Don't Let Holiday Templates Haunt Your Brand
Around this time of year a powerful design spell is cast.
Brands everywhere start abandoning their carefully curated colors, forgetting their fonts, and falling prey to the dreaded holiday template.
An “spooky” font here. A ghost emoji there. Innocent enough at first. Until the spell goes full pumpkin spice.
Canva starts enticing you…. "What if we create a “spooktacular” sale graphic?"
"How about a plaid background on that post?"
"Ooh, ooh, make this one RED AND GREEN! And give it a Santa hat!”
Before ya know it, your beautiful brand is in costume from October through January.
Every social feed is haunted by “BOO! 20% OFF” graphics, content buried under autumn leaves. And Christmas promotions are packed with snowflakes and jingle bells.
Ahhhhhh. The horror. Especially to a designer. We really hate to see your strategic brand guidelines thrown out the window like that.
And there’s no escape.
JK. JK. We know the way out.
Holiday marketing doesn’t have to mean losing sight of your brand identity. You CAN celebrate the season and the holidays, have fun, and create festive content without sacrificing your brand strategy.
So, grab your brand guidelines and we’ll bring our magic wand…
and together we can break the spell with a few simple tips.
Seasonal sh*t comes second: Resist the urge to start your marketing campaign designs with a Halloween template, Thanksgiving graphic, or Christmas post. Think of seasonal marketing like decorating your home around the holidays. You don’t tear down your house every December and rebuild it as a gingerbread house. You keep what makes it yours and add decorations to make it feel festive.
For the love of Kris Kringle, keep your colors: Your brand colors weren’t chosen randomly, friends. They mean something. They say something. They help your audience know it’s you. So, when Fall rolls around, you don’t have to trade your entire color palette for orange and black. Instead, find ways to complement what already exists. A warm fall accent, a subtle seasonal illustration, or a small pop of color will do ya. Take a look at this flyer we created for our client, Up Top Acres for inspiration.
Don’t let the fonts possess you: We get it, that Frankenstein-looking font is tempting. Curly Christmas script is calling your name. But trust us, your fonts are part of your brand personality, and changing them completely every season is like showing up to a party wearing a mask and expecting everyone to recognize you. IF you’re tempted, incorporate ONE alongside your brand fonts.
Your marketing doesn’t need to scream HAPPY FALL Y’ALL!!
But it should say: "We’re celebrating, and we’re still us."
If you only take away one thing from this blog, please let it be this. More decorations does not equal more holiday spirit. A thoughtful illustration or a clever headline is plenty. So, before adding any seasonal elements, ask yourself: Does this feel like us?If the answer is yes, go for it. If the answer is no… It’s a trick, not a treat.
How About Some Free Seasonal Illustrations that won’t Scare off Your Followers?
We know the temptation is real, so we created a collection of seasonal illustrations you can easily add to your own branded graphics. They’re simple, festive, and easy to edit to your brand color palette.
Your brand doesn’t need an exorcism, but we do suggest taking off the costume.
Seasonal marketing should be a fun accessory, not a full identity swap. So before the holiday templates cast their spell, come back to your guidelines and trust your branding. And if you need help making sure your brand stays recognizable through every season, Honey Creative is here to help.