Creating a Strong Visual Brand Identity
Visual branding is the point at which brands form insight and make an impression through the apparent components of brand image. Pictures are a fantastic kind of correspondence, expressly considering the way that they don't express with words. Businesses talk on an emotional level and are hence more convincing. Yet, with extraordinary force of communication comes great obligations: you'll need to be additionally careful that you're not giving a misleading impression.
To guarantee that brand’s visuals are being received the way they should, we've assembled this manual for everything related to visual branding. Before the end, firms will be well equipped to take one that will leave an impression on the customers and draw their attention. Visual branding includes imagery and graphical information that imparts who a brand is and makes it stand out among others. As such, it portrays all that customers can genuinely see, from the logo to the inside plan of a store. Precisely, visual branding ensures how a brand ought to be perceived in any given circumstance. Visual branding and other related ideas end up increasing sales by creating exposure and value. They also help strengthen the core principles of a business and its culture.
Core Components of Visual Branding
Brand identity is a holistic expression of everything that makes the brand what it is. It includes visual identity along with non-visual elements such as a brand image, statement of purpose, basic principles, etc. Visual identity involves a different thought process and approach from brand identity as a whole. Brand identity and visual identity are two separate prospects where the first is overseen by the marketing team and the latter being supervised by creative people such as designers and creative directors. The two overlaps often but they have their individual identities and significances. Both together make what we call brand identity. Through visual identity, brand identity is established. Some of the core components for visual branding in 2021 are as follows:
Imagery
Imagery is very important to design and develop visual branding. An image can speak louder than words when they are selected with care. The chosen images or graphic information have to be oriented with the other elements of your brand’s business tactics and goals. Your photographs should be reflective of the image your brand carries. Businesses should be very careful with their imagery (be it original content or purchased stock content) so as to maintain a consistent style that readily complements the other elements. Using imagery that stays true to the outlook of the company is a very powerful tool. Symbolism or imagery refers to the photos and designs that an organization utilizes in their promotions and online presence. Picking the right imagery is an extraordinary way of showing buyers what's truly going on with the enterprise.
Imagery can convey the lifestyle that comes along with using a product. It can likewise assist with focusing on the right market for an item, by outwardly showing customers that the item is ideal for their way of life and interests. The way to picking great imagery is to identify your brand’s objective market and pick ones that will impact them.
Brand Mark or Logo
A great logo that can be used on products, online, in print materials, and more, is essential to every business, no matter the industry. Logos are generally the first thing consumer associate with a company, and can help them decide whether or not to purchase a product. Your brand’s unique signifier, aka brand logo or typographic brand mark, is what a brand identity associates itself with in its simplest form. It should immediately call to mind your organization, and call to heart the distinct emotional appeal at your brand’s core. However simple they appear, logos are painstakingly thought out and strategically designed, refined and revised ample times in the design process.
Logos are very important for creative design agencies such as Waterhouse Wade. It is because logo is the first thing a customer will find being accurately representative of the company, especially ones that claim to have expertise in the department of creativity.
Most companies have a primary and secondary logo. The primary logo is the one that is used the most – on websites and products. Having a secondary logo isn’t absolutely necessary, but can be nice to use in place of the primary logo on swag and social media. Generally, the secondary logo is part of the primary logo, or a symbol inspired by the primary logo.
One very important thing to remember when choosing a logo: while the logo may typically be shown in color, it is essential that it also works in plain black and white. There are so many times a logo will need to be used in black and white, such as on other websites, certain graphics, and even faxes (when the brand is keeping it old school).
Colour
As with clothing on a person, the colours of a brand speaks volumes. Colour can differentiate your brand from your competitors, showcase your belonging to an industry and trigger a response from the customers, all at the same time. Colour is one of the most important aspects of visual branding. It is one of the easiest things for consumers to associate with a brand, and different colours convey different feelings, which can be handy for creating desired reactions to products. Generally, a company will have 1-3 primary colors and 2-3 secondary colors. It is also completely acceptable to just have one primary color. It can be helpful to consider color theory when determining the best colors to use for a company.
Typography
Typography is a brand’s visual voice and tone conveyed through the shape and style of your text. Consistently using the same fonts for print and online materials is essential for good visual branding. It may seem small and unimportant, but using the same fonts is just as important as using the same logo.
Most companies opt to have a primary font, that is used for headers and titles, and a secondary font that is used for paragraph text. These fonts can be part of the same font family, or they can be different. One or both can even be from the same font family as the font used in the logo. It can also be useful to have a third font that is used for phrases that need emphasis – in this case, the font is often an italicized or bold version of the primary or secondary font.
Content
The amount of white space versus content, the size of the images, and where the elements are placed on the page grid all work to prioritize the information for the audience by drawing their eyes to different areas of the page.
Content takes many forms, a blog, a website, social media, podcasts, images, videos, live-stream, and data-driven research. While they all require a different approach, they do have one thing in common, brand’s visual identity.
Regardless of the platforms your business uses, your message has to correlate with your brand. And this makes life easier for your brand because once the brand has chosen the visual identity’s core elements, the brand can apply them to every type of content the business uses. Before long, the business will have a brand that customers will easily recognize
Looking to create a brand identity that could resonate with the customers for your business or just want to reinvigorate the existing one? Waterhouse Wade, a leading creative design agency in Hong Kong that helps brands and businesses in Asia Pacific & beyond to implement branding, master planning, store design, fit-out, visual identity & much more! So, if you want to stand out, get noticed and get well ahead in the game, we can show you the way to succeed!
