I’ve been considering the relationship between brand guidelines and infographics recently.  I’d love your thoughts on this – tweet me!

A lot of infographics created today are wholly standalone from the rest of the company’s materials.

Is this right? Should infographics be 100% branded, partially or not at all?

(of course, it depends on the use, right?)

In my experience there are 3 potential scenarios:

1. client wants the infographic to strictly adhere to their brand guidelines
2. client would like fonts and colours used correctly, but is open about design style
3. client want’s something completely different to their brand guidelines

Scenario 1 – a client will furnish me with their data, creative brief and brand guidelines. They are insistent that all fonts, colours and logos are used as stated and want an infographic that fits wholly within their communication materials.

I can understand my some organisations would want to maintain a clean, consistent brand: especially if it’s particularly strong. The infographics would be easily recognisable as being from that organisation. They can be used in presentations, reports and alongside other communication materials whilst maintaining a united approach.

However, is there a risk of the infographic appearing too-corporate?  If the company has a fun brand style, then it may work well as an infographic. However, a more traditional, staid, (dare we say it boring?) brand could end up looking like a corporate presentation. If you’re trying to reach a new audience, for example younger or more ‘hip”, this brand may not work in this case.

Scenario 2 – this tends to be smaller clients, or those who do not have a defined creative “look” for their organisation. They may not be in the creative or tech industries (i.e. engineering or manufacturing) and are less concerned with their corporate identity.

In these cases I tend to lean towards using the colours in their logo. As they are less defined about their brand, I would want anything I create to fit, in some way if only colour, with their other communication materials.

The risk here is that the client develops a disjointed approach. Yes, the infographic may have been effective in it’s own right – and perhaps that’s enough. However, if the client is considering using the infographic long term, or developing their corporate brand, it may be wise to spend some time thinking about the overall look and feel of the organisation and bring the infographic in line with that.

Scenario 3 – I have had clients who have wanted to try something completely new and move far away from their corporate identity. This tends to be more traditional organisations who recognise that their brand is either not suited to the infographic or would not be well-received by the public.

I am yet to come across a client who wants an infographic without their logo (although I can imagine a public body, for example, may want the focus to be on the message, not on the organisation behind it!)

Organisations that have a range of audiences, i.e. a local council may want to reach out to different people at different times, so would want a range of design approaches.

Surely the audience should come first. If they would respond positively to the clients brand then use it, if not, perhaps go another way?

@carolinebeavon too much adherence to brand guidelines means the end user is forgotten about. Content designed for consumer not brand…

— John Seedhouse (@Leftlung) July 3, 2014

@carolinebeavon @infogr8 Nice post Caroline, and a valid question. I guess it comes down to the audience and their level of brand awareness. — ORB (@orbstudio) July 3, 2014

@carolinebeavon @infogr8 As long as the infographic presents the message clearly and doesn’t cause inconsistency it can work if necessary.

— ORB (@orbstudio) July 3, 2014

@carolinebeavon Agreed. Flexibility is important, as long as it delivers the information without confusing their audience or messaging. — ORB (@orbstudio) July 3, 2014

@carolinebeavon @orbstudio interesting debate! Depends on the audience, long term objectives & flexibility of current guidelines.

— infogr8 (@infogr8) July 3, 2014

@carolinebeavon @orbstudio We have, a starting point is to know what affinity the audience has with the brand and chosen platform.

— infogr8 (@infogr8) July 3, 2014

@carolinebeavon @infogr8 We discuss it with clients. It's subject to context & purpose. It comes down to marketing goals vs brand authority.

— ORB (@orbstudio) July 3, 2014