Halloween is only second to Christmas in my list of favorite holidays. I love Halloween – decorating, passing out candy, spooky movies, and most especially dressing up in costume. My mother always says that my obsession with Halloween is her fault, because since I was a tiny baby, she’s helped me make my costumes almost every year. I’ve been a witch, a princess, a cat, a gypsy, a pirate, and a red M&M. And while I’ve purchased a few accessories at costume stores over the years, generally my costumes are made out of things I owned, or created from scratch.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="181" caption="Stephanie, Michael and Rhonda last year at Halloween"]
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The fact is, I’ve never liked the premade costumes. Most of them are made with cheap fabrics, poor construction, and rarely flattering fits. Perhaps it’s just because I was blessed with an equally creative mother, but I’m certain that I could construct a costume just as cute or clever as one in a store, for less money and just a little bit of effort. Not to say that not all store-bought costumes are ugly – they’ve definitely gotten a lot better over the years – but when you limit yourself to only what you can find in a store, you sometimes miss out on more creative options.
We take a lot of care to be creative and unique with our personal style, not just at Halloween, but in things we do every day. Why should our approach to our business branding be any different? Imagine how embarrassing it would be to show up to a Halloween party dressed exactly like someone else, or even wearing the same outfit as someone else at the grocery store.
When it comes to business marketing solutions, you don’t have to sacrifice originality for cost and convenience. While stock logos and layouts, crowdsourcing sites, and pre-made templates might seem like an easy solution for a design dilemma, sometimes they come at the sake of brand consistency.
Putting a little extra effort into your branding can make a big difference in the effectiveness of your message. If you’re stuck for ideas, sites like Stock Layouts are a great way to get inspiration – but just like any Halloween costume, with a little bit of extra creativity you can make something truly unique and memorable.