging and up to date in order to be effective in reaching your target clientele. As marketers, we are constantly trying to find favor in the eyes of consumers. Creativity is one of the most important tools for success of a business in this ever growing digital world.

By focusing on visual engagement from the start, design focused companies are able to attract more customers with eye catching content earlier in the marketing process and today, this is happening more and more on social media. In particular using Facebook, Instagram and Google Ads.

Are you marketing or are you connecting?

Creating designs that we relate and connect with is essential in marketing because we are fundamentally emotional beings. Much of purchasing decision is driven by our emotional connection created by a specific idea or experience created through effective branding.

Research suggests that brands that engage consumers emotionally can command prices as much as 20% to 200% higher than competitors and sell in far higher volumes, click to visit this site and find out more. This can mean creating posts that are one or a few of the following: informative, inspirational, controversial, motivational, instructional, aesthetically pleasing, an update, personal, etc. Some recent trends including “clickbait” headlines on images or titles on articles and videos – an example being “top 10” or “everything that’s wrong with…”, etc.

We look at companies such as Supreme and Bape who can charge up to 120 dollars for a simple tee-shirt. These brands have created a level of emotional value that is connected to them through their marketing tactics. They zero in and focus on their target demographic by attempting to reach those most influential in that group based on age, interests and income levels. This has also caused the surge of influencer marketing, meaning low cost high volume connections with accounts with less than 100k followers. Instagram has allowed many brands to surge based on brand building alone, especially those centered around aesthetics. Successful brands have been forced to become content producing machines and the recommendation has grown to post more often than once a day. To maintain consistency of messaging however, quality of the content cannot falter. Make sure you check this link right here now to generate leads and attract customers for growth.

“People forget what you said, people forget what you did, but people never forget how you made them feel” – Maya Angelou

How do you use design to connect through marketing?

The online world is a vast space of stylish digital ad campaigns, illustrated emails, clever logos and amazing visuals. As such, the imagery itself is crucial to a successful digital marketing campaign. According to Brain Rules, only 10% of information that is heard can be recalled after three days have passed. But when a picture is added to that information, 65% is recalled. Being memorable is key to building a brand.

Gorgeous design alone won’t revolutionize your marketing if it isn’t targeted to the correct demographic. Researching your target demographic and distinguishing exactly what types of messaging will resonate with them makes all the difference in connecting and maximizing  opportunities.

Creating brand recognition through design

The main goal of branding is to elevate your company against competitors in the minds of your potential customers. Keeping your product or service at the front of their minds when thinking about your specific product or industry means the long hard battle of building brand awareness. By viewing just the product or service’s logo, tag line, packaging, color or pattern, potential customers should start to recognize a specific company’s branding. Large brands succeed long term by building certain associations through brand building marketing efforts.

Direct ROI from strategic design

Catching the attention of a potential customer in a professional straight forward way can offer immense ROI. What does your potential customer sincerely care about? A discount amount? A free shipping offer? A new product offering? Immediate ROI focused marketing offers this messaging up to the customer determined to be most concerned with this particular offering. Digital marketing can also utilize tracking codes and show ads to those determined to be in-market consumers, or remarketing to consumers already having shown interest through their navigation history.

Two car advertisements below are good examples of how a hard sell can be portrayed differently. The left one comes off as a pushy, low budget, 1970’s car lot feel while the right offers a level of trust with a modern look.

This is all accomplished through meticulous attention to design alone, it becomes the difference a potential customer’s confidence in your company before even picking up the phone or walking in a showroom. Designing your ad in a straightforward yet punchy way while catering to your target demographic is a great way to get more clicks and converts directly to ROI.

Great Branding Makes Bank

Great Branding Makes Bank

A brand is the complete representation of your business. It’s every visual element, product presented, and experience given. Your brand should be how you want clients to perceive your business – it’s your business’ personality.

A brand identity is a guide to your visual position and acts as a system to present a cohesive identity that’s representational and adaptable to different forms of media. A well-established system ensures that your brand can be recognizable when presented on its own as well as standout when presented with other elements or used on various mediums.  

Because a brand is the first impression a client gets from a company, it’s important to take the time to do through market research and develop a solid brand. By having a well-established brand, that first impression can lead to memorability. Your brand should connect the dots between your mission and your target audience.

Elements of a Brand Identity

Logo/Wordmark

A logo can be a standalone graphic symbol that signifies your company or a combination of a graphic with text. Brands that utilize strong logo symbols include Apple, Nike, McDonald’s, and Microsoft. When using a graphic symbol, it should be easily identifiable and make your brand unique and stand out.  

A wordmark or logotype is the text component of your logo that’s set in a specific or fixed way. Generally, a wordmark is the company or product name. Some brands will choose to forgo having a traditional graphic logo and use only the logotype. In most modern cases, it can create a cleaner, more minimal look, and convey professionalism. Brands that utilize a well-crafted wordmark include Google, Coca-Cola, and Disney.

Logo Variations/Logo “Lockups”

Logo lockups are the different ways your company logo can be validly presented. As previously mentioned, logos can come in the form of a more traditional form with all elements – both text and graphic, as well as standalone as just a graphic symbol. When it comes to the application of your logo, it’s good to be versatile but equally important to set usage guidelines within your brand identity guide. Your logo and its variations should always be presented consistently. In all variations, the essential qualities should all be the same. Instagram, Facebook, and Google are prime examples of brands that have clear logo usage guides can be found online.

That being said, the final lockup version of your logo should be the main/primary representation. For example, the Nike logo’s final lockup version consists of both the trademark “Swoosh” and “Nike” text. However, you can also often see the “Swoosh” on its own in merchandising, digital media, and on promotional material. Although it is not the official logo, it is an approved use set by their brand.  

 

Color Palette/Key Colors

The main, and arguably the most important, colors in a brands color palette are the ones used in the logo. These colors should be what your clients use to associate your business to your brand. Additionally, it’s also critical to consider establishing secondary colors – i.e., what other colors compliment them.  

Depending on the tone you are trying to establish for your brand, different color schemes can elicit different feelings. Are you looking to be serious? Playful? Smart and professional? Should you use bright and bold colors? Pastels? Neutrals? Warm tones or cool tones? Successful brands utilize color intelligently in ways that add to the brand and brings it together.

For example, when branding a daycare, using pastel or bright colors has a fun and inviting feeling whereas using an entirely cool tone palette consisting of greys and blues will make it feel distant and unfriendly. Once you have your palette established, it’s super important that your brand identity defines the color swatches in CMYK, RGB, and Pantone to ensure consistency when used across mediums.

 

 

Typefaces & Typographic Treatments

Similarly to key colors, the primary typefaces for your brand will often come from the logo design. This however, is not always the case as sometimes the type styles used in logos are more decorative – e.g., Coca-Cola. In instances like Coca-Cola, the brand must instead choose typefaces that either compliment their logo or help further define their aesthetic. When choosing typefaces, it is important to choose a couple of fonts to be used for both print and web materials. By identifying complementary typefaces you can create a unified brand identity for all generated assets and marketing materials. When working with an external designer, printer, or marketing firm, it is important to ensure they not only know your corporate typefaces, but have access to them should they need them.

Typographic treatments refer to the standard ways of handling key sets of text. On a website, this maybe be your H1, H2, H3’s, or the way you style your headers, sub-headers, and body text in a word document. By having a consistent way of identifying and styling these headlines, you can further elevate your brand and create a cohesive look when used across applications.  

 

 

Consistent Image Styles & Graphic Elements

Depending on your company needs, it can also be beneficial to maintain a consistent style for images and graphics. This doesn’t necessarily mean limiting yourself to the same set of photos over and over again, but instead by utilizing imagery that is similar in look and feel. Like your brand colors, imagery can set a tone for your brand. For example if your brand is more retro in feel, you may choose to use low saturation images, or edit photos to have a sepia hue. Graphics and illustrations can also be branded to be similar in appearance. For charts and graphs in a annual report for example, you could choose to use a line art style or flat icon style to convey your data.  

Establishing a texture or pattern for your brand can also be beneficial in creating a unique look or establishing your tone. By pushing small details like using textures or patterns, white or negative space, line style treatment, or color blocking, the function of these elements can push your brand one step further and help give it a lasting impression.

 

Credits: Little Angels, Chriselle Lim Collection, ASASA Academy, KKW Beauty

Conclusion

By considering these 5 main things, you can develop a strong representation of your company. Establishing your brand identity is fundamental to ensuring consistency and success as it gives your company a visual representation to align your values to. Before creating anything, it is important to do your due diligence by researching what works and what doesn’t work within your industry.

 

You want to make sure you stand out among the completion. It is equally important to envision what message your company wants to convey. Depending on your answer, your brands tone should be reflected in its design. Don’t be afraid to draft and test out your designs and thoughts. Visualizing in your mind is one thing, but having your thoughts laid out can help you test and compare what may work for your brand. In time, depending on where your company values align, it may be useful to refresh and revisit your brand or to change its direction entirely.

Guide to Your First Logo

Getting your first business logo can be daunting. With such a variety of possible sources and price ranges, where do you start? At JYZ Design, we break it down for you. Though we truly believe in what we do and may be a little bias, we’ll happily spell out for you the pros and cons of all your options.

Before you start logo hunting

Before searching for someone to create your visual identity, know it yourself. Make sure you know the answers to these questions and make sure who you talk to asks these questions.

  1. What brand are you building?
    This can be a complex question. Start with keywords like – professional, modern, hipster, youthful, traditional, trendy, artistic. What do you want your clients and customers associate with your company? How will you stand out?
  1. Who is your audience?
    Are you targeting a niche group of people or a larger group? Who are they, what do they like and what are they looking for from a company like yours?
  1. What imagery will help people understand what you do?
    There are literal logos and there are conceptual ones. Whether your logo represents a mantra, service or idea… make it count so you have a story to tell if anyone asks. Or keep it simple and modern, have it speak for itself.
  1. What makes your company unique?
    Everyone has competitors, if you don’t, you’re lucky! How will you differentiate your company image? Can you say this with the logo?

Where to get your first logo design

Now to think about where to get your logo. Consider your budget, the precision of your idea and the level of expertise you’d like to consult.

  1. Online Generator/Marker
      Websites like fiverr and logomakr have made it extremely budget friendly to source cheap logos. As online international markets are competitive, prices have gotten lower and lower over the years. However, this often means they source pre-made stock logos to edit. This means your logo may not be unique or personalized. However, this is alright with some smaller companies just looking to get started.
  1. Local Freelancers
    Every area will have individual freelancers that work in the gig economy, picking up what they can get and meeting up in coffee shops. They are usually students, doing it part time or as a hobby. Of course, your experience will differ person to person– one person may grasp your vision right away while another may not. Check their portfolio thoroughly and make sure there are projects in it that you like. As it’s harder to hold individuals liable, make sure you use a reputable invoicing or payment system and process, so your work gets completed according to your expectations.
  1. Local Boutique Agencies
    Mid-size agencies like JYZ Design offer the best of both words – the personalization of working directly with designers while offering a certain level of expertise and professionalism in business operations. Always request a meeting or discussion so that all your thoughts can be put on the table. Make sure there is a process involved and that the company understands that logos hardly are perfect on the first try. The merging of your business visions and creative expertise is the responsibility of the company. Prepare a reasonable budget that will accommodate for around 10-20 hours of work and make sure your final deliverables include all the different logo styles you may need as well as a branding sheet for future marketing.
  1. Multinational Corporate Agencies
    They are big because they are good – regimented, structured and processes mean they were able to build a company that way. Be wary however of padded up pricing quotes, filled with undeliverable scopes that you will be charged hourly for. Corporate agencies offer more comprehensive branding deliverables, often documents filled with pages of do’s and don’ts. You need something like this to grow and sustain a sizeable brand where lots of moving parts will come into play.