Here’s what we’re up to.

Have you ever looked at a beautiful logo and wondered, “Dang! What kind of wizard made this? This is a mysterious art form I’ll never fully understand!” The designers here at Randall Branding definitely have. It’s easy to be spellbound by a flawlessly executed visual idea.

Good design can feel magical, but there’s a lot of at math and science at work. From grids to the golden rectangle, rational thinking plays an important role the in design of brochures and bottles alike.

A great example is gestalt, which is a branch of psychology. One of gestalt’s central tenants is that our brains crave order, and naturally try to organize parts into a global whole. Designers can take advantage of this — and become wizards — by incorporating the following principles into their work.

Foreground/Background

Our brains naturally separate foreground elements from background ones. Making the foreground/background relationship obvious through contrast in color and form can help highlight important objects. Alternatively, making the foreground/background relationship ambiguous can create dynamic compositions. When an object wavers between foreground and background, our brains are entranced and delighted.

Similarity

We perceive elements that share color, size, shape, or texture as belonging together. Deliberate repetition of similar elements creates a visual rhythm that pleases us in the same way that musical rhythm does. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, similarity in formatting allows us to process and understand content more easily.

Proximity

Our brains perceive things that are close together as being related. Positioning several elements close together creates a whole, or a group. Groups draw our focus by creating a unit that has more visual presence than that of each individual element on it’s own. Reducing the distance between related content also increases usability and comprehension.

Continuity

We have the tendency to continue lines and edges beyond where they technically end. The edges of shapes extend into the negative space and create pathways that our eyes use to effortlessly navigate from one area  to another. Good design uses shape and alignment to create fluid pathways between individual parts.

Closure

Our brains can perceive an object as being complete, even when parts of it are missing or obscured. When elements are arranged in a certain way, the brain extends lines and creates imaginary contours. Suggesting the whole, as opposed to dsplaying it explicitly, can create a dynamic visual puzzle that brain revels in solving.

See? It turns out good designers are a little less like Harry Potter and a little more like Spock. If want to geek out with us about Gestalt, or if you’d like our designers to work some non-magical magic for you, you can contact us here. If you want to know more about us, you can jump over here. If you’d like to see what we do, you can always jump over there.

Until next time!

The Randall Branding Agency was honored with three awards at the 2016 Richmond Show presented by the Advertising Club of Richmond on April 7, 2017 at The Renaissance in Richmond, VA. The advertising and branding agency, also located in Richmond, won bronze, silver and gold cannonballs for three different clients, including River Run Dental, Duck Duck Eggs, and Shockoe Showdown.

The Randall Branding Agency was awarded a bronze cannonball in the Interactive genre of the Richmond Show for a new website designed for state-of-the-art dentistry practice, River Run Dental. Their second award was a silver cannonball received in the Design genre for a packaging design for Duck Duck Eggs, a local company providing high-quality duck eggs to grocery stores. The big win for the night was for the brand identity system created for Shockoe Showdown, a charitable ping-pong tournament in the Shockoe Bottom area. The Randall Branding Agency won a gold cannonball in the Design genre of the Richmond Show for their work on Shockoe Showdown.

The Richmond Show is the Advertising Club of Richmond’s annual event where the club’s coveted cannonball awards are given to local agencies and studios for standout work in advertising, design, interactive pieces and production work. The Randall Branding Agency was happy to connect with other creative agencies during the show and looks forward to continuing their relationships with their clients while creating more cannonball-worthy work.

One of the best things about working at Randall Branding is building relationships with great people. We love it when our clients share their world with us. And in the interest of returning the favor, we’ll be sharing parts of our weird and wonderful world with you here.

Six things you may not know about Carsen Young, our Front-End Web Developer.

1. I have a first-degree black belt in Japanese Jiu-jitsu. That’s the hand-to-hand martial art that was developed by the ancient samurai. I started studying it shortly after I graduated from college and earned my black belt nine long years later.

2. In two minutes or less, I can (usually) solve a Rubik’s Cube. My personal record is 57.8 seconds but it usually takes me between 90 and 120 seconds. When I’m stuck on a problem, I find a few good solves of the cube can be enough of a distraction to let me come back to the problem with fresh eyes.

3. I’m a backyard beekeeper! I had some friends who kept bees and I thought it was neat, and such an important thing for the environment. I do have a full bee suit but I only wear it if I’m doing something particularly invasive. Most of the time I’m out there with them in shorts and a t-shirt with just a veil to protect my face, just in case, and I’ve never been stung while inspecting a hive. There’s a lot of fear and lack of knowledge out there about honey bees, but they are not nearly as scary as people think, they serve an integral role in our food supply, and honey fresh from the hive is absolutely amazing.

4. For several years, I volunteered with Hollins Rescue Squad in Roanoke County.  By the time I left, I was the First Lieutenant of the rescue squad. I also was a certified instructor in CPR as well as basic first aid, though I’ve let those certifications lapse.  Although I don’t run on an ambulance these days, I’m still a certified EMT in the state of Virginia through the year 2020.

5. Jack-o-lanterns are kinda a big deal for me. I usually start working on drawing out my pattern sometime in September. In addition to the standard Halloween scene, I’ve carved the logos for several organizations I’ve been part of for their respective Halloween events and I even carved a memorial jack-o-lantern for one of my dogs who passed away.

6. Backyard cookouts are my favorite social activity. It’s a love only slightly tempered by the fact that I will attract every single mosquito within a ten-mile radius. I actually bought my house almost exclusively because of the back deck and large semi-private backyard. Outdoor entertaining space was priority number one when I was house hunting.

If you want to know more about us, you can jump over here. If you’d like to see what we do, you can always jump over there.