Getting Graphic in Cleveland

Seeing the logo of the Cleveland Browns is a quintessential part of being a Clevelander. In fact, you should not be able to call yourself a Clevelander if you can’t recognize that orange helmet anywhere you go. This insight is focused on graphic design, what it is, and what to expect from graphic designers who work with your business right here in Cleveland.

Graphic design seems self-explanatory, and to some extent it is. It’s a design for a graphic. Hold on there, what exactly is a graphic? Think of a definition for the word “graphic”. It should be a little confusing, is it a sign, a logo, coloring, a font? Graphics are all the above. Here is a short list of things business in Cleveland use in the graphic design world:

• Posters
• Brochures
• Logos
• Branding
• Business Cards
• Billboards
• Webpages
• Social Media Posts

Did you see a few things on there that you want to try out and utilize in the Cleveland market? We are about to discuss the power of having a professional graphic designer on your team.

With the advent of AI in the past few years there has been a growing need for professional graphic design as artificial designs clearly have problems. Psychologists call this the “uncanny valley”. This concept explains something fundamental to the human experience: the closer something is to seeming human, the more it bothers us. You have seen AI generated pictures and designs, and there is always something… off… about it. It’s cool, even close, but it lacks something that humans can recognize.

You want your first impression to be authentic. Using AI will only get you part of the way. Hiring a professional graphic designer is no longer a suggestion, it is a mandatory part of building your brand. The point of a good logo, a catchy billboard, or a neat and tidy brochure is to have it catch the eye of your audience. Graphic designers have the experience and wherewithal to recommend the proper spacing, colors, fonts, etc.

Having a graphic designer can also play into your business’ roots here in Cleveland. Cleveland literally has its own font, you know the sign we are talking about, and its sports teams have very recognizable colors. The Guardians do not have anything special, but the Browns and Cavs have incredibly unique color schemes. Even if a designer is only armed with a font and color scheme, they can create brand guidelines for all your social media, website, videos, logos, stickers, posters, everything. Graphic design is a game of chess, and you need to know how the pieces on the board function.

Having consistency in a brand will create a sense of familiarity in your audience. You know the colors and font of Coca-Cola, we all do. That’s because Coke has created a consistent brand identity by using the same familiar red cans with white cursive font for their name. Smaller companies in Cleveland may not want to shoot for fame like the brand Coke, that is too “pie in the sky” for our taste, but you can create a familiar identity for Clevelanders.

We wanted to show you a great example of brand identity here in Cleveland and that is Fat Head’s Brewery. They created a cartoon character in their logo, and they utilize it everywhere. Look at their consistency with the “fat head” character:

No matter the type of beer, the pun in the name, or the outfit they give that character, he is incredibly recognizable. The graphic designer took the name “Fat Heads” and created a reusable character that was adaptable and familiar. Also, the fonts usually stay the same, unless there is an effect being used in the name to promote a pun or style of the beer. Look at “Groovy Juice” and how the letters are done in a 70’s psychedelic style. Groovy baby.

The graphic design for Fat Heads is impeccable and it is now being sold all over Cleveland. It’s hard to go to a bar and NOT see a Fat Heads beer on tap. This character tells the brand’s story. Cleveland loves a good story, and we also gravitate towards brands that do not take themselves too seriously. Graphic design will help guide you towards a consistent brand that tells your story and will allow you to play around with some of the more humorous aspects of a business or brand.

You undoubtedly have brochures, flyers, maybe T-shirts for your business here in Cleveland. Hiring a graphic designer to keep the font, colors, and spacing consistency across those mediums with implant a Pavlovian response in your audience. The more often people see a logo or icon out in the wild, without it being shoved down their throats in an ad, the more likely they will be to stop and think, “Maybe I should check that out”. How do you achieve that sub-conscious response? By making sure the branding is consistent for your business.

Another case we wanted to bring up is Key Bank. This Cleveland bank has become a titan over the years, but one thing has remained consistent: their logo. Anything sponsored by Key Bank has that legendary symbol on it, and they do not need their name next to it for you to know what company it is. In fact, the font for their name has changed over the years, but the icon in their logo has always been consistent, you will notice the “registered” symbol next to only the key:

This is what professional graphic design does for your business. Cleveland has some incredibly recognizable logos and businesses, and it’s all thanks to the hard work of professional graphic designers. The level of audience engagement goes up exponentially if the brand is recognizable and consistent.

It would be kind of weird to see brands like Fat Heads and Key Bank, but then if we went to their website, we saw something with completely different logos, fonts, and colors, right? We crave consistency, and a good web developer is also a good graphic artist. Calculating the spacing and color schemes of a website to match your brand is a science. It is literally a full-time job. You want your website to look nice, and you want someone who can design the graphics for it to be consistent with your business or brand.

Cleveland has no shortage of web developers and graphic design artists, but these two things can be vastly different. Web developers and graphic artists usually work in tandem with one another to achieve results. An option for your business might be to hire a marketing agency with both available who have worked together for a long time. We here at Acclaim utilize the talents of multiple graphic artists and web designers to craft unique hand-tailored web pages for our clients.

Having banners at the top of your website that match your brand emphasizes clarity and familiarity. Let’s go back to our case studies:

Notice how these brands keep their websites almost identical to their branding on their products and logos? Fat Heads clearly shows the cans, the names, the brewers, the catchy quote “Chill out man, have a beer!” This all orbits their personality. The graphic designer on their site stayed true to their brand.

The same can be said about Key Bank, although a bank will have a hard time being as fun as a brewery. The colors, the font of the website, the logo in the corner, they match their personality perfect. It is a bank, so it’s a little lackluster. No one imagine’s a bank being a party center.

A Cleveland-based graphic designer will know this city. They will know the relationship with the Cleveland Browns that is built on dissapointment and overwhelming loyalty. They will remember when the entire city practically rioted when Lebron James announced his departure. Having someone in the culture, designing based on the culture, and cheering for the sports teams in our culture is massivley important.

Graphic artists are often impacted by the art and design around them, and having them familiar with the Cleveland scene will help them tailor to your business. If you want a Cleveland Guardians themed restaurant, you need a graphic artist that knows Cleveland. Not to mention the fun we can poke at ourselves as Clevelanders, we can use catch phrases like, “We are like the Browns, nothing but consistent.” And that’s hilarious because the Browns haven’t had any major wins since the mesosoic era.

One last case study: Pierogies of Cleveland. Oddly enough our city is known for pierogies. We aren’t sure the origins of this random food being a signature Cleveland dish, but we will take it over Columbus’ “coney dog” any day of the week. This is unique business that offers extravagant perogies, as of August 2024 the pierogi of the month is blueberry cheesecake. Have a look for yourself:

This is a straightforward branding style that leans heavily into the Cleveland name. The graphic designer took the cursive font from the Cleveland sign and made an entire brand out of it. They took an incredibly Cleveland-themed food and made an entire brand out of the Cleveland style.

It’s a good idea to find a graphic designer here in Cleveland who is a little, shall we say, cavalier? Cleveland already has a bold style and creating a brand around that is exciting for an experienced graphic artist. Remember, having a consistent branding across these mediums will create a sense of familiarity in Clevelanders:

• Posters
• Brochures
• Logos
• Branding
• Business Cards
• Billboards
• Webpages
• Social Media Posts

Keeping your brand bold and consistent is the way to our hearts, and we know it. If you have any questions on graphic design here in Cleveland, you can reach out to us here at Acclaim anytime to talk shop.