The heart and soul of your company lie in the design of your brand. Figuring out your brand identity is more than just picking a color palette, font, and logo – it takes years to perfect and a team dedicated to making it right for your brand. Translating your brand’s vision, values and ideas perfectly can help your company stand out. However, it can be quite daunting to get started on brand identity design and then see it all the way through, but we’re here to help!
Right from the basics all the way to some handy and useful tips, we’ve got you covered. So let’s get into it.
What Is a Brand Identity?
Simply put, a brand identity is the visual elements of your brand. This includes but is not limited to – logo, color palette, font, language, design, and a whole lot more. Essentially, a brand identity speaks to customers and clients about how the brand looks and feels.
Another important aspect of brand identity is recall. Say, for example, the Nike swoosh – the moment you see it you know it’s Nike – there’s no doubt about it. This sort of brand recall is what connects the users to your brand. Ultimately, what brand identity design does is protect the integrity of your brand and communicate effectively the essence of it.
Why is Brand Identity Design Important?
Brand identity is more than just sophisticated packaging and pretty shapes and colors. It makes your brand stand out from competitors. It’s also essential to create a connection with your consumers and clients and there’s no better way to do it than communicating with your brand language and style.
Corporate brand identity design ensures that your brand has loyal consumers and clients by allowing them to connect to the brand and create trust. At the same time, it creates awareness of the brand itself by featuring a coherent language and visual identity while marketing. Lastly, your brand experience speaks volumes about what you stand for – having a clean and consistent identity makes the user experience smoother and easier to recognize.
The Essentials Of Brand Identity
Getting a corporate brand identity right doesn’t just mean getting all the elements right. It requires more than just being good on paper. A strong visual identity needs 5 essentials:
- Distinct Identity: Doing something different from competitors and getting the attention of your target audience.
- Flexible Yet Cohesive: Brand design needs to be versatile for all mediums while still blending into each element perfectly.
- Recall Value: Creating a visual impact that makes a lasting impression.
- Adaptability: Brand design that can adapt to your company’s growth and evolution.
- Uncomplicated: Brand identity should be easy to work with for visual designers or any other brand identity design services you opt for.
How To Build Your Brand Identity
Coming to the meat and bones of it all – how do you build a brand identity? It can be confusing to pick a starting point and there may be hiccups along the way, but here are some essentials to keep in mind as you start:
Look Within First
Before you get started with visualizing, identifying your brand goals, values, visions, and purpose is important. Think about what you want to be perceived as and why. For example, if you’re a marketing agency that deals with celebrities only – make sure you tap into that market and make it a strong selling point. If you believe that your service is one of its kind – make that your main speaking point. Identify what your brand is first, so it can be communicated effectively.
Reflect On Your Present Identity
Whether you already have a brand identity or not – your brand most likely already has a perceived image. Look at your communications, marketing, and consumers and gauge where you stand currently and how you want to move forward from there. Learning about your current identity will only help you build a better one.
Take A Look Outside
Once you know how your brand is perceived and what you want your brand to communicate, it’s time to take a look at your competitors. See their brand language and design and determine what will make you stand out as compared to it. Noting trends in your competitors will allow you to create something different and out of the ordinary.
Create A Brief
While you create this audit of sorts, you will come out with some clarity on your brand and what it stands for. But, jumping head-first into design might make you lose direction. Once you have all the information, formulate a creative brief for your brand. This brief acts as a framework for your visual ideas and is always handy when you seem to hit a wall.
Get Visual
Now that you have all the information you need, it’s time to get to the visual aspects. Visual language is often subjective – colors and fonts mean different things to different people. It’s essential then to have a team of people that are diverse and communicate effectively. Landing on one shared vision will take time but asking the right questions and sharing your thoughts with a team can help fasten the process and really hone in one visual direction.
Create The Logo
The logo of your brand is the first and key step in creating a visual identity. A strong logo helps establish your brand and helps communicate the essence of what you are. Your logo should come with a set of defined rules – where it can and can’t be used, how and if it can be stretched out, and where and when to use it. A few rules to highlight when you do this are – size, space, color, and usage.
Materialize Your Ideas
With a clear path in mind, you can now get down to actually materializing your ideas into logos, design, fonts, and more. Create your logo and use it as a tool to further expand your color palette. A strong color palette usually has 1 main color, 2 primary colors, 3-5 complementary colors, and 2 accent colors. Pick typography that is versatile and can stand the test of time. You can also use photography and iconography to enhance your identity design. Hiring a qualified team of visual designers or other brand identity design services will make sure your brand identity design is perfect for you.
Make A Handbook
Formulating a brand identity design can quickly turn pointless if you don’t use it right or if it’s lost in translation. A simple way to deal with the problem is to create a guide or handbook that communicates clearly your brand design elements, ideas, and visuals. Include as much information or briefs as possible to make sure it translates correctly for graphic designers and copywriters to replicate effectively. Along with what are the acceptable elements, also mention what you don’t want to be included. If your brand doesn’t find it fit to use emojis, for instance, then mention that in the guide as well. Hand this guide to everyone on the team and keep it up to date to make sure there is no miscommunication.
Get Help from the Right People
Et voilà! Now you’ve got all the tools to create a brand identity that’s strong, cohesive, and likely to leave a strong impact too. Of course, it’s always better to get professional help when attempting to build a strong brand identity. That’s why we recommend getting in touch with the experts at Synapse, who can guide you through the process and help you create something you’ll love. Call on 1800 121 5955 or email contact@synapse.co to talk to the right people!
