Hey Hivers!
Everyone that uses the Hive blockchain is part of it. We all build and share information on the Hive blockchain. By doing so, the Hive blockchain grows and grows. Eventually, Hive will become bigger and bigger, which is a great thing, but how will this reflect on Hive's branding? And what can we do about it as individuals? In this blog post, I'll be covering the basics of the basics of the Hive blockchain as a brand. I'll share my thoughts and share an asset that you can use for free (no credits necessary), that will hopefully spark a fresh movement on Social Media with consistency!
We'll find the answer when we start looking at brands around us. Let's take McDonald's as an example. Just take a break and think about McDonald's for a few seconds. Do you have an idea what their logo looks like? What's the color of their logo? I bet you already know once you read the word "McDonalds".
Consistency
Consistency is important. It is the sole reason we remember brands, but more importantly, we immediately know what we are referring to whenever we talk about it with others across the planet. McDonald's has the exact same logo published everywhere. A big yellow M. If there's a change made at the top, everything and everyone has to follow.
Where there is consistency, there is guidance!
Because guiding hundreds of people one on one is time-consuming, marketers and brand-builders thought of something easy: a book with a set of rules. Mostly, these rules contain information about margin, usage, and placements. These were mostly just rules for the logo, but more were added later. This started when people used different fonts (typography) in their designs. It wouldn't be a problem if everyone solely used the same font. But as people, we always try to be as unique as we can. How can you be unique in a consistent matter? To answer this, we would have to think about it with more care so we can come up with a beautiful solution.
Starting with the recommended minimum
The logo isn't the only asset in the brand book. It contains information about typography (digital font type), colors, and color combinations, basically anything that can be visually appealing (or adjustable) to someone. It isn't necessary for brands to think about everything from the start, but the minimum recommended has always been: a logo, a primary and secondary color, and a font type.
So, what are the fundamentals of the Hive blockchain? Do we have access to all the necessary brand assets to create and build something on our own? Is there a brand book? Even though there is an active proposal to make a brand manual, I haven't seen the manual yet. I believe 
If we go to brand, we'll see a page with all the information that we need. A download link to all the assets (logo variants) and a color scheme with HEX, RGB and CMYK codes.
All that I am missing is a font type that I can use. I believe that I used both "Segoe UI" and "Argentum Sans Bold" for some promotional assets that I made. Segoe UI is a font that I used for a long time for my own brand (Ruben Cress). A reason why I was browsing the web and stumbled upon Argentum Sans Bold. In my opinion, this is a far more suitable font for Hive as the font has more body than Segoe UI.
Let's see the difference.
Which one do you prefer? If you chose the one on the left: it's Argentum Sans Bold", the other one is Segoe UI Bold. Another plus of "Argentum Sans Bold" is that it is free for commercial use. You can download the font here.
If you got this far, you've already done a great deal. Even though I've covered just the basics of the basics, hopefully, you have learned a bit more about branding in general. More importantly, you've learned more about Hive along the way.
Posh is a great way to raise awareness for Hive. Therefore, I've created a graphic that you can use. It speaks for itself, all you have to do is to download it, open it up in Photoshop or a similar editing program, and start writing on top of it! Use your favorite font (typography) and a color that fits your personality. Use this canvas to raise your voice and start writing! Be creative.
Upload it on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Use #posh and #hive #jointherevolution and your own hashtags and comment your Tweet in this article.
It doesn't really matter if you write on the whole thing. Think about the big yellow M you see along the highway. Even if people would spray the whole M with graffiti, we would still recognize it as a big yellow M from McDonald's. Why? Because they are everywhere -and- they are consistent. That consistency printed an image in our minds.
The idea behind this graphic is that consistency is within the image, and as we grow, we can still use the same graphic. The person who adjusts it, however, will be the unique key ingredient. And that is exactly what Hive has to offer. We all have voices on the Hive blockchain.
Thank you for reading, I hope I've inspired you to create something cool for the Hive blockchain and that you have learned something about branding.
Cheers,
Ruben
