Custom murals are a great way to promote your company's product and services. However, marketing directly in a creative piece can be tricky and must be done with extreme care. The beauty of murals is that they don’t feel like obvious marketing techniques to the average person. When done right, customers share photos of your mural without even realizing that they are promoting your company.
The secret to making a mural a hot destination spot lies in the amount of emotion people experience when seeing your work.
When someone feels joyful or inspired they are much more likely to snap a photo and share online. On the contrary, no one wants to take photos in front of a company logo because logos don’t evoke strong emotions.
Here lies the problem many businesses face: while they want their mural to be successful, they also do not want it to be so far removed from their branding that no one draws the connection between the mural and their business.
This begs the question: “How do I create a mural people love without forsaking my company’s brand?”
Luckily, great brands have much more holding them together than a single logo. Here are three tips that will keep your business from getting lost in your mural design.
Use your company fonts
Fonts are one of the most recognizable features of a brand. Think back on iconic brands like CocaCola or Disney. Chances are, if you saw another word written in their font you would still be thinking of their products instead of the word actually written. The beauty of typography is that it has the ability to transform a word into art. This concept is exactly what happens when you use your company’s fonts in a mural design.
If you have established a strong brand before diving into painting a mural, chances are that your customers recognize the letterforms you use whether they realize it or not. By using a specific font in your mural, you are giving a subtle signal to the world that your business was responsible for this piece of art.
Use your company colors
To add to the list of context clues woven into your mural, try incorporating company colors.
A study done on memory concluded that color is the most important visual experience for human beings and that it plays a significant role in increasing memory performance. The support color has on memory can be seen across games, on tests, and even in marketing techniques. Another study found that color can increase a brand’s recognition by up to 80%. Therefore, when a brand consistently uses specific colors in their advertising, it can create a strong visual identity that becomes associated with that brand in customer’s minds.
For example, the use of blue and white colors in the Facebook logo and interface has become an instantly recognizable feature of the brand, associated with trustworthiness, reliability, and communication.
Consistency in color usage is key to building brand recognition.
Using the same colors across all touch points helps to reinforce the brand's identity and makes it easier for consumers to remember and recognize the brand. Additionally, using color psychology can help brands choose colors that evoke the desired emotions and associations in consumers.
The powerful hold color has on the human brain makes it an obvious tool all business owners should be using to draw attention to their business. When designing a mural to use as a marketing technique, incorporating company colors is the single most effective way to remind a passerby of your business.
Incorporate a company slogan
If your brand still isn’t coming through as clearly as you hoped after using your company colors and fonts, a great final option is to try incorporating a slogan from your business.
Using a slogan is a great way to be recognizable to customers. However, you need to be sure that whatever word or phrase you choose to use is something that people relate to and want to take photos of. This can be a tricky line to walk.
A good rule of thumb for deciding if your phrase is the right choice for a mural is to ask yourself this: “Does this saying evoke emotion or resonate with people outside of the context of my business?” If yes, this is the perfect slogan to use.
A great example of a company phrase that worked well for a mural is the phrase “You are stronger than you think.” My Lean Body Bootcamp decided upon this phrase as the centerpiece of their mural design. Their head trainer, Ashley, repeats this often in her strength classes. While her current clients know and love this quote, it is also something that anyone can relate to. For visitors or people passing by, My Lean Body Bootcamp’s mural offers a sense of inspiration and joy that is completely independent of their experience working out in this building.
Always put customers first
Overall, the most important thing to remember when implementing a mural into your business is to put your customers first. People love murals because of the pure joy that public art brings to the world.
The most genius murals are the ones that don’t feel like obvious marketing tools. These are the ones that the public loves and that go viral online.
While it is important to create a mural that is visually appealing and emotionally evocative, it is equally important not to completely downplay your brand just for the sake of artistic expression. After all, the primary purpose of a custom mural is to promote your business and attract customers.
To strike the right balance, integrate subtle hints of your brand into the mural design that will draw the connection to your business even when your logo isn't prominently displayed. This can help reinforce your brand identity and make your mural more effective as a marketing tool.
By using the techniques in this article, you can create a custom mural that is both visually stunning while also reinforcing your brand identity.
Increase your brand recognition and create memories for your customers that ensure you are remembered forever.
Meet The Artist
Micah Vetter is a muralist located in Central Illinois. She is a trained brand designer with a passion for making sure the energy entrepreneurs feel about their business translates perfectly to the the people who need their product most. She creates mural designs that ensure customers take notice, buy in, and become loyal fans for a lifetime.