You’ve invested so much into your business’s messaging, but how do you communicate it visually? You need a strategically designed visual brand identity, but what does that mean?
You’ve got a strong vision for your business with a solid mission behind it, and you’ve more than likely invested a lot of time developing messaging around it. All that work – collectively “brand messaging” – is invaluable, and yet, on the visual side of things, your efforts are missing the mark. It all feels disconnected.
You’re worried that all of your efforts on the front end of developing your messaging are lost in design. You know it can translate better visually, but haven’t the slightest idea of what’s needed to accomplish that.
You’ve heard about brand identities, but aren’t sure what they involve. It might involve creating a logo, but is that all? Plus, do you really need a brand identity?
Imagine producing well-designed and intentional graphic assets that do the work FOR YOU.
Whether you’re getting ready to launch or you’ve been in business for 2-3 years – familiarizing yourself with just how powerful having a solid, strategically-informed, and well-designed identity can be to the bottom line of your business is critical.
So, what exactly is a Brand Identity?
First, let’s talk about three important words:
- Brand
- Brand Identity
- Branding
These sound similar, but they are quite different! Let’s break it down:
- Brand: Your “brand” is intangible. It is your audience’s perception and emotional RELATIONSHIP with your business.
- Brand Identity: Your “brand identity” is the tangible visual DESIGN elements that convey your messaging.
- Branding: Your “branding” is the PROCESS of bringing everything together to build awareness, trust, and loyalty.
In this article we’re focusing on your “brand identity,” but all three are intertwined. Look at it like this:
You need a “brand identity” (design assets) to establish your “brand” (relationship with your audience). In doing so, you’re “branding” (utilizing strategy and design to build awareness, trust, and loyalty) your business.
Your brand identity is not your logo.
When starting out, it’s not uncommon to think that your brand identity consists entirely of your logo. Yet a logo is only one part of the package. At minimum, your brand identity includes:
- Logo and variations/lockups
- Brand colors
- Brand fonts/typography
- Brand guidelines
In other words, your business’s visual brand identity is a set of graphic assets. These assets include your logo, typography, and colors, as well as guidelines for how your brand should be presented visually.
A fun way to think about your visual brand identity is that it’s the clothes and accessories your business wears – IE: how your business presents itself, visually, to the public and your audience. There are oodles of styles and trends to choose from. Would a classic, time-tested look work best for you? Or is it a more current trendy style that you should be aiming for? And how do you know?
This is where a BIG dose of strategy comes in.
Making design decisions based on research and data gives you a solid and informed foundation. You don’t want to make stylistic decisions based on random preference. It’s not about what looks pretty. It’s about creating assets that WORK.
What styles speak to the audience you’re trying to reach? Do you see common elements in other products or services they’re attracted to? How about trends to avoid – is there something that will turn your audience off? How can you best get your message across visually? Are there colors and fonts that will have a greater impact? These are just a few questions to explore in uncovering your strategy.
Unfortunately, developing a visual strategy is the most overlooked part of the process of developing a visual brand identity. Many business owners solely focus on fast and dirty design execution when they are ready to create their brand identities – a costly mistake you can avoid by taking the time to explore your visual strategy.
Messaging, data, research, psychology, and more informs design decisions.
Each business’s visual strategy is informed by data including, but not limited to their messaging, core values, data about their target audience, core values, current industry data and trends, and more. That information is used to intentionally choose design elements that connect with their audience, build brand recognition, relay messaging, and much more.
Color psychology is a popular part of this process and one that many enjoy. For example, yellow and red have been proven to trigger appetite – an intentional choice and one of the reasons you see those colors throughout fast-food chain branding.
Another design element that has an impact on your audience is something as simple as the style of your brand fonts. For example, the most basic choice of whether to use a sans serif vs. serif font for body copy affects how easily text can be read in different environments and also sets the tone in terms of the feeling you are trying to convey.
For example, using a more traditional serif font can subconsciously give the reader feelings of elegance and trustworthiness. This is not to say you can’t achieve similar feelings with sans serif fonts – but they are generally used for their clean and modern design. Whichever you use, they should be informed by your messaging, your audience, and the effect you’re trying to achieve in your branding.
The clothes or style that look great on your business, generally won’t work as well for another.
You can see that getting caught up in making things simply look pretty isn’t helpful. This is why making strategic choices in how your visual brand identity is designed and executed is an integral step to the process. It will affect your bottom line in terms of engagement, brand recognition, how your business connects with your target audience, and overall how it is received.
It’s SO important to be armed with a full suite of strategically created and well-designed branded assets that can be used throughout your designed communications and collateral. Once you do, you’ll be on your way to creating gorgeous graphics that are instantly recognizable that will make a more powerful impact with your target audience. And once you have a solid set of branding guidelines on hand, most anyone on your team who has access to design software will be well informed to create cohesive graphics with ease!
The arguments for and against DIY design sites:
DIY sites are a great way to experiment when you’re not ready to work with a professional. They have their place, but it’s important to note that using templated designs makes for less than original visuals. You’ve probably noticed it yourself on social media. It’s getting a bit dull. Graphics look the same aside from color or font choices.
And did you know most DIY design sites don’t transfer full copyright to you? Make sure to read the fine print. Nine times out of ten, you’ll find you don’t own the graphic you just whipped up using their software. Yep, even if you pay for a subscription. And especially if you created it using elements from their libraries.
On the other hand, by investing in custom design, you work one-on-one with a pro who gets to know your brand, its needs, messaging, and personality – a level of knowledge and process that is invaluable. Oh, and hey! You’ll receive copyright to use those graphics throughout the life of your business. Something you’re most definitely going to need.
So what can you do?
It should be said, there is absolutely no shame in using template design sites when you’re starting out. Most of our clients come to us in year two or three after they’ve experimented with the DIY route. It’s then they realize they’re missing key strategy in how their visual branding was developed. Now, they understand there’s more to it. Professional, strategic design powerfully communicates and engages audiences. It’s critical to the life of their business. If you’ve reached this conclusion as you navigate your business’s visuals, it’s time to take the next step and hire a professional.
My aim in writing this series of articles is to help you understand the core visual brand identity elements, why you need a brand identity, how you might DIY some of this if you’re not quite ready to hire a professional, and how working with a professional can take your visual branding to the next level.
Read the second article in this series, “The Features of a Well-Designed Logo – An Assessment” and evaluate whether your logo is on the right track and includes five very important features.
Are you ready to take the next step in your business’s visual brand identity?
Want to work with us? Book a complimentary 30-minute consultation so we can get to know you and your business. We also have an option to review and give feedback on elements of your current brand identity with one of our Light Brand Identity Audits.
By booking an audit, you’ll get
- An understanding of whether or not your messaging is aligned with your current visuals
- Insight on how you can improve your design assets to better convey your brand messaging
- Suggested ways design elements can be used to engage your target audience
- Tips on how to adapt visuals to improve brand recognition
A PDF Report Outlining:
- What’s done well
- What needs work/pain points
- Areas of opportunity for better visual execution
- Our recommendations
- Suggested Next Steps
PLUS: A bonus credit:
A credit in the amount of your chosen package to apply to one of our custom Visual Brand Identity Strategy and Design packages.
Book a Light Audit today!