Marvin Geronimo

I have explained this time and again to potential clients. A logo's purpose is to distinguish not to explain. Almost all of the companies that are very well known have logos that do not explain what their product or service offering is.
Additional info: A logo becomes memorable through its effective use.

Think graphic design is all about showcasing your creativity?
Think again!

It's natural to want to infuse your own style, but when working for a client, there's something even more important to consider. Your job as a graphic designer is to enhance and maintain your client’s brand consistency—not to express personal style. Dive into the brand guidelines, understand their vision, and make your mark by aligning your designs with their goals.

Become an invaluable asset to any company by driving their brand forward!

One quick but effective way to add a color grade to your image is through the Color Balance panel in Adobe Photoshop. This tool allows you to apply an overall color grade to your image, which can help align with your brand's aesthetic. Depending on whether you prefer a cooler or warmer tone, you can adjust the sliders accordingly.

For a cooler tone, move the sliders towards Cyan and Blue. For a warmer tone, adjust the sliders towards Red and Yellow.

The key here is subtlety. Avoid over-adjusting the sliders as this can lead to an unnatural color cast. If you don't use Photoshop, don't worry—other programs like Canva offer similar features to achieve the same effect.

Notice something different with these 4 photos? These are identical to each other however the color grading is different.

Colour grading plays a pivotal role in shaping a company's brand identity by creating a consistent visual theme that enhances brand recognition. It helps evoke specific emotions and conveys the brand's message effectively, making the brand more memorable to the audience.

Moreover, by using distinctive colour palettes, companies can differentiate themselves from competitors, establishing a unique presence in a crowded market.

Photo taken at Sagada during my motorcycle Ph tour.

Quick Tip: When creating your social media grid, having a consistent colour grade will greatly help your overall look and brand consistency.

This EV company that I worked with some time ago had some trouble with their branding as they felt everything was inconsistent, their colours are all over the place their images look different from one another.

The solution I came up with is to have a custom colour grade or LUT (Look Up Table) and trained their designers and marketing leads on how to use it properly.

It always feels so freaking good when you see your design come to life. There's still a lot of space for tangible things in this digital world.

It always feels so freaking good when you see your design come to life. There's still a lot of space for tangible things in this digital world.

These are the projected design trends this coming 2024, a notable mention is the proliferation of Generative AI images, Anti Generative AI Images and the incorporation of Generative AI Image flaws.

But always remember only consider trends that will resonate with your brand, think twice of 3 times if a trend will help build your brand or if its going to be the opposite.

2024 Design Trends Join me and explore some amazing design trends that are on the rise and will heavily influence visual commuication in 2024!LEARN FROM US:Join our creative co...

This was my first ever AI artwork that was published in a Filipino Canadian newspaper last December, created using Dall-E.

For those who are not familiar Dall-E is the text-to-image branch of ChatGPT. There was still a lot of editing involved in the creation of the final image. A lot of the faces were distorted and the hands looked weird, a telltale sign that it was created using AI.

To fix most of these issues I had to use Generative Fill in Photoshop removing and replacing specific parts of the image as well as expanding the width of the image.

AI is a tool, to create this image you still need to have a level of understanding when it comes to composition, lighting, prompt engineering, editing and technical Photoshop skills.

It will still take a while to be super perfect, but it's getting there.

Over the past three months, I've had the opportunity to utilize ChatGPT 4.0, and it has significantly streamlined my design process in several ways:

Idea Generation and Brainstorming:
ChatGPT 4.0 has been instrumental in sparking creativity. It provides a wealth of inspiration for design elements such as color schemes and layout concepts, effectively aiding in the conceptualization phase of my projects.

Text-to-Image Generation:
This feature is particularly beneficial for rapidly creating visual concepts. Whether it's drafting mood boards or generating initial design drafts, the tool's ability to transform text descriptions into visual representations is invaluable for initial stages of design.

Client Interaction and Scripting:
The tool excels in preparing client-facing materials. It's remarkably adept at crafting professional, tailored proposals and presentations. This ensures that my communication is not only effective but also specifically aligned with each client's unique requirements.

In essence, I'm just scratching the surface of what ChatGPT 4.0 can do. I'm still in the process of learning and maximizing the potential of this technology.

Will be sharing my AI journey here, and how it would be helpful for branding and design.

Branding is not logo design.
Branding is not product development.
Branding is not fulfilling a promise.

Branding is perception management.

What Is Branding? 3 Minute Crash Course. What is branding? A brand is not a logo. A brand is not a product. A brand is not a promise. A brand is not the sum of all the impressions it makes on an aud...

Knowing your target audience is essential for tailoring your business strategies to maximize efficiency, profitability, and long-term success. It allows you to align your products, services, and marketing with the specific needs and preferences of the people most likely to become your customers.

Consider asking, "Who can I help today?" and then focus on addressing their issues. This approach will help you identify your target audience.

Told by one of the most influential men in marketing in the digital age today, Seth Godin

Seth Godin: To Find Your Audience, Ask Yourself This Question | Inc. Instead of competing for customers' attention, strive to help them and gain their trust, says author Seth Godin. social ...

If you have one idea to remember when conducting a brainstorming session it's this...

Prioritize a positive, judgment-free space.

Facilitated brainstorming is a structured and collaborative approach to generating creative ideas and solutions within a group or team setting. The process involves a facilitator who guides and manages the brainstorming session to ensure it is productive and focused. Here are the key elements of facilitated brainstorming:

Digital whiteboards provide a versatile and interactive platform that enhances the efficiency, creativity, and engagement of facilitated brainstorming sessions. They enable participants to work together seamlessly, capture ideas in a variety of formats, and create a collaborative environment conducive to generating innovative solutions and insights.

One of the best free tools that you can use to do your facilitated brainstorming sessions is Mural.co. If you are using a Mac the best would be Freeform.

Mural is the visual work platform for distributed teams | Mural Level up your teamwork with an intuitive digital whiteboard built for teams to do their best work together. Make it a mural, not a meeting.

It's a wonder how far you can go with a few stickies and a good brainstorming facilitation. This session was for a company that is currently valued at $24.8m.

When a brainstorming session is not facilitated, it can lead to various challenges and potential drawbacks, which may hinder the effectiveness of the session. Here are some common issues that can arise in an un-facilitated brainstorming session.

Have you ever tried to do a brainstorming session but felt like it was extremely unproductive and the discussion goes everywhere?

Un-facilitated brainstorming sessions can still produce ideas and discussions, they often face challenges related to focus, participation, idea capture, decision-making, and accountability. Facilitated sessions, on the other hand, benefit from structure, guidance, and a skilled facilitator who can help mitigate these issues and enhance the overall effectiveness of the brainstorming process.

Below is a sample of the board that I use when doing a brainstorming session.

Sarisuki, the social e-commerce platform I had the privilege of working on during its rebranding, has made it onto Forbes Asia's '100 Start-ups to Watch' list. It's reshaping agriculture by connecting farmers directly with users, eliminating middlemen. Being part of this journey, having the chance to sit down with the founders, and getting insight into their vision was a real awesome experience.

SariSuki CEO shares insight on PH startup scene | ANC Nine Filipino companies made it to Forbes Asia's 100 to Watch list in 2023. Among them—SariSuki, a platform that connects users to local farm selling fresh p...

Do you still remember when you were young and creative Adulthood usually takes that away...

https://www.rebrand.gallery/

If you are a branding nerd like I am then you will find this website to be super-useful for case studies, inspirations and learnings.

Rebrand — Stellar visual identity inspiration Rebrand is a collection of the best new design systems, visual identity introductions and rebrand videos. We curate breathtaking videos that capture new brand identities.

Creating a product is challenging due to factors like market research, innovation, resource constraints, technical hurdles, regulations, competition, and the need for scalability. Adapting to evolving markets and managing risks also add complexity to the process. However, with careful planning and perseverance, these challenges can be overcome.

With Dark Knight Prints, I went through my whole branding process, (It's always tougher when you do it for yourself). Discovery sessions, data matching, identity design and style guides are all part of the process, it takes a while but it's all worth it.

Been quiet for a couple of weeks to focus on launching my own product...

Earlier this year I started collecting Batman figures from the Todd McFarlane line. The detail on each piece is just amazing however due to its size (7 inches) it was very hard to appreciate. So I thought how epic it would be to turn them into high-quality prints for other people to fully appreciate the detail. Follow the project on the links below.

https://darkknightprints.com
https://www.instagram.com/dark.knight.prints/
https://www.facebook.com/darknightprints

If you have ever thought of launching your product, then this is the road map for you. A step by step process in solving a problem methodically. Give him a follow if you are into productivity, content creation and creativity in general.

I will be releasing my own product soon and this is a gem of information.