Hey everyone, Dave Jackson here! In this episode, I sat down with Jim McLeod, the mind behind the book The Visual Marketer: The Marketer’s Crash Course for Creating Memorable and Effective Visuals. We dove deep into what it takes to build not just a brand, but a truly standout visual brand for your podcast or business.

Here’s what you’ll learn today:

• Why your brand is much more than just your logo. Jim breaks down the misconception that your brand is simply your logo — it’s every interaction people have with your business.
• How to think about your logo and colors. We chat about why starting your logo design in black and white is so important, and how to pick colors that mean something to your audience (and why blue is so common in tech, for example).
• Choosing colors that help you stand out. Jim shares how owning a color, like T-Mobile’s magenta or Home Depot’s orange, can boost your recognition. He even discusses surprising meanings behind colors like red, blue, green, and neon, and how international audiences might interpret them differently.
• Survey and analytics tips. I ask Jim for his best practices on getting meaningful feedback from your audience — including the need to pair survey responses with real analytics, since what people say and what they do can be totally different.
• The power of faces and typography. YouTube thumbnails (and all digital artwork) can benefit from bold faces and bold type — but you do have to strike the right balance based on whether you’re the brand or the topic is the draw.
• Common design mistakes. We tackle the issue of not leaving enough white space, and why consistency with your fonts, colors, and layouts is absolutely essential for quick brand recognition.
• How to research your competition and carve your niche. Jim recommends creating Pinterest boards or swipe files to study what others are doing — and then finding your spot in the “white space” to stand out, without looking totally out of place in your market.
• Using AI for visual design and prompts. Jim gives his take on trusting AI-generated color palettes and how to create consistent visuals even when you’re using tools like ChatGPT or Canva.

Plus, we touch on classic rivalries (Coke vs. Pepsi, Marvel vs. DC, Red Sox vs. Yankees) and how even your color choice can put you side-by-side — or directly opposite — your biggest competitors.

Shout-outs in this episode to Stephanie Graham (for the neon color question!) and Zita Christian (for the story on Tiffany blue and copyright — wild stuff).

Here is the video version.

More From Jim Macleod

Check out Jim’s book at visualmarketer.co and subscribe to his newsletter at MarketingByDesignKit.com.

Next Month: Matt Diamante

Coming up next month: I’m thrilled to welcome Matt Diamante of heytony.ca to talk simple, actionable SEO tips for podcasters and creators! Check out his YouTube Channel.

Register for SEO 101 HERE

And don’t forget — if you haven’t tried Podpage yet, get your 14-day free trial here.

Thanks for listening — keep building that brand and I’ll catch you in the next episode!

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