All that glitters: gold foil inspiration
Our MOO community are going for gold and we can’t get enough of these amazing designs – from event planning to graphic design, our customers are creative, inventive and more than a little bit brilliant.
Our MOO community are going for gold and we can’t get enough of these amazing designs – from event planning to graphic design, our customers are creative, inventive and more than a little bit brilliant.
This month, we wanted to share 3 entrepreneurs whose gold foil designs are giving us heart-eyes. With unique businesses from branding to knitwear, their share the stories behind their brilliant businesses and stunning designs.
Wild Within
Steph Zangeneh Azam, owner of Wild Within Studio, specialises in graphic design and brand photography for women who make and do cool things. She helps them discover their brand vision, translate their dreams, and express the magic that is their Wild Within.
Steph explains, “in the beginning, I took any project that came my way. But as my business grew, I yearned for more… I didn’t think about finding a niche or filling a gap. I just wanted to work with women who struggled with the same business issues I had”.
When creating her business cards, Steph wanted the receiver to “feel like they’d just been handed something special, like a magical key”. She kept the message clear and the design simple – her logo on the front and tagline and info on the back.
Steph chose MOO’s gold foil finish, set up on a black matte background. “It gave the cards that bit of magic I was looking for”. Steph adds, “I love how they look and feel! It was my first time trying the gold foil and it didn’t disappoint. The cards feel solid and high-end”. Steph feels proud handing her cards out and told us the typical reaction is “WOW! Cool cards, I love the way they feel!”
Create your own Gold Foil Business Cards
Born & Raised
Born & Raised was founded by Rachel in the spring of 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. After graduating from Parsons the New School for Design in 2014, Rachel felt there was a huge gap in the market for accessible, contemporary and stylish knitwear for every member of the family. Starting as a baby and kidswear brand, B&R quickly grew into a full lifestyle label, known for their stylish knits that are long-lasting, luxurious and incredibly cute!
B&R is a brand on the go and Rachel’s passion for travel has kept her business on the move over the last few years, with her continuing to design and produce goods as she travels the globe.
Now settled in LA, and with all of Born & Raised’s products being made from start to finish in the USA, the brand was in need of a makeover. Their old business cards no longer reflected the aesthetic of the brand and Rachel wanted to highlight that her products were now made in the US. “I put my favorite B&R knits onto cards – they were such a beautiful, streamlined design on their own! I then added contrast by overlaying my logo in gold foil”.
Rachel’s Born & Raised business cards are square – she feels the shape really “lends itself well to the brand’s aesthetic” and the cards “have an incredibly soft feel and lovely finish”.
Rachel adds, “I receive so many comments on the cards and have seen a genuinely positive response to them. Sometimes when you order printed products online, there is a risk or a gamble that they won’t turn out exactly the way you had imagined. Luckily for me, my business cards turned out even better! I love including my MOOcards in promotional images of my work, as they really did turn out perfectly and go hand in hand with my designs.”
Wonderlust Events
Holly is the founder and owner of Wonderlust Events. She’s passionate about events and making people smile. And, with experience in both social and corporate worlds, she tells us there’s nothing more satisfying than turning someone’s dream into reality. “Whether people come to us with an idea or with no inspiration at all, we take them by the hand and give them the support every step of the way”.
Wonderlust means ‘to be in a constant state of wonder’, and Holly’s aim is to turn her customer’s wonders into reality. The Wonderlust logo was drawn by the very talented Gabriella Croci using inspiration from Holly, while adding fantasy and magic to her ideas. When it came to designing her business cards, Holly and Gabriella wanted to show off the stunning logo in gold foil on a dark background, and for it to convey elegance. On the other side, they wanted to demonstrate simplicity, keeping it to the basics of what people want to extract from a business card.
Holly adds: “I love the feel of my business cards and the gold foil really helps my logo stand out. Everyone has mentioned the quality of the cards, how different they are and how much they love the logo.”
Make your business shine with Gold Foil Business Cards
Your brand represents your business. And we all know businesses change to catch up with trends in the industry. So while your brand helped you get to where you are today, it may need a refresh to retain your customers and break into new areas. That’s why rebooting your brand is so necessary. Don’t know where to start? Try a brand audit first.
In the simplest terms, a brand audit is a chance to step back and analyze the current state of your brand. It not only looks at visual design overhauls, but also takes a look at your company’s voice and messaging. If you’re releasing a new product or shifting your focus, a brand audit can be the perfect opportunity to start fresh.
Of course, it can be difficult to determine when your company’s voice is no longer serving the brand. That’s why we talked to some marketing experts, and found out they know when it’s time for a refresh.
When should you do a brand audit?
Jason Parks, owner of The Media Captain, told MOO that business owners should always get an outsider’s perspective on their brand. “Associates working for a company are so closely involved in day-to-day interactions that their judgement can be clouded in regards to their overall brand image,” Parks said. “Show your website and your logo to five random people, and also have them look at yours versus your competitors. If you are constantly polled in the bottom tier based on the overall look and feel, it is likely time to refresh your brand.”
Pamela Webber, the Chief Marketing Officer at 99designs, has a checklist that she applies to brands to see if they need a reboot: Have they added new services products? Are they inconsistent across all social media and marketing channels? Has their target market or brand values changed? Does your logo look outdated? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then it’s time to start the brand auditing process.
How should you conduct market research?
No company should rebrand without doing some solid research beforehand. Otherwise, your consumers might have a completely different perception of your brand than you originally wanted.
Yet before diving into focus groups, it’s important to figure out what the most important aspects of your brand are, and what message you want to communicate to customers. In this step, it’s helpful to make a list of your company’s strengths and weaknesses. Next, determine if you’re successfully communicating the right message to your target audience.
“My favorite way to assess a refresh or rebrand comes from customer service,” said BrandPsyche founder, Stephanie Jiroch. “My first step is to determine what feedback is being offered in customer service tickets, comments or reviews across the web and social media.” The best buzz for your company comes from the customer, so knowing what works and what doesn’t should be at the foundation of the refresh.
David Langton, President of Langton Creative Group, suggests looking at your business pipeline to see where your company’s weak points are. “You can do qualitative research and interview current and past clients to see how your brand is doing, but often it is more important to examine your pipeline of sales and look at the close-calls, AKA the one that got away,” Langton told MOO. “Why are your prospects choosing your competitors? Your brand must align with core values that you can truly live up to. A superficial brand refresh is not going to address shortcomings in your services.”
With that in mind, has your company conducted a brand audit or rebrand before? How did you know when it was time to pull the trigger? Let us know!
In the meantime, download our new ebook for more brand refresh success stories.
Your stickers are too cool. Seriously. For a fast way to put a personal touch on everything from laptops to pens (often via your products, packaging, of course), it’s got to be stickers. We love them, and we’re inspired by the creative ways you’ve used them every day.
Here are two of our brilliant customers who’ve extended their brand into these sticky little creations. We hope they’ll inspire you as much as they did us.
Ravnita Rayet
First up is Ravnita Rayet, an illustrator, animator and designer from London, UK. Since she graduated with a degree in Animation Studies, she’s been running a creative platform selling prints and showcasing her work, and her stickers are the final touch on her packaging. She adds them to prints she sells to, as she put it, “seal the deal…” get it? We swooned at her super-cool illustration style – and we think you will too.
She told us: “The stickers were based on a set of illustrations I designed called the ‘Lips Series’. It’s my signature art style and I wanted to create something pocket size for anyone that didn’t want an A3 print. I love the versatility and how they can be used on anything. Put them on your phone, travel cases, laptops – they’re super cute!”
And it’s not just Ravnita that loves her stickers – they’ve been making waves everywhere her products land. She said: “I am overwhelmed by the love and support I have received. The stickers are making their way around the globe way quicker than I expected and it’s so exciting to see how people use them. Spread the love with a sticker.”
Really seal the deal – shop stickers
Drifter Organics
We love a mother-daughter business venture – so when we heard about Micaela and Dawn-Marie Hoo’s skincare brand, Drifter Organics, we really wanted to share them with you. Based in San Francisco, US, they create organic, cruelty-free products. As they say “We believe you shouldn’t put anything on your skin you wouldn’t trust eating — whether you ingest it or rub it in, your body absorbs everything.”
Micaela does all the creative direction, graphic design, photography, illustration, and hand lettering for Drifter Organics. She created the phrases and designs with her trusty Sharpie on paper, scanned them in, vectorized them in Illustrator, and added color. She says: “We wanted fun marketing materials to dress up our shipping boxes and what is more fun than stickers?”
“Shipping boxes on their own are so plain. We love the extra pop of happiness colorful stickers bring. Who can’t help but smiling when their package arrives decked out in stickers that read, “Hooray!” and “Smooth skin, here I come!”? It’s also an on-brand way for us to include “fragile!” on our packages to let the handlers know there’s something fragile in there. People love the stickers! It really enhances the personality of Drifter Organics. Small details like these are easy to overlook, but they really tie the brand together and contribute to the full brand experience.”