Today I want to share a design hack that has changed the way I work on a daily basis. It is the definition of work smarter not harder, and it is so easy to implement!
Working Within Brand Guidelines
Do you think a graphic designer at Tiffany's ever says, "You know I bet I can guess what this blue is, I don't need to use the exact code." Ahem, no. Brand colors and fonts are not to be guessed at. And if like me, you design for a handful of clients on a weekly basis, it can be confusing to remember the specific choices for each brand.
In the past I’ve spent countless minutes a day scrolling through Photoshop trying to rack my brain for the name of a font. “I think it starts with an H… and it’s a longer word… or was it an N?”
I’ve searched through Google Drive one too many times looking for a folder that contains color codes and brand guidelines so that I can match the exact shade of pink.
This was a tedious, frustrating process that was costing me precious minutes each day.
My Solution -- A Fonts-Colors.psd File Per Client
I now create one Photoshop file per client that houses colors, fonts and logos. This allows me to quickly drag and drop the right font into any current Photoshop project I’m working on for that client, and I can use the eyedropper tool to pickup the exact brand color. Finally I know right where to go when I need a high-resolution .png logo.
Three Real Examples
Here are three examples of client branded .PSD files I have saved ready for my use.
Want to Create Your Own?
Step 1
Create a square Photoshop file labeled Fonts-Colors.
Step 2
In separate text boxes, select each font used by that brand. I’ve chosen to name each text box as the font it represents. (I.e. if a brand font is Adobe Garamond Pro, write “Adobe Garamond Pro” and then set it to that font.)
Step 3
Using the rectangle tool, add rectangles and fill them with the right brand colors. Merge these into one layer and rename that layer Colors.
Step 4
Add a high-resolution .png logo. (I keep this layer hidden as I don't need logos nearly as often as colors or fonts.)
Wall-ah! The next time you go to work on a project simply open this file for quick reference. No more wasted minutes or Google Drive scouring again.
