Building a brand is a challenging task – it requires well-thought-out strategies that take into account the audience, the emotional connection, and other external factors.
However, what is equally essential in building up strong brands is designing them expertly.
Whether you are designing logos for small private enterprises or large corporations, you need to keep in mind the design principles that make brands attractive to most people and customers.
Here we will discuss such essential elements of great brand design in detail.
Define the Essence of Your Brand
The first step in creating great brand design is to make sure you have a clear understanding of what your brand stands for.
This may sound obvious, but it’s surprisingly easy to get caught up in the details of crafting your logo and messaging if you don’t have this foundation in place first.
All successful brands share certain characteristics: They have a clear identity and are memorable, they speak directly to their audience (and not at them), they represent something more than just an idea — they can be bigger than themselves — and they tell an authentic story that resonates with people.
Once you know what your brand stands for, you can create visual elements that reflect those values while also being accessible and interesting to your audience.
Make the design process enjoyable and exciting.
The design process should be fun and exciting. The project is a great opportunity to learn about your customers, their needs, and how you can help them.
Designers are often asked to make things look pretty, but when you get down to it, good design is based on logic and utility.
Great brands are built from the ground up with clarity of purpose in mind: What does this brand stand for? Why should anyone care? How does this brand fit into the lives of its users?
Make sure everyone involved understands the same thing by using clear language and avoiding jargon or buzzwords.
Make sure your partners understand what you’re trying to accomplish so they can help you get there quickly and efficiently — or if they don’t understand, explain it again until they do!
Create a Brand Guide.
A brand guide is essentially a document that outlines everything about your company: its mission statement, values, tone of voice, colors, and logo usage guidelines.
This document helps ensure that every aspect of your company is aligned with your overarching brand message.
It also makes it easier for designers to create new materials for you without making major changes to existing ones.
Create a distinct brand name.
A strong brand name is easy to remember and pronounce, doesn’t have too many syllables, and is visually appealing.
The right name will also give you an edge over your competitors. If you’re selling handbags, for example, picking a name like “Handbag Heaven” will likely put you at an advantage over someone who chooses “The Handbag Store.”
Every great brand has a story behind it. Think about Coke versus Pepsi or Apple versus Microsoft. Each of these brands has its own story that resonates with consumers and makes them want to buy their products over others. A good story can help build trust between your company and customers as well as help create brand loyalty among existing customers.
Create a brand position statement.
One of the best ways to determine how you want your brand to be perceived is by creating a strong position statement.
A position statement is a single sentence that describes who you are and what makes you different from others in your industry.
This is also known as your unique selling proposition (USP) or value proposition. It should be clear, concise, and memorable so that people can easily recall it when they think about your company or product.
Brainstorm your visual identity.
One of the most important aspects of brand design is to create a visual identity that is memorable and easily identifiable.
The visual identity should be consistent across all your mediums, including your website, social media, print materials, and more. The goal is to build a story around your brand that can be told through visuals.
This is where brainstorming comes in handy. You need to come up with a few different concepts for your branding and then narrow them down based on how well they fit into your overall marketing plan.
Once you’ve narrowed down your options, you’ll want to choose one or two that will be the basis for all of your future design decisions.
Contrast is key when it comes to effective color schemes for brand design.
Color is a great way to attract attention and draw people in.
But what can also be effective in contrast – using two colors on opposite extremes of the spectrum to create an eye-catching image or design.
For example, if you’re designing advertisements, try using black text with a white background or vice versa. If you’re designing a poster or flier, use bright red with black or white text for maximum impact.
The same goes for fonts: choose fonts that contrast one another rather than having similar characteristics (such as both being serif).
This will make your message stand out as clearly as possible while still looking professional and stylish.
Work with two typefaces at most.
Branding is not just about creating a logo. It’s about creating an experience for your customers.
The first step in the process is to develop an identity that people can recognize and relate to. It’s important to build your brand around your target market and not try to be everything for everyone.
A brand identity should stand out from the crowd; it should be memorable enough that people will remember it even after they’ve left your website or store.
The first step in developing a great brand identity is choosing two typefaces at most. Ideally, you would use one serif font (such as Garamond) and one sans-serif font (such as Helvetica). This combination creates a nice balance between traditional and modern design elements, which makes it easy for people to read what you’re trying to say.
Visual tone is everything.
Brand design is more than just the logo and your website. It’s everything that makes up your brand — from the colors, fonts, and language you use to how people interact with you.
All of these elements work together to create a cohesive identity that resonates with people. This identity is what helps define who your company is, what it stands for, and how it fits into the world around it.
The best brand designs have a clear visual tone that you can immediately recognize as belonging to a specific brand. When this tone is consistent across all of the brands’ products, it creates a unique brand experience that connects with customers on an emotional level.
Takeaway:
A well-designed brand helps establish transparency, piques interest, and builds a reputation that can span the course of generations.
So what are the elements of great brand design?
By taking a look at a few examples, we’ve come up with our own set of tips for designers to consider when creating their next work of art.
The value in creating a great brand is more than just establishing an identity; it’s the surefire way to boost sales and generate profits.
About the author
Vartika Kashyap is the Chief Marketing Officer of ProofHub — a project management software loved by thousands of teams and businesses across the globe. A noteworthy personality in the global marketing community, Vartika writes to create awareness about new trends in marketing and business management. She has been a regular contributor to platforms like Business2community, DZone, and Business.com.
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