Why do big and even small companies put so much effort into creating their logos, and choosing the typefaces and colours for their brand? This is a question that a lot of new entrepreneurs and businessmen may ask themselves.
The truth is, brand design influences how people perceive your brand. It’s something that makes your customers feel closer to you and value you for your brand and personality, not just for selling products.
Besides, there are so many brands and businesses in each industry that if you want to be at least noticed, you need to have a unique brand identity. Especially nowadays, when there are millions of brands for customers to choose from, and brands have to struggle more in order to seem more unique and different.
To get a better idea about the importance of brand design, we’re going to explore what brand design is and go through all the important reasons why every business needs a high-quality brand identity design.
What is Brand Design?
To understand why brand design is important we need to clearly understand what it is.
Brand design is the process of creating the brand’s visual identity in all its forms including the logo, typography, icons, colours, illustrations, etc.
Your brand’s design is the face of your brand, it’s the first thing your customers see when visiting your website, app, and social media pages. So, it needs to convey the main message of your brand, show what’s unique about you and make people easily recognise you.
Brand design requires quite a lot of time. Whether you purchase brand design services or assign the brand design to your in-house designers, it will still take time, especially if you’re changing the whole branding of your company.
When doing the brand design of your business you need to have answers to all the branding questions, such as how you would like people to perceive your brand, and what feelings you want them to feel when thinking about your brand. Only when you have these answers, you can create a design that will perfectly match your business goals and marketing.
A strong brand is essentially one that conveys a clear message and has a consistent and memorable brand image in its customers’ minds.
Elements of Brand Design
To better understand the meaning of brand design let’s explore its important elements. The brand design includes every inch of the visual representation of the brand. Let’s view them in detail.
Logo
This is probably the first thing that would come to your mind when talking about brand design. And that’s no wonder as this is one of the most important parts of brand design and branding. Logo design shows customers who you are.
Every tiny element of your logo should show the uniqueness of your brand and help customers understand the essence of your brand. The most successful brands create such memorable logos that even those who don’t use their products still recognise their brand.
And probably the biggest chunk of your time dedicated to branding design will be spent on the creation of the logo.
Typography
Fonts are another important element that helps define your brand. You will use typography to communicate almost all of your marketing messages. The font combinations will be used on your website, social media posts, ads and any print materials. So the choice of the right fonts is crucial as they impact how people will see your brand.
Usually, brands choose 1-2 main fonts, as the usage of too many font types will be confusing and can prevent you from being consistent. Fonts should be easily legible, aesthetically pleasing and in line with the rest of the branding to convey a high-end feel.
Colours
This is another element that helps define your brand, which is used on your logo, website and all other touchpoints. Colours are a very impactful design element. Each colour brings a certain feeling and has a psychological impact on people.
Have you noticed that a lot of social media brands, like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, use the blue colour? Blue is a calm and cold colour which has a calming effect on people and makes them trust your brand. So, there is always a strong reason behind the colours that brands use.
Make sure to choose the right colours that correspond to your desired brand image.
Icons
Icons are another way to show your brand’s uniqueness. They are unique design elements that present complex information in a more simple way via illustrated graphics. Most companies create their unique icons, based on their main colours and design style so that every detail of the design corresponds to their main style.
Layout
Besides creating fancy elements and illustrations, the organization of these elements is no less important. How all the design elements are placed in relation to each other can make a huge difference in how people would perceive your brand.
It doesn’t matter how high-quality the logo, icons, colours, illustrations and any other design elements are, a bad UI/UX design will ruin all of them.
Also, note that layout refers not only to the UI/UX of your website. It also refers to the layout of your app, social media posts, email newsletters and other graphics. Non-cluttered, properly spaced design, that looks neat and professional is crucial in creating the right perception of your brand.
Illustrations
Custom illustrations can add a unique personality to your brand. You can use these illustrations not only on your website but also on your social media posts. Note that you need to create a certain style and design for your illustrations to maintain your consistent image across all your platforms.
Some brands go even further and create brand mascots, unique characters that represent their brands, like KFC, M&M or Disney. A brand mascot is a great way to show the unique characteristics of your brand and add a personal, human touch to it.
Animation
This is not a necessary element for all brands, but if you have the resources to create animation and high-quality video production Investing in professional services like graphic design, web design, and app design can help craft a distinguished visual identity for your company. With the competition getting tougher and tougher and customers becoming pickier, you need to have a strong brand image and create a unique perception of your brand if you want to succeed. it can definitely be very advantageous. Animation and motion design elements make all your design more dynamic and interactive.
Besides, animation attracts more attention and you can use this to draw users’ attention to the place you need.
Imagery
This refers not only to the photos and images you use but to the overall style of photography, shapes, patterns and your brand aesthetic. Every design you use for your marketing, advertising or branding counts as your imagery.
Remember that you don’t have to use photography, abstract imagery, patterns and shapes all at the same time. You can choose one or two elements and make them part of your style. Patterned backgrounds or gradients, colourful illustrations or black and white photography, the choice depends on what impression you want to make on your customers.
Why You Need Brand Design
To Increase Brand Recognition
This is one of the most important points in this article. It can be one of the main goals of branding or rebranding. A brand, that has a distinctive logo, interesting colours and unique design elements will have more chances to stay longer in the minds of people.
A cohesive, professional branding will be more memorable. Even if someone interacting with your brand is not ready to buy yet, they will definitely take note of you and when the time comes, they’ll come back to you.
To Increase Business Value
Brand design is a long-term investment for your brand and is important for the future of your business. By creating a certain image in the minds of your customers, you will become a strong, established brand which will give you more leverage in your industry.
Overall, branding helps you to create your reputation as a brand not only among your customers but also among your competitors, partners and everyone else. This all leads to increased business value and more influence in your industry. And in the future, this intangible value will become tangible by increasing your monetary value and your overall business worth.
To Attract New Customers
A strong brand, that leaves a positive impression on potential customers and has a consistent, professional image across all the platforms has more chances to attract new customers.
Besides, branding can help you build your reputation and create a positive impression of your brand. Of course, reputation depends on many factors other than brand design, including marketing, the way you position yourself and the way you sell your products.
But when you have strong branding, word-of-mouth marketing is more likely to support your marketing efforts, and you may not need to put extra effort into advertising or marketing to reach your audience.
To Get Loyal Customers
Besides having brand recognition and attracting new customers, it’s also no less important to make your customers come back again and again. What’s the point of your business if you’re not going to have loyal customers? The costs of attracting new customers always exceed the costs of retaining customers.
Besides, branding adds a personality to your brand and creates a certain feeling in the minds of your customers. This way they can relate to the human side of your brand. You need to show people that you’re more than just a company that sells products.
To Build Trust
Having a strong, consistent image is essential if you want to build trust among your audience. If people can’t understand who you are and are confused about your brand they may not trust you or doubt the quality of your products or the professionalism of your services.
Brand design plays an important role in strengthening brand reputation and authority. The right colours, typography, imagery and overall style helps to build consistency, which in turn helps customers trust your brand more.
To Increase Value Inside Your Company
Branding is not only aimed at your audience or competitors, it’s also aimed at your employees. Most of the time, employees want more than just doing a job to earn money.
They are more motivated when they are working towards something bigger. And strong branding will make them feel more involved with your company. If you want your employees to love working for your company and work towards making it more successful then a good brand design can definitely help.
Besides, you would also want to keep your team motivated and little things like branded merchandise, small benefits, and the look of your office and space can help you there too.
A reputable, consistent brand image helps to create a sense of unity around the brand and makes employees work towards something more than just selling products/services.
Final Words
Brand design is something that all brands should take good care of, especially in our digital world. With the competition getting tougher and tougher and customers becoming pickier, you need to have a strong brand image and create a unique perception of your brand if you want to succeed.
Remember that, branding and brand design will contribute to the long-term success of your business. You may not see the results of your branding immediately, but believe me, it’s worth the effort.
Increase brand awareness, build trust and drive conversions.
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General FAQ
Brand design is the process of creating the brand’s visual identity in all its forms including all the elements of branding design such as the logo, typography, icons, colours, illustrations, etc.
What is the main purpose of brand design?
Brand design helps to make your brand recognizable by your target audience, competitors and everyone else interacting with your brand.
How to define a good, high-quality brand design?
A good brand design is one that is created with a clear goal, for a certain target audience and is specifically designed for the brand’s industry. Brand design should show the uniqueness of a brand and help customers easily recognize it.
