Design & Marketing
Marketing
Across Europe, more and more companies and organisations are using minority languages in their marketing and are seeing the benefits of it.
They recognise the commercial benefits there are from marketing to minority language speakers and this is also true in Scotland. Some companies and organisations are aware of the good that can come of giving recognition to Gaelic, and of the good relations these efforts can create with Gaelic speakers.
Some companies and organisations use bilingual signage and others translate their name into Gaelic. Others are trying to create a bilingual environment in their work or services through various initiatives.
In addition to these companies and organisations, many community projects and initiatives make use of Gaelic in their work and marketing. Again, this is vital to the language’s image and profile.
Design
Design is just as important as marketing when creating a good image in relation to Gaelic, and the Bòrd encourages good practice in Gaelic and bilingual design. Firstly, regarding the language itself, translators and writers should be used who have clearly demonstrated their abilities in their profession. Also if you use designers who have Gaelic, the work will be easier and it is less likely that there will be mistakes.
When designing Gaelic or bilingual material for publication, special attention has to be paid to matters such as grav accents on some letters and apostrophes (and not quotation marks) which go before some words. Consideration should also be given to how the two languages look on the page, if different fonts are used for instance, it may be the case that one language is not as clear as the other. There are different requirements depending on what sort of design is needed, but usually there is a means of giving the two languages equal billing, and Bòrd na Gàidhlig is more than willing to advise on how this can be achieved.
For more information on Gaelic marketing contact margaideachd@bng.org.uk