Sci Tech Watch: Etsy Store Banners & Creating Complementing Business Identities

We've been asking for all you color lovers out there with Etsy stores to share them with us and some of have but we want to see more!

The business topic that we're bringing up today, before we get into some bodacious banners, is making sure your identity, in this case, your banner on Etsy, complements your products and style. At the bottom of the post is a selection of banners for design and color inspiration, some incorporate elements that complement their shops very well while other were just chosen for their overall aesthetic and/or color palette.

Use Product Images or Incorporate Themes and Inspiration Into your Identity.

Your banner and your avatar are your shop identity, and will be the main image and brand shoppers associate with your shop... You should choose a design that will complement the items sold in your shop.

An easy and obvious way to get your products and style across is to include images of your products. If you're selling rings and only rings, it's okay to include images of rings. This kind of design can be restrictive in that it limits the perception of what your store or company is all about, and could inadvertently age your store if your products develop beyond what your banner portrays.

For a more subtle way to bring your products and identity together you could try incorporating images that abstractly complement the themes and inspiration behind your work. This also allows you to experiment with your product line without worrying about changing you overall identity.

Keep Things Consistent with Your Avatar

Another important thing to remember is that your avatar is the main image that will represent your shop when talking in the forums, commenting on the Storque, and participating in online workshops on Etsy.

This is good to keep in mind, and the simplest way would be to use an image directly from your banner (one way you can achieve this consistency without using the exact same image/design, that very well might not convert well into a small avatar square, is to us same image / design but change up the color scheme). This is great for differentiate product or service categories that fall under your main business or shop)

Another option is to change the avatar image/design, SLIGHTLY–lets not make people think too much about the association... you don't want them thinking too far beyond "what a great "XXXX" this is, I should buy it!") then transfer your exact banner color scheme, or even just a key color applied across your avatar, banner, email signature, etc. can have a memorable effect.

*Etsy design tip from a non-designer to help other non-designers design:

Download a fancy font! My favorite place to download free fonts is http://www.dafont.com/. Once you find something you like download it to your desktop and unzip it. Then go to the start menu -> Control Panel -> Fonts and then click "install font" and find that on your desktop. Do this before opening Photoshop. – read more

And, as always, the best thing to do if you don't have the time or will to design something yourself is to hire a designer, there are plenty of good ones out there and the costs will be recouped quickly now that you have a sweet looking identity.