Embedded Files
Originally written for FullCircle
NAMES, COLORS, LOOK, AND FEEL:
NAMES, COLORS, LOOK, AND FEEL:
DESIGNING YOUR FRC BRAND
DESIGNING YOUR FRC BRAND
WHAT IS BRANDING?
Branding is an all-encompassing term that covers how your team is perceived by other teams,
potential sponsors, and random passerby. It covers your team name, colors, clothing, graphics
for social media and documents, and more. Why is branding important? It defines how other
teams see you. You want to be easily recognizable, memorable, and defined. Let's cover some
of the most important parts of creating a brand that will serve you for years to come.
PICKING A NAME
When most FRC teams are created, the first thing that happens is creating a name for the team. While it can seem like a throw-away process, the name of your team is pretty much permanent and will influence how the rest of your brand fits together. Here are some questions you might want to ask yourself and your team while you pick a name:
Is it original? If your name features your school's mascot, chances are it will get lost in
the flow of similar sounding names. There are tons of teams that have the word "cougar"
in their names, but only one Cheesy Poofs. Lots of teams have names like “_____
Robotics”, “____ Bots”, and “Robo____”. In the 2018 season, about 1250 teams
featured “robo” in their names, as opposed to the 2400 or so that didn’t. The goal is to
stand out and be memorable, so try to find something unique. There are lots of ways to
get creative! Some teams use acronyms like team 67, the HOT team (Heroes of
Tomorrow). Team 2468 is Team Appreciate. There are a lot of options. Use The Blue Alliance
to see if other teams have similar names.
Is it appropriate? This is a pretty simple concept, but your team name should absolutely
not be or reference anything remotely offensive to anyone. Remember: FIRST is built on
the idea of Gracious Professionalism.
● Is it "memey"? At the end of the day, you want to be taken seriously by other teams. You
do yourself no favors by naming yourselves "MemeSquad" Robotics. Here's a nice tool
to check if your name is too memey: would you feel comfortable going into a good sized
business, asking to speak to the manager, and then asking for sponsorship for your
team? Sponsors are looking for good places to put their logo, so make sure that you’re
appealing.
● Does it allow for good branding opportunities? Basically, does your name have any sort
of imagery related to it that you can capitalize on? Citrus Circuits is a great example of a
name that has branding opportunities. The name is clean and original and gives great
options for logos and other brand assets. Citrus Circuits elected to go with a lime and it
works quite well. In contrast, a name like "Double Innovation" might be harder to come
up with imagery for.
PICKING A COLOR PALETTE
Here are the logos from some major brands you might recognize:
What do you notice about them? If you said "they're all monochromatic" you'd be right. Picking a single main color with a background color allows you to be unified and recognizable. Find your main color and an accent color. Typically an accent color has a contrast to the primary color, but sometimes having a similar accent color works well too. You can use Adobe Color to find your true complementary color. See the “Intro to Color Theory” article linked to the bottom of this article. As an example, here is the color palette from team 6814:
As you can see, their main color is purple. Specifically, they opted to go with the lighter shade of purple (#7C51A5). The darker purple is an accent color mostly used for texts and graphic
design. The offwhite (#FFFAF4) is used where applicable, as it makes the purple pop more than
standard "true" white (#FFFFFF). The dark blue and accent grey are used as backgrounds
occasionally, but aren't used in any major way. Like the logos pictured above, it's okay to have a background color to use in your logo. Those three companies used white, but black and dark
grey are also common. Some teams (3132 for example) make a starkly contrasting accent color work, but it can be difficult to do. Do some research to find out what the major teams in your area are and find a color or shade that isn't in heavy use. Typically red and blue (and especially the FRC shades) are the most common, so see what else you can come up with. Use
coolors.co to help you design your color palette.
MAKING A LOGO
Before diving into logos (and eventually fonts), let’s talk about raster and vector formats. At a
very basic level, raster images are made of pixels and vector images are made of lines. This
means that the more you zoom in on a raster image, the grainier it will become. A vector image, however, will keep its focus. For logos and fonts, you will want vector images. This will allow your team to shrink or expand your fonts and logos to fit websites, shirts, banners, and more without any trouble. Common raster formats are .JPG, .JPEG, and .PNG while common vector formats are .SVG, .EPS, and .AI.
Here are a few logos from powerhouse FRC teams:
See how they're all monochromatic? What else do you notice? The team numbers are all front
and center. In reality, other teams might not remember your name, and that's okay. What they
will remember is your number. Your team number (and not your name) is what is shown on
match pairings, so making your team number easily visible will be really helpful. The team
number doesn't need to be expressly a part of the logo, but should always be nearby
(underneath or to the side). Do your best to incorporate it into your logo. When crafting your
logo, try and connect it to your team name. This will help reinforce the whole brand and make it stick better. Finally, aim to make your team's logo simplistic and elegant. The more detail you
add, the harder it gets to read from across the room. The goal is to have a logo that looks good
up close and at a distance. If you have a really good idea for a multicolor logo, don’t let the
monochrome mantra scare you away! Just remember that it is harder to pull off. There are
examples below of teams who made multiple colors work.
PICKING FONTS
Fonts can be sorted into two major categories: serif and sans serif. Serif fonts have little flares
on them, while sans serif do not.
Generally, sans serif fonts work better for names, titles, etc. They are cleaner, easier to read,
and generally more "technologic"-looking. Here are some examples:
Pick one font that is only used for your logo, one font for your documentation headers, and one font used for your body text. Your logo font can come from anywhere on the internet, but it is highly recommended to have your header and body fonts come from the Google Fonts library. You cannot import fonts to Google docs, so having your fonts be available in the Google ecosystem will save you lots of heartache. The body font is the only place that using a serif font is acceptable, but using a sans serif font works just as well. Remember: your fonts should be easy to read up close and at a distance.
APPAREL
Apparel is a very important part of your team’s brand. Shirts, jackets, and hats are the typical
staples of a team's wardrobe. There are a few different types of shirt: t-shirt, jersey, and
collared. T-shirts are by far the cheapest and most common, while jerseys and collared shirts
are more expensive but look more professional and will help you stand out. T-shirts are perfectly acceptable, but if you have the means, consider something more high-end. In any case, use your team's main color as a base and apply text and logos in your accent color or background color. This will let your team's main color be the most visible, making your team more recognizable.
Hoodies are also a great way to have something to wear that is not only comfortable, but
professional looking as well. Some examples of professional looking hoodies are from 254 and
4946. Fleeces and shells will be more costly but will typically be a higher quality and last longer. Your hoodies should follow the same branding standards as your shirts. With fleeces and shells, embroidery is the way to go for durability and visual appeal. Different designs are okay, but don’t deviate too much as it can cause confusion. Some teams also choose to have different designs for each year, which works well but has the drawback of not having a team uniform.
Some teams spring for hats, either beanies or caps. In either case, use your background or
accent color for more color diversity. Refrain from using very bright colors for apparel. Try to use a dark or contrasting color to make your apparel readable and recognizable. For example, it’s likely to be hard to read words when they are printed on a neon yellow shirt.
Lastly, make sure that you outline what the branding standards are for each new apparel item
you create, and always reach out to local apparel companies to see if you can get discounts or
donations. There are always options online, but forming business relationships and supporting your local economy is always a good move.
Here's some merch examples I love!
BRAND STANDARDS
Your last step is codifying your branding into what's called "Brand Standards" or a "Branding
Guide". This is a document that has all of the rules for your brand. It should include, at a
minimum, the following:
Your color palette with specific hex or RGB codes and when to use each color
Your font choices and when to use them
Your logo and how NOT to use it (for example, giving it a drop shadow, distorting it, or changing its color)
Your team name and how it should appear
NOTE
Sponsor branding overrides your team. When placing sponsor logos on your banner, apparel,
etc, make sure to comply with sizing, border restrictions, text, and logo usage details for each
company. Check their branding guidelines if you have questions.
1538 is a team famous for its branding. While 54 pages might be excessive for most teams, use it to get ideas about what sort of material you should include. Most major teams have their branding guides available on their website. These are also valuable resources. Here are some examples:
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse