BRANDING YOUR ALT COIN - Tips, Advice and discussionPlease use this thread to discus the importance of branding, design and logo Identity for successfully launching an ALT coin Contibutors 'TIPS' will be flagged in red so new readers can pick up useful tips at a glance.Firstly let me introduce myself... I am based in London UK and I'm a creative entrepreneur with 25 years experience in graphic design, corporate ID and Art Direction. My skills are branding through top level design and I have recently invested in 50 exciting generic dot com coin names which I want to develop in partnership with a tech genius and experienced scrypt programmer (If you are DEV or visionary investor pls PM me for exciting partnership proposal). I have started this thread to share some basic tips and advice on branding as I've noticed that many of the ALT currencies trading on the likes of Crypsy have succeded with brands that are no better than off the peg amateur 'CLIP ART. As the market evolves towards the 'end consumer' and general public and away from the pump and dump opportunists, branding will become more important for coins to survive in the overcrowded market place. So what makes a good brand and logo. Discus
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/fd/b5/d4/fdb5d4a07046ee84494346dbfec22e8f.jpgStocksCoin.com (STX)They key starting point to any global brand is securing the top level dot com. Orgs Nets and other extensions are fine but if you launch a successful brand and later find that the dot com is 'occupied' and taken by a competitor you lose valuable traffic and your competitor gains the edge by owning the dot com. Orgs are great for starters and building communities but there is a danger that the general public would percieve a competitor as the 'official' site' if they have the dot com while all your hard work to build a community under Org or Net goes to waste. Now is a great time to secure some fantastic generic YourName_Coin.com's although they are disappearing fast.
Case Study: Stocks CoinI was lucky enough to register many key generics which make up a portfolio of top level crypto names. Registering and securing your generic is the key first step to building your brand. Generics like 'Stocks' are memorable and short and perfect for brand evolution. Also, think ahead to get ahead and leapfrog the competition. As buzz words are created it is great time to register a key generic. I'll introduce you to a few more in my portfolio if the thread becomes successful but as a starting point a domain like StocksCoin.com holds huge potential value as the market matures and commodities begin to have their own coins. The design I wanted to evolve had to have a memorable defining logo like the Bitcoin 'B' or the Litecoin 'L'. For this coin I took the slanted arrow from an initial design that incorporated a 'graph' and wove it in to the Stocks' 'S'. As your brand evolves it is important to claim the alphabet 'symbols' and along with your chosen symbol have a strong instantaneously recognisable logotype. Think Facebook 'F', Wikipedia 'W', Pinterest 'P', Google 'G' and of course Bitcoin 'B'. The StocksCoin S also reflects the vertical line of the dollar which is set on a simple clean graph grid. For this coin I aimed for a design that fused tech with stability and growth. A coin that is used for trading stocks is what I call a forward thinking 'future'. As Max Keiser and his guests on RT news have pointed out in recent weeks there will soon be coins for global commodity and currency trading so Stocks Coin is in prime position to capitalise on that market and why I have invested in many generic financial coin names as part of my portfolio strategy.
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/21/a0/27/21a0277cdeb492751f1d728f0d1caae3.jpgUnitedSafeCoin.com (USC)Coming up with a key branding statement is also important for your market development. To use two UK supermarket brand slogans illustrates how the corporate majors use their slogan to communicate their core message. 'Every Little Helps' [Tesco] and 'Good Food Costs less At Sainsburys' [Sainsburys]. Copy writing your coin's slogan with an original slant not only adds 'colour' to your brand it also blocks your competition from use of your slogan as they will simply be seen as 'copycats' if they describe their brand in the same way. Creating a brand slogan is like securing the prime real estate in your sector.
Case Study. United Safe CoinAs the market diversifies and the wider consumer market adopts crypto there wil be a need for simplicty and convergence of many of the alt currencies. United Safe Coin's brand slogan is 'The Safe Alternative To The US Dollar'. This requires a DEV who has experience in developing super safe encryption. The coin's core value is that it gives the wider consumer audience and investors stability, safety and confidence in their investment... possibly based on a United Wallet or 'SAFE' that serves to keep and convert all your ALT currencies in one place and in one coin. The end consumer want's the product to 'just work', be intuitive, be easy to use and look great. No matter how good the scripting is, end consumers want clean graphic interfaces and brands they can trust and rely on. I just offered my services on this forum to design a coin for 3 bitcoin and I was astounded to hear from feedback that this seemed too high. For anyone who has ever employed the services of a brand consultant or design developer you will know 3 bitcoins is a givaway. Advice here is invest in the best from the start and never scrimp or cut corners when investing in your coin's logo as this is the face of your brand for the rest of its life in the public domain.
http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/originals/b8/f0/df/b8f0df77e84cbba55a335bda9c9510d8.jpgBombCoin.com (BOM)Niche markets are great places to start and coins that have unique 'functions' are far better than just registering a name off the shelf, designing a logo and cloning the scrypt. Lottocoin is a great example of a coin that not only has the generic but also targets the very market it was built for. Lottocoin has gained a great community of followers who are now eager to see the coin succeed and forum members are busy helping the dev create games and get wider publicity.
Case Study: Bomb CoinThe unique function of bomb coin is that as it is traded it 'explodes' and the different explosions have different payouts and rewards. The coin was conceived to be a fun and innovative brand and the logo is designed with that core value in mind... Bomb Coin also has the cross over potential to be used as game/gamers coin with a strong tie in to apps and existing games including the popular 'Coin Bomb' concept. As the bomb explodes it helps to mine additional coins which are auto-added to the wallet. As in real gold/coal mining there would be different 'seams' to be found... some rich and some that are small. Creating a forum for your ALT is a key part of your branding strategy and evolution. The feedback you get from other members helps to spark new ideas. In the case of Bomb Coin, in a recent reply to one of my threads on the forum it inspired me to look up types of bomb on Wikipedia and this research generated several feature ideas that aligned to the 'core brand personality' such as Cluster Bombs distributing random rewards across the network, Nuclear Bombs giving one massive lottery style payout etc.
BRAND 'ADDED' VALUE'
Your brand needs to stand out from the crowd. Ask yourself what innovative features and functions does my coin give to the end user. Why should the end user and savvy investor choose my coin over and existing coin. Remember as time goes on the market place will become saturated.
Bomb Coin gives 'added value' with the following features built in:50lb Bomb Transferring money from one wallet to another ignites 'random' bombs that give a 25 coin payout to both the recipient and the sender.
100lb Bomb Transferring money from one wallet to another ignites 'random' bombs that give a 50 coin payout to both the recipient and the sender.
Bouncing Bomb Bounces the coins to random wallets
Cluster Bomb Sets off small amounts to many random wallets
Stink Bomb Gives you the smallest amount possible... its a real stinker!
Suicide Bomb Pays a dividend but its the only bomb that gives all the money to the recipient and does not share it
Dirty Bomb Gives you a payout but changes your wallet's skin for 24 hours to look completely wrecked
Nuclear Bomb The big weekly mega payout that everyone is waiting for... has an animation on the home page and records the actual lucky wallet and geo location where the bomb explodes. The graphic also displays in real time where the different bombs are going off.
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/59/76/39/597639d2a4d4072a9500e570dc1a5fe3.jpgJPYCoin.com (JPY)Secret of seeding a new brand: Look to the future. As mentioned before I call this the 'Leapfrog Approach' to building a strong brand. As crypto evolves and becomes used by more and more people the wonder effect of sending money without the banks or a middle trader taking a commission will begin to sweep across the world... Ive already experienced it and no doubt you are here for that very same reason. Looking to what I call future expansions in the market and doing 'blue-sky' thinking, ahead of the current zeitgeist, will enable you to develop concepts that are still in their pre-zeitgeist existance. Tapping in to the consciousness that sits just beyond the zeitgeist is key to securing a piece of future real estate for yourself. As also mentioned before, to register that all important generic dot com is the first step in developing your brand and as you will be aware finding a dot com once the zeitgeist is tuned in is virtually impossible. Where would Apple, Google, Twitter and Facebook be without having their prime dot com real estate. Its like having a prestigious shop on 5th Avenue in New York or a flagship store on London's Oxford Street... when your main shopping foot-fall walks down these two streets you are missing out if you have opted for a side street nearby or were too late to 'buy in' when the real estate was initially available.
Case Study: JPY CoinJapenese Yen Coin (JPY). Central to my personal portfolio are 12 key global currency domains. The portfolio includes generics for the major currency markets. These are not ‘ALT’ or fad coins, these represent coins that are perfect for exchanging real currency on the global financial markets as the global crypto marketplace evolves. For the branding of JPY Coin I have evolved a simple recognisable logotype that has a slight 'far east' flavour on a backdrop of grooves which give's weight and substance to the coin. The most important universal rule when designing anything is KIS... keep it simple! Your appointed graphic designer will understand this rule as you are shouting out to a world of busy people who quite frankly don't have time for you unless your message is clear, clean and concise. The Japanese are masters of simplicity and 'clean lines' and the coin logo reflects this. The simple red background is effective and the choice of the supporting typography has a hint of the orient.
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/33/31/cf/3331cf89bc83c6cbc90797dee9398524.jpgFunkyCoin.com (FNK)If you are thinking of developing an ALT coin choose a coin that reflects your passion for life and aligns to your personal 'interests'. This passion will shine through and become the driving force of your brand and attract others to share your energy. Returning to the Niche sector, find a brand that is understood and loved by your target market... as crypto is still in its infancy there are still massive potential markets to tap in to that have not heard about crypto. It is only a matter of time before they do.
Case Study: Funky CoinThe Funky Coin brand is about energy, vitality and fun and embodies my personal passion for music and dance. Funky Coin not only reflects my own personal interests but it specifically targets the younger generation. The coin and wallet have multiple skins and dynamic funky animated graphics. (Of course this is at seed concept at the moment and I'm looking for a DEV to make it a reality)
TIP: Before You StartThe key word when taking the first step in your brand development is 'Focus Group'.
A Focus Group is where you present a series of prototype designs, concept logos and layouts to your core target market (end users) and get one to one feedback.
(Note: End users are not necessarily coin investors or forum readers).
So your first job is to identify your 'end user' profile. It is a useful exercise to break your end users into groups as this will help you identify the demographic of your market.
Example – Sample Case Study: Lottocoin1. General public... the people who like to spend $1 for the chance of winning a $1,000.000 and transforming their dreary in debt lives to that of a celebrity.
2. Compulsive Gamblers who will use the coin to gamble away their savings.
3. Recreational Gambler who enjoys a flutter now and then.
4. Savvy gambler who believes they can always beat the system.
When consulting your followers on the forum you should also consider that design solutions and branding that is best for your 'end user' might be different from what you would produce if your sole feedback is from tech guys, miners and specialist Alt investors.
The website ultimately must appeal to the end user first and once this is 'cracked' the investors will naturally see that the first mission critical task has been accomplished. This inspires investor confidence and sets you apart from the amateurs and ALTS who steam ahead and launch without thought about branding or their end target market.
So any poles you are carrying out in your forums, make sure that you identify at least 4-5 people from each of the demographics above and ask them the same questions. Poling to both your forum followers is a great 'first step' as consultation and feedback from your followers and community saves time in the long run. Ensuring you also balance your pole with your demographic sample focus group will also save time and money in the long run.
TIP: Logo DesignWork on three elements to your main logo and brand ID. A successfully crafted and branded logo becomes synonymous with the brand itself. It is for this reason it is important to get all three ready from the start and to launch your brand with these three key elements in place
1. Beauty ShotYour beauty shot is the visualisation of your real coin. The more real and tangible the look, the more people will believe it is real. This is also an important excercise as it also helps you, the ALT developer to make your idea a reality and crystalise the 'vision'. Examples of beauty shots can be seen above. The beauty shot does not have to be scaleable and can show off details that are not present in your final logotype.
2. LogotypeYour 'logotype' is slightly different to your 'beauty shot'. The logotype needs to be scaleable and readable down to 50 square pixels. A good logotype will even be scaleable down to 30 pixels if crafted by an expert designer. In addition to the final logo, you should commission your logo designer to produce a series of scaled logos at different sizes. When supplying them to third parties you can give strict instructions on which logo to use at different sizes. Employing simple brand guidelines is key to ensuring legibility and consistency across your brand even when your logo is being used by a third party.
Tips: 1. I will spend some time tweaking each of the variant sizes with the 'curves' tool in photoshop to give each size the correct clarity and contrast.
2. You may even want to 'cheat' your larger logo when reducing the size to much smaller logos at say 100x100 and 50x50 pixels so that when it reduces it is still readable.
3. The above is especially important when reducing type.
4. Simplifying your initial design is especially important when reducing to the smaller sizes.
5. Special attention should be given to the negative and positive space when converting your logo to single colour usage.
6. Special attention should be given to kerning (the space between two adjacent letters in your logo) when reducing to smaller sizes.
7. Again, cheating the kerning between letters can often help legibilty when reducing your logo to smaller sizes.
3. Your Bitcoin 'BTC'As discussed earlier, global brands develop their key letter or 'symbol' identifier. Facebook uses an 'F', Twitter has their recognisible 'bird' graphic and Bitcoin uses a '
BTC. It is of key importance to do this as there are limited letters in the alphabet to go round so develop a clear brand letter identifier that is clearly readable at 30 to 50 square pixels.
Tip: Once you have designed your 'letter' or smaller symbol 'identifier', place it next to the leading brand letters of Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pinterest and Bitcoin etc. If your logo does not stand out as being distinctive, readable and instantly recognisible wne next to this group of logos... get your design team to go back to the drawing board until it is.
Well I hope this thread stimulates the mind and seeds some innovative ideas. Any help in putting me in touch with an experienced DEV would be appreciated so if you know one please get them to PM me – Bounty from any future coins will be paid for anyone who can put me directly in touch with a top coin developer that results in the successful launch of any one of my coins on Cryptsy so many thanks in advance for your imput and help!Steve :-)
All designs and graphics in this post are © Stephen Rumney 2013
