The visual aspect of your brand is usually the first thing that people notice. When something looks good and gets our attention, we tend to take a closer look.
Brands compete for attention in both physical (think packaging, shop signs, etc.) and digital spaces, so the visual identity of a brand plays an important role in both cases.
A brand's visual identity is a combination of visual elements used to portray the purpose, mission, and value of a brand to its audience. That usually includes a brand colour scheme, a logo, fonts, visual language, and content style.
Well-designed visual branding should:
Visually communicate the brand purpose and values
Make the brand stand out
Make the brand easily recognisable
Be well set-up and pleasing to the eye
Be consistent across all platforms
All your visual branding elements need to work together in order to help you achieve your goals. Here are the key elements you need for successful visual branding.
1. Your Logo
Logos are a way for brands to tag their content and their products. Depending on your type of brand, there are different logo styles for different purposes. You might have heard of word-mark logos, letter-mark logos, abstract logos, pictorial logos, mascot logos, emblem logos, or a combination of these styles.
When building your brand, make sure that you choose the right style of logo for your project. A good logo should represent the brand and be easily recognisable, as it is a vital asset in the perception of the brand.
Take a look at our client Y.Wait's logo below. This logo is an excellent example of a simple word-mark logo that features their brand font and colour. They also opted to have their tagline included in their logo design, effectively communicating their brand purpose and values.
2. Your Typography
Typography includes all the fonts that you use and the way that the text is stylised (bold, italic, letter spacing, line spacing etc). Some brands, like Fenty Beauty or The Ordinary, do not have a pictorial-logo and instead, they use typography to express their visual identity.
But typography does not stop at the logo, you should apply the same fonts to all the content that you publish, across all of your web and social platforms to make your brand even more recognisable and give it more personality. There are tons of different fonts out there, and to spice up the text for your brand copy is a sure way to improve the visual quality.
3. Your Brand Colours
Colours and tones have an effect of our mood, our decisions and even our perception of products and brands.
For example, we associate green with healthy products and food, blue with technology topics, pink in beauty or baby products, red with food, sports and so on. Each colour has a meaning in the digital space, so be sure to do some research and choose the right colours for your brand. You should use your colour scheme when you’re creating content, and make sure the colours stay consistent across all your branding, and across all your platforms.
4. Your Visual Style
A unique visual identity makes your brand more memorable. There are many ways that a brand can visually express its identity, purpose, and intent. The visual elements can include icons and graphic style, photo style, video style, and more.
Below is an example of a good, cohesive visual style on Instagram, by the brand Baby Tress. The colour scheme is pastels, muted tones and has a light and airy feel throughout. Much of their content is user-generated which adds interesting, varied elements to the visual style of their profile. They include flat-lay photography of their products often, and close-up photos of styled baby hairs, showing just what their product can do.
They say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but it's true that we always have an initial impression when we see something for the first time. It's important to make it a good one when it comes to your brand!
Get in touch to find out how we can help you with your company's visual branding.
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