How Graphic Design Can Elevate Your Voiceover Career
TLDR: Graphic design enhances your brand identity, notably being your logo, color, typography, and overall tone. By having a strong design, you increase your visibility and the chance for clients to remember you in the future. An important tool for you and your voiceover business.
It’s ironic that one of the most powerful tools for success in voiceover isn’t even our voice. We pour ourselves out everyday, yet at the heart of it all, you may be booked because they were simply thinking of you. This isn’t to say one doesn’t have talent, or an audition wasn’t a homerun, but in that moment where they needed a voice, you were there. From the smallest interaction to big time marketing, you left an impression. That impression is your brand, your identity, and we’re gonna talk about how graphic design plays a key role in influencing that.
What is a Brand? How does it help me?
Now what is a brand? What is this magical impression we leave on others? For the most part in your day to day life, your actions will be your impression, but in the online age, it’s the image you put of yourself online. A brand is a combination of design factors that makes something easily recognizable and distinguishable from other similar products/services. By having a good brand, you become memorable, leaving room for you to make a great impression on your target audience.
How does Graphic Design help my Voiceover Brand?
You know what a brand is and you know that it requires some amount of design to achieve a desired result. Well…where do you apply this design? What is the design?
Glad you asked! Or I asked…don’t think about it.
Nono, you DO think about it. Think about what you want people to see you as. This decision is all you, and it should encompass you. Matching your authentic self to your brand will help build trust with your audience. For this blog, we will go over just a few of the many design choices that go into a brand.
Logo - The easiest way to represent your brand visually, it is a symbol that contains your identity entirely. Think of the M in McDonald’s. You want it to represent what you do and who you are. It can involve text and or graphics, the simpler it is, the easier it will be to remember.
Color - These can make or break a design. Colors have a powerful and emotional effect on people, whether we like it or not. You want to be mindful of whether the colors you're choosing compliment each other and if they match the vibe you want to bring to your audience. Nothing says you CAN’T choose your favorite colors, but just keep in mind what they may make your audience think about you.
Typography - Simply put, your font. Different fonts can bring about a different feel to your website, similar to color. Most fonts can just be placed on a spectrum of Times New Roman to Sans. How studious do you want to be? How laid back do you want to appear? Finding a good middle ground based on your preferences will be key. You’ll realize it’s basically the same as picking your colors.
Tone - Your Voice! No, not your actual voice. I know we’re voice actors and all, but I’m talking about the tone and vibe you want your brand to have. Think of it as a slang or dialect, this tone affects your writing, your colors, your fonts. If you want to be fun and upbeat, then maybe you might have some yellows with a quirky borderline professional font and a tagline that says “Your new neighbor!” If you know the tone you want for your brand, you’ll find the rest of the decisions become much easier.
Important Note: Once you make a design decision for your brand, it’s best to stick to it. I’m not saying you can’t change something later, but every time you change something you have to build up your identity again. Clarity and consistency are key.
Applying Graphic Design to Voiceover
Okay whew…you still with me? I’m attempting to condense my four years of university in design into this blog and we are somewhat making it work. This next bit will be my personal opinion or tips I consider are useful when applying graphic design to voiceover. You may think differently and that’s perfectly fine, design isn’t a one size fits all situation.
Logos for Voiceover - If you’re thinking about doing a microphone for voiceover, DO NOT. I mean…you can, but it’s a very common approach. You want to be memorable and distinguishable from your competitors. I don’t exactly think a logo is necessary for voiceover, but if you don’t have one, do a headshot of yourself. A nice headshot is a perfect substitute, giving your clients an image of who’s behind the mic.
Colors for Voiceover - There’s no real right or wrong with colors, the most important thing is…MAKE IT EASY ON THE EYES. If I’m getting flashbanged by your sleek white and black minimalistic website or squinting with the neon light show, I’m less likely to spend time scrolling to see more. Off white colors are your friend!
Typography for Voiceover - Honestly this one is easy, it needs to be an easily legible font. I don’t mean easily as in YOU can read it fine, but if someone can read it in passing with a glance. A crazy font choice might even make you look unprofessional to some. Do not even touch those decorative and cursive fonts. (Unless the decorative isn’t crazy, but not everyone can read cursive these days.)
Tone for Voiceover - You want to match your tone to what area you excel at in voiceover. If you don’t know this then make sure it’s broad enough to encompass everything you plan on. The last thing you want is a client looking at you and thinking you don’t match the job. For examples I recommend comparing websites with voice actors who do widely different jobs. Someone who does medical narrations to someone who does anime will have widely different sites, but both stand strongly in their respective areas.
To Wrap It Up
Don’t forget to take some time and attention to your brand! Once you’ve laid out a good foundation, it’ll serve you well for years if not your entire career. So go out there and start leaving GREAT impressions that make clients remember you for days on end. If you have any questions or would like to get some consulting on your own design choices, feel free to check me out in my Design Services or email me at voice@hunterguidroz.com.
Toodles!
