There is so much accessibility, functionality, and easy-to-understand usability in Facebook that it rendered websites for brands a little bit obsolete. Virtually everything you can do on a brand’s webpage can be recreated, faster, on Facebook: there’s no need for a domain, no need to pay a web designer to design your page, and no need to encourage people to click four or five extra times to get what they need.

More importantly, that’s where the people are. 

Facebook gives you a page. 

You populate it with things for sale, brand values, and contact information. 

Your audience, who is likely already on Facebook, takes it from there. 

Easy. 

However, as with most things during 2020, the pandemic brought Facebook’s physical limitations forward. 

Brands sought out different platforms for virtual experiences that went beyond the function-first approach of Facebook and other socials. 

Zoom. Hangouts. Houseparty. 

The difficulties of hosting virtual events on an ephemeral platform are obvious. What people needed was different to a social media platform, or a way of communicating. They needed a whole world. 

Enter, the website. 

Websites: A Functional Explanation

In the absence of other things – going outside, meeting friends, travelling, anything that has to do with people – websites have stepped in to give people a taste of the possibilities of indoor experiences. Some websites have made themselves into virtual cities and stalls. Others are built around gamification. Even more others change frequently, not just the design, but also the functionality. 

For people whose primary internet usage for the past seven years has been Facebook, the possibilities of websites has more than tripled what they can do on the internet. Not to mention, it’s also shown them something that is easily forgotten: the possibility of web design itself. 

In the early days of web design, it was all about what you could do with this new technology. As we became more familiar with it, websites grew sleeker and more sparse. Doing things ‘just because’ gave way to doing things in a way that would maximise profitability. 

The internet grew up. 

Web Design 2021

And then COVID-19 happened. 

Facebook and other socials started to struggle. 

And the web slid back a few years. 

Right now, we’re in the midst of a 90s resurgence. Nostalgia is a powerful incentive in any case, but coupled with what’s happening around us in 2021, no wonder people want escapism in any way they can find it. 

Web is an excellent way to provide that escapism, and talk about your brand. 

Why Web?

Web is really the only medium where brands can directly interact with their fans, and one of the only mediums where they can have a little fun. With a captive audience desperate for any sort of engagement, this is an excellent opportunity to capitalise on the current situation and create brand design that really stands out. 

More importantly, that entertains and informs. 

With websites, a key facet of design is that you need to reward people for taking the time to visit your web-page, particularly if there’s no reason for them to do so. Web allows an opportunity to engage with and explore the brand without the pressure to purchase, and the space to take in a different side of the brand. 

Any side of the brand. 

Web in 2021 is a blank slate. Everything else on the web is so structured – so Facebookized – that the slightest step out of the norm feels like a big luxury, something that comes around only rarely. 

Tips for Web Design in 2021

• Maximise every aspect of the browser. From customised messages in the tabs to hidden links, good web design can create a miniature world on the web that allows deeper access to your brand than a Facebook page or a simple brand page. 
• Experiment. With web design, nothing is forever unless you want it to be. Print campaigns and newspapers are permanent; web design is fluid, and can be done just ‘for fun’ without the risk that, ten years from now, it’ll be dated.
• React, interact, act. Websites allow you to use aspects of your brand voice that could go unheard in Facebook or a corporate website. Allowing your brand’s personality to shine through can help hold your audience’s attention. They’ll remember a fun web-page that they spent a few minutes on. 
• Design to brand. Use hidden links and easter eggs if you have to, but bring your brand’s personality and voice forward through every part of the design. 

This isn’t to say these are the only tips, or that Facebook cauterised web design. 

It’s the opposite. In the 15 – 20 years of the internet, we’ve honed and created a way of displaying information and an easily-understood visual language that is almost universally recreated. Now that the mold has been set, it’s the perfect time to break it, stand out, and speak above the crowd. 

What’s next for websites post-pandemic?

There are people who might say that the age of the website will end when lockdown does. 

That isn’t strictly true. 

While websites might experience a dip in their newfound popularity, they won’t go back to pre-pandemic levels if a website is done well. With web, there are no real limitations on what you can do. 

Put simply: 

You can sell a pair of shoes on Facebook. 

But to make people drool over your shoes, allow them to try them on virtually, make shoe-shopping fun, you need a website. The web, as they say, is forever. 

The post Facebook Killed Website Design appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

If the last few decades have taught us anything, it is that we should be doing what we can today rather than leaving it until tomorrow. If we don’t, never mind; it’s not the end of the world – oh… wait. Some of our best-laid plans can often go askew, and that could prove to be a boon. If these unexpected, life-changing (or world-changing) curve-balls don’t prompt us to be agile and quickly react in full force as one collective voice, then we don’t know what will. Reactive agility is the backbone of every revolution – design-related or otherwise. 

Reactivity does not work in a vacuum. It can only work successfully when reactive supports that which has been planned for.

Design that is well established does not need to change based on the time in which an audience consumes it. Products and services naturally go through their own life cycles that are governed by emerging technologies and cultural shifts. But the core of everything we do – our identity – merits the groundwork of a well-thought-out strategic blueprint that is equipped to creatively adapt to the times while maintaining its integrity.

Developing timeless design is much simpler than anyone thinks; it is far from being easy, but it is straightforward. It starts and ends with unequivocal commitment. Explicit commitment is the bedrock of every successful relationship and that is something that (though intangible) can be felt by the individuals who identify with a brand to the point where they feel like they own part of it. This is probably the closest we get to ‘magic’.

But what do we mean by commitment? We are referring to the soul-searching process we go through when building and committing to an identity along with every visual element we deliberately choose to call our own. Sometimes it might take a few false starts – not everything works out fine on the first try. Some relationships don’t work from the get-go; some need tweaking and sometimes they might need to be thrown out of the window to rebuild over the mistakes of the past.

We see the success of visual commitment in brands like Omega or National Geographic. Every article of design these brands produce strikes a sublime balance of functional form and approachable exclusivity. National Geographic makes a simple but bold statement through its minimal yellow square that literally frames the subjects they are highlighting. This essential element works so well that some think that the viewers might miss it – but they do not miss it at all. The visual aspect of these brands take on the trends of the times in their application, but the strong core elements anchor the visual changes back to the original design DNA.

Timeless means looking back at the classics and extracting their core to fit the past, present, and future. Our recent work with The Athenaeum Spa saw us building upon the design legacy tied to the Corinthia Hotel brand. From the core logo to every bit of collateral, every material, ink, and foil were hand-picked to fulfill one purpose – uplifting guest’s lives by carving out time to themselves. The mark we created was built to live as part of the Corinthia heritage, yet still keeping a voice of its own. This then evolved into seamless patterns which were embossed on boards and stitched onto robes. Through the subtle application of these core elements, we created a strongly-branded experience that is almost invisible at first glance, but evident the moment you look for it. It is more about feeling than it is about seeing.

Another example that comes to mind was the journey Switch embarked on with eCabs to build their refreshed brand and design. Even though the company had been on a constant evolution, eCabs required the final step in the progression of its visual voice that would stand the test of time. Stripping any unnecessary ornamentation and reducing the kit of design elements to leave the bare fundamentals to reaffirm eCabs’ identity was essential. Design-wise, eCabs has to ooze functional and beautiful ‘mass production and mass adaptation.’ It’s a bit like Bauhaus. The amazing thing about that design movement is that the fundamentals they produced almost live in a time-vacuum – they are visually relevant (and, importantly, look good) within any context at any time in history, from their origins until today. And they will likely do so until the end of time.

We future-proofed the eCabs visual language for any opportunity related to mobility and beyond. And time has shown us that the decisions we took are already fulfilling their purpose. During times that challenged us to be reactive on a daily basis, the solid foundations we built for the brand made adapting and reacting a walk in the park. Part of us – secretly – can’t wait for the next curve-ball life throws at us and we’ll be there, hand on the holster, ready to fire back.

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The Möbius loop

The most notorious shape of them all, in my opinion, is the Möbius loop. It was discovered independently by the German mathematicians August Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing in 1858. It’s very simple to make: get a strip of paper, give it a half twist and glue the edges, and you end up with a Möbius loop.

I’m not a mathematician by any stretch of the imagination so I can merely talk from a designer’s stance.
What’s fascinating about it from a topological point of view is that starting from a 2D shape with 2 sides and 4 edges; we ended up with a 3D shape with 1 side and 1 edge. That means that if you make the loop big enough to walk on, you can travel on both sides without crossing an edge, just by going one dimension higher.
This opens a whole range of possibilities when it comes to products and spaces. We can change the way we move through and interact with spaces, explore new properties of materials, change the way we use certain objects, improve fabrication processes and the list goes on – all thanks to a half twist.

Going back to the paper Möbius, if you try to cut along its surface in different ways, you’ll get an amazing array of counter-intuitive results but what I’m mostly interested in talking about is what happens when you try to glue 2 Möbius loops along their edges. It turns out that you can’t, because the resulting shape can only exist in 4D, a dimension incomprehensible and inaccessible to us living in 3D. The closest we can get is by creating what is called a Klein bottle, discovered by Felix Klein in 1882.
A Klein bottle is formed by joining two sides of a sheet to form a cylinder, then looping the ends of a cylinder back through itself in such a way that the inside and outside of the cylinder are joined – a picture here is worth a thousand words.

If you cut a Klein bottle in half, you would end up with two identical Möbius loops, thus giving a topological proof that a Klein bottle is conceived of said shapes. So haven’t we said that it can only exist in 4D? Indeed. If the Klein bottle was in 4D we wouldn’t have that annoying intersection where the ‘neck’ of the bottle passes through the bulging part thus creating an object with 1 surface and 0 edges.

So what are we seeing then?

Let us use an example. If we take the average cube and cast a light on it directly from above, we’ll get a square-shaped shadow. Therefore, we can say that a 3D object casts a 2D shadow. A Klein bottle is nothing more than the 3D shadow of a 4D object (mind blown).
This can be proven further by drawing a diagram of a Möbius loop on a piece of paper. We’ll get intersection when producing the 2D diagram but we know very well that in reality the Möbius loop has no intersections.

The morale of the story is that there is so much that can be exploited in the design field just by experimentation and some good intuition. We can create fantastic products and spaces by stepping outside our comfort zone and experiment with things which we don’t necessarily understand. Following the principles of good design with the right amount of ‘just wing it’ I believe we can radically change the way we think, perceive and design.

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Where it all began

It was a nippy December evening; two designers were ending the day by ogling ‘award winning sites’ and ‘design trends for 2016.’ They came across a particular site. One fell in love with its conceptual nature. “These guys (The agency) had the balls to publish such a website, and the client should have been pretty cool about it too!” he said. The other designer looked un-amazed and emphasized on how unnatural the navigation was. Conceptual for the sake of being conceptual. He thought it wasn’t that good at all.
Queue the age old argument. Form or Function? Which follows what?
Naturally, I threw myself onto Forms’ side; after all, I’m a self-proclaimed illustrator at heart. The debate went on and on, as these discussions normally do. Later that evening, I sat myself down in the thick red chair, popcorn and Kinnie in hand, and watched The Force Awakens.
Yellow text rolled over a starry sky, an imperial destroyer crossed the screen, the camera panned down to the planet Jakku, and a ball-shaped droid whizzed all over the screen. BB-8!
“That’s it!” I told myself. The perfect example of form dictating function lay before my very own eyes!
NOTE! I am by no means implying that we designers should take a superficial approach to every project we work on. Far from it. Very, very, far from it. I just think we need to start closing our eyes a little more, and dream of new, uncharted worlds of our own, rather than clad pre-existing frameworks and design the expected, in the name of function. Taking BB-8’s three body components as a guide to my argument on Form being more important than function.

1. BB-8’s Head – Not just a pretty face.

You can’t argue against BB-8 not being one big cute ball of fun. Whoever designed this droid made sure that the robot looked good, moved good and sounded good. He’s (She’s?) got so much visual personality that you inherently forget that you’re looking at a robot. Coming up with the technology to practically build BB-8 was done after the initial, ‘impossible’ design was produced.
Pretty faces help. Like all great bits of design, be it an LP cover artwork or app on your phone, the first thing that makes you pick up the album or ‘click a button’ is the look of the cover or button itself. We should constantly strive to create a prettier world, and build function around our visual goals.

2. BB-8’s Body – AKA. The Chicken or the Egg?

It goes without saying that form should co-exist with function, though which part should we tackle first? Many might say function, as it is the backbone of our creations – yet it is imagination that drives innovation. The current BB-8 design was based off an old R2-D2 sketch, back before Star Wars was even a thing. The design was shelved as a result of technical shortcomings 30 years ago; however, the ‘impossible’ form brought about a new technology. We’d have a very different BB-8 had they decided to design ‘Function First’ (if we’d have a BB-8 at all). Form should give rise to function, we’re here to inspire aren’t we?
As Tobias Van Schneider puts it, “Often the secret lies right there, in the beginning that looks a lot like your own beginning of a new project. It’s the phase we can all identify with…”
The first stage is the most crucial stage of any project, that’s where we decide how we’re going to tackle the problem or challenge. Thinking about how it’s going to look and feel, even if it feels impossible, will lead you to discover new approaches to giving life to your ideas.

3. BB-8’s Thumbs Up – Be awesome.

Character is something that dies out when function dictates form; who said that you can’t give character to the most rigid accountancy firm in the world? There’s no doubt that the art and the science of design need to work together, but as thought leaders we need to slowly (but surely) detach ourselves from what we know works. Having R2-D2 return as the primary droid in Star Wars would have left every fan satisfied, though dreaming up and giving life to BB-8 left everyone surprised. And we all love surprises, don’t we?

We might not always have to re-invent the wheel, but in this droids case, a ball made more sense.

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What makes an ad campaign successful?

It’s the beautiful marriage of many hours of research, paired with genius design, which leaves us so gob-smacked. A great campaign does not just come out of nowhere. It’s not pure luck. There is a lot of background work involved to make it seem so seamless and easy. There are years of experience, and an all-star team pushing the envelope with cutting- edge ideas.
Daniel Pink talks about the difference between the two hemispheres in our brain. Creatives are said to be more intuitive and holistic, thus using the right hemisphere of the brain far more, whilst the left is said to be the logical, analytical and sequential side, used more by strategic planners.

But what if we had to use both?

What if we had to become that rare percentage of human beings that uses both right and left equally?

So here comes the whole point of this blog post: How can being creative bridge the gap between strategy and design? If you’re creative, you already have that bit extra that is so sought after. You see things that others don’t, and you have the ability to communicate visually through whatever medium you feel comfortable with. Creatives are usually the backbone of the work.
We then have the strategic thinkers, the brains behind great campaigns. These creatures are the logical beings, perhaps those who feel more comfortable expressing themselves with square-based diagrams and pages upon pages of scribbly writing. But, don’t be fooled, these analytical minds are geniuses at what they do.
A couple of years ago, I was lucky to meet someone who had the capability of using both logic and creativity when thinking and expressing herself. With her background in fine arts and a love of mathematics, I always remained in awe when listening to her rationalise. It’s amazing how much you can learn from a person just by trying to understand the way they think. We were both reading for our Master’s degree together, and that year I learnt to really get out of my comfort zone and own that feeling of the unknown.
That is when I was introduced to strategic thinking within brand management. For the first time in many years, logic and rationality were the foundations of my research, whereas design played a superficial role in the final aspects of a project.
What I discovered is that creativity and logic do not have to be two separate entities. You can approach a problem by thinking in a creative manner. You may think that this sounds quite obvious, but you’ll be surprised to find that the few creative people who explore different ways of thinking are actually those capable of making this look easy. We are already gifted with a unique way of seeing the world; by applying strict rationality to the overall development process, I believe we are able to achieve outstanding results. After all, it all falls under the same industry, you are merely opening your eyes (and brain) to a world that’s bigger than just design. Just imagine, a design brief that has been tailored by you.

So that’s it folks. When you next come across one of those amazing ads, perhaps look at it in a way that you wouldn’t normally. Instead of focusing on its beauty, open your eyes to the reaction of the people watching it, and try to imagine the thought behind the emotional engagement created that makes that ad so powerful. You could very well achieve the same response through your work just by getting out of your comfort zone… and who knows, there will be a day when other fellow creatives will come to you to pick your brain.

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Conceived from either need or greed, there is always the product that will make your life instantly perfect (while perfectly cutting your vegetables at the same time) just a phone call away. Or that’s what we’re told…
Since ancient times, we have learned to create objects that help us carry out a task better, quicker and more efficiently.  Our nature allowed us to keep this trait and to constantly pursue the urge of making something better.
In today’s world, it may result in difficulty when distinguishing between a product adhering to the principles of good design and from something that came out of a corporation in the midst of money-making delirium. However, there are fundamentals that can help designers in creating better and effective products.

The Needs

Being functional or emotional, expressed by a client or the brainchild of a creative, a need is always where design starts. The key is to make sure the need has a value.
A functional need is most commonly presented to designers by clients who are envisioning a product designed for a specific reason, and it is up to the designer to make it look ‘great’ and ‘edgy’.  A designer must spot an authentic need for the product, it could be something revolutionary or something that simply aids a process. This, coupled with the designer’s voodoo will help create a better product and generate interest in consumers.
An emotional need normally comes out of creatives’ heads. It could be simply the need to make something look more appealing, the need of experimenting with materials, or the need to make something work differently. This usually doesn’t impact the function of the object but rather taps into the mind of users to generate interest, curiosity, intrigue, or shock. If the solution is effective, the end product could be tremendously successful.

The Primitives

When we were presented with a pencil for the first time, after removing it from our mouths and appreciating the fact that it left a black trail at our will, we started naturally producing derivations of circles, triangles and squares.
These basic primitives- shapes rooted in mysticism and mathematical perfection, are the foundation of design and engineering. A designer learns quickly that every object, both natural and manufactured, can be produced from a derivation or combination of said primitives.
This exercise can be reverse-engineered and iconic products can be traced back to these humble shapes where one can notice the final item is not so far apart from its starting point. This tells us that the elegant simplicity present in primitives is both aesthetic and functional. It is intriguing yet understandable, it could be bold or subtle and functional in such a way to make the product easier to use and even facilitate a production process or change it altogether.
A concept generated from a few lines is a winning concept.

The Experiments

This is easier said than done, but an essential part of the love for design is to transform these primitives into a product.
As a general rule of thumb, if an object can be produced from a sketch, it most often means that it still needs work. This is because the potential of form and function and the possibilities of materials are not being pushed far enough. If uncertainties about how to build the product arise while designing, it’s a good sign; it means that something innovative may be just around the corner.
Sounds utopian as designs are often pressed by time and budget…
However, 3D software can help put things in perspective (pun intended), get accurate measurements and proportions, create technical scenarios and allow the client to visualize the idea in a way that sells effectively. It’s also good practice to always produce paper models. As many are aware, anything one can do with paper can be done in metal. They are quick and easy, allow the designer to notice any flaws and present a mock-up to a client. These tools will pave the way to a final prototype and production.

The Ethics

Nowadays, having the luxury of fast visibility and the opportunity to reach a global market on various platforms relatively easily, comes with ethical responsibilities that the designer should consider, mainly environmental responsibility.
This is usually taken as a limitation but it can be easily seen in its true light. There is no extra mile to go in order to produce green design nor does it have to come to the detriment of the client or designer. With some thought, a product with intelligent geometry allows for less material being used and a lighter product allows easier transportation. Familiarity with the fabrication processes involved will lead to a more feasible and affordable product with less energy used by the manufacturing plant. Knowledge of materials and composites will lead to smarter proposals and innovative designs.
It can be taken as an exponential chain where the designer achieves his ambitions with form and function, the client gets a viable product, the manufacturing plant can work at optimum production, and the consumer will get an affordable end result.

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1. Explore!

Like great voyagers we need to survey and scavenge around to gain a good understanding of our surroundings. Be it by getting in touch directly with the client, marketing executive or supplier, take the lack of a clear direction as a great way to develop or create new relationships. We’re in the communication industry after all.

2. Boldly go where no man has gone before

The design world needs its Marco Polos and Captain Kirks; people who are defined by their discoveries rather than by who they are. Incomplete briefs may be the perfect excuse to be experimental, and let your creative process take you through routes you wouldn’t have thought of going through before. There’s a fine line between creating cool stuff for the sake of being different and creating unconventional design pieces in hope of creating a more engaging piece of communication.

3. Learn new languages

One of the more thrilling things about exploration is meeting the natives. If you venture far enough from your homeland (metaphoric comfort zone) you’ll encounter new cultures and people (a metaphor for new mediums, in this case). More often than not, we as creatives tend to list two or three disciplines we’re best at.
“I’m an illustrator at heart, but love editorial design too!” That’s two ‘languages’ – it’s time to become a polyglot! There’s absolutely no reason why a 3D artist shouldn’t develop 2D illustration skills; or editorial design or storyboard creation for that matter. Be a Jack of all trades, master of SOME.

4. Free time. Prototype to build better understanding!

I’m sometimes asked what hobbies I have, and I seriously struggle to find anything else to say other than “Well, I keep designing stuff at home.” Experimentation in the workplace may sometimes be a little challenging, yet find time to work on your own personal projects. It’s up to us to find a couple of extra hours to develop and innovate new ideas and tools. Be it designing t-shirts or attempting to create a typeface from scratch, working on projects you’re the boss of should be the thing you crave to do once you’re out of the studio – no matter how far-fetched your ideas are. As Tobias Van Schneider eloquently puts it, ‘Side projects should be stupid.’

5. Document every step of your journey

We might remember the names of great explorers, but their names would be nothing hadn’t they recorded their journeys and the sights, sounds, and locations they discovered on the way. We’re probably all guilty of this, in one way or another. Rarely do we spend a few extra minutes documenting our design decisions, findings, or thoughts. More often than not, these little discoveries could be the fruit of happy accidents, or even little ideas that could be taken further on your next project. The same way Columbus came across America by chance, your next happy accident could lead to you pioneering the next big design trend.

In the end, the thing that matters the most is tackling a lack of brief like a boss.
Turn obstacles into challenges, limitations into strengths, and frustrations into stimulants. Not knowing where to begin will help you think differently. But most importantly, clients, (please) write a good brief.
Who needs stock imagery when you can draw some yourself? All the images used in this blog post come straight from the steady hands of the author himself.

The post The top 5 secrets for becoming a design conquistador appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

Results

The site was ready to launch within a couple of months, and once the offices opened for business we received very positive feedback on both projects. All in all, a great project to work on – and thanks to everyone at GX4 Projects for being such great clients!

The post Client spotlight: The Hub appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

10. Pepsi

Why hello, hashtag. Pepsi use their signature funky, urban designs to direct all attention to their star hashtag of the World Cup season. With Pepsi-sponsored football players using the tag all over the internet, it was important for Pepsi to advertise the hashtag and encourage people to look it up. Plus, they integrated the profile picture into the overall design, which always looks clever.
Why is this at the bottom of our list? Well, they didn’t include the clickable hashtag in their description (or any description at all, for that matter), meaning that they’ve lost a golden opportunity for driving traffic.

9. The New York Times

Sure, you would expect a leading newspaper to have striking footage and photography to use on social media. But the New York Times takes it a step further. Here they’ve given visitors a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on during an average day of work, instantly boosting credibility and interest. And all of this without using a single word of text.

8. GoPro

A simple sales message, delivered powerfully. It’s understood instantly: If you buy a GoPro, you can capture this sort of image.

7. Porsche

It’s similar in concept to what GoPro did with their cover photo, but Porsche went a step further. Rather than posting a random pretty picture of a car, they showcased their latest advancement in the field without using a single word: Electric motor engines.
(and yes, they did provide a link in the description.)

6. UrbanDaddy

If you’re a fan of superb copy skills, you would want to look into UrbanDaddy. Their cover photo is exceptional at reinforcing their brand, but with subtlety. The image doesn’t loudly promote their product (which is content and offers on their online magazine). Rather, it’s all about the person who reads UrbanDaddy and the lifestyle they represent.

5. Fiverr

If you stick to the guidelines and keep things simple and looking great, you can use your cover photo to promote anything. Just like Fiverr did. They’re promoting their current competition and getting the entire message across without using too many words in the design. The competition looks simple and entices you to find out more – and they haven’t even told you what the prize is yet.

4. LinkedIn

You hear ‘LinkedIn’ and you think business professionals and overall seriousness. The last thing you’d expect to see on their cover photo is a toddler playing with a toy laptop – but that’s exactly why it’s brilliant. They’re showing us that they appreciate the users behind the millions of business profiles, the users that go home to their kids after a day at the office. They’re giving a stuffy network a human face, all with just one image.

3. Amazon

Simple and direct – Amazon are showcasing their latest product. No need for pricing or product details, that will follow. All they’re doing is building awareness and fostering curiosity without having to pay for advertising.
Plus – spot the hashtag.

2. Sony

It’s current, it’s evocative and it’s visually striking. All Sony have done is show how their product is relevant right now. They posted this one during the World Cup, so football was the first thing on everyone’s mind. By (literally) placing their product in that scenario, it leads people to think that the next logical step would be to upgrade their current TV to the one in the picture. Or at least, that’s what I thought.

1. Facebook

At our number 1 spot – who else?
There’s nothing obvious about the message behind the photo. That’s for you to interpret. But the chances are that, with an image like that behind the blue Facebook logo, you’re thinking that Facebook had something to do with bringing all those happy people together, regardless of age or ethnicity.
Bingo.

Now over to you – how do you make Cover Photos work for your marketing?

The post 10 Brands that have mastered the art of the Cover Photo appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

1. Check the Facebook Guidelines

Let the eye-rolling commence. Yes, this is absolutely the first thing you need to check about when creating not just your cover photo, but every item of content on your page. Before you ask – no, Facebook doesn’t actually say what will happen if you violate the Facebook guidelines, but it’s probably not a good idea to risk having your page taken down over your cover photo, right?

2. Make sure it’s the right size

851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall. You’ll want to get that right from the start when designing a photo, because why would you want to spend time getting a new image designed only to have it look funny once you upload it? You can view our full template for Facebook image sizes right here. (We’ve included a full image size guide in this post – scroll down to see it now.)

3. Keep mobile in mind

The Facebook mobile app doesn’t re-size your cover photo to fit everything in. Rather, it only displays the middle-to-right portion of your cover photo. If you’re targeting mobile users on Facebook, you might want to keep this in mind when including text or certain images in your desktop cover photo.
Keep the important information center- or right-aligned, or you could have large parts of it cut out to look something like this:

4. Lay out your content carefully

Be aware that your profile picture covers a section of your cover photo in the bottom left corner when the user lands on your page.
The part of the cover image that lies behind the profile picture won’t be visible until the user clicks on it, so be sure to keep that area clear of any text or information.

5. Keep it visual

This time last year, Facebook had finally done away with the 20% rule on text in cover photos.  This means that you have more freedom when designing the layout for your cover photo, but you should still be careful when including text in your designs.
Keep your copy concise and focus on the visual element of the design. That’s what the cover photo was designed for and will make your page much more engaging, even at first glance.

6. If you’re using text, make it count

When Facebook revoked the 20% text rule, they also allowed people to use calls-to-action in their cover photos. CTAs, key text and striking visuals – if you want your cover photo to help you convert, that’s all you need.

7. Speaking of text… got a hashtag?

If you’re promoting an event or product through your cover photo, be sure to include the relevant hashtag, where applicable. You can include it in the design of the actual image for recall purposes, but more importantly, remember to include it in the description to make your photo more discoverable.

8. Don’t forget the description

The calls to action on your cover photo won’t be clickable buttons, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t still direct people to your landing page. Be sure to include clickable links in your cover photo description so that anyone clicking on your cover photo will be able to take the next natural step to wherever it is you want to take them!

9. Change your cover photo regularly

Make your cover photo work for you by changing it whenever you have something new to talk about. Highlight current campaigns, seasonal trends or special events by creating cover photos about them to build awareness or drive more traffic via the link in the description.

10. Own your content

You know by now that Facebook have removed most of the restrictions for page cover photos. In fact, they’ve dropped them all, except for one:

All cover photos are public, which means anyone visiting your Page will be able to see it. Cover photos must follow the Pages Terms and can’t be deceptive, misleading or infringe on anyone else’s copyright.

Simply put: be truthful, own your content and don’t make people change their cover photos to match yours.  Fair enough, right?
One last thing – keep other, non-Facebook regulations in mind when promoting something on your cover photo, especially if gifts and prizes are involved. The Maltese Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) has specific regulations for any form of lottery or luck-of-the-draw competitions – even those held on Facebook or other networks – so keep that in mind before you start pumping your precious marketing budget into your next competition.
As promised earlier, here’s a handy guide to all image sizes you’ll need to consider when running a Facebook page. We’ll be sharing one of these for all the major social networks over the coming weeks, so keep an eye out!

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