Whether you are a starting business or growing an existing one, you need to have visual elements to make your brand recognisable: a logo, a colour palette & fonts.
These are the main items you need in your brand toolbox. But it is not enough.
In order to have an effective brand identity, you need to make sure you are using the logo, colour palette and fonts in a way that will touch your audience visually, verbally and emotionally.
I know it gets overwhelming to choose the right visual aspects that fits your brand's personality. In this article, I'll share some tips to help you make wise decisions that will elevate your brand!
To illustrate this article, I will use Philippa Lee's brand identity as an example. It was designed by me as part of Brandinktober 2023, a challenge where I invite designers to create 1 brand identity a week in October.
This clinic is a serene and inviting space that offers personalised acupuncture treatments that harmonise mind, body and spirit. Philippa's goal is to modernise the ancient art of acupuncture that is in her family since multiple generations. Acupuncture being a very delicate and precise treatment, the brand identity needed to evoke sophistication and reliability, while making sure it stays warm and inviting.
Good design practices for a solid brand identity.
Before we start getting into the details of a brand identity, I'd suggest you to gather all your brand assets in one place: That can be a Miro board, a keynote presentation or even better, make a brand board on Canva.
Done? Great!
Now that you have all your brand's assets all in one place, it's time to go a bit further and check if everything is aligned to your core values.
Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQ) about brand identities:
— How many logos do I need for my brand?
You'll notice on the brandboard template there is a spot for a primary logo, secondary logo (on the second example) and icon logo. You may wonder why you need so many options? Well, logo variations are here for a few reasons:
✴ Make your brand look good in all situations, no matter how big or small the canvas is.
✴ Elevate your brand's look and feel by creating variation in the graphic system while staying recognisable to your audience.
It is crucial to have at least 2 variations (I'd suggest a primary logo and an icon logo, to start with) to create a dynamic and flexible brand identity, with a logo that fits on every situation you come up with.
— How to choose a colour palette for my brand?
I often get asked "Gaea, how many colours do I need?"
My answer is always the same: It's not about the numbers, it's about how your brand is perceived. Colour is a very powerful tool to evoke emotions and tell stories by association.
So you should ask yourself: "Does my colour palette reflect my brand's values?".
That being said, for me the sweet spot is around 4 colours:
✴ 1 light colour for main backgrounds (is white really your best option?)
✴ 1 dark colour for texts and contrasting backgrounds
✴ 2 other colours (also called accent colours) to make your brand look dynamic and interesting to look at. You can use these on buttons, titles, graphic elements, etc
Your colours are here to tell your brand's story so choose and use them wisely!
— How to choose fonts that reflect my brand's personnality?
Before you start scrolling on the internet, again, think about how you want to be perceived. Your brand is serious, reliable and classic? Go for a serif font. You want to show elegance, warmth & friendliness? Pick a script font (handwriting-style, usually for titles).
These are general rules (that you can choose to ignore) but what's important is to make sure your fonts are:
✴ Legible.
✴ Versatile. A good font has at least 2 different styles: regular and bold.
✴ Free for commercial usage. Read the license carefully to make sure you are in the right, and if possible purchase the fonts to support type designers and type foundries.
To keep it clean and simple, 2 fonts is more than enough to show your brand's personality:
✴ 1 font for titles. It can be the same as your logo's font, for example. Or something with a strong(er) personality.
✴ 1 font for text. Again, legibility is the most important here. You want your audience to read what you are writing, so pick something that is soft on the eyes!
You can play with size and styles to add hierarchy and clarity but don't forget to stay consistent throughout platforms. Simplicity and consistency are key in a good brand identity!
Now let's go a bit further.
As you probably know, a complete brand identity is more than just a logo, colours & fonts. To create a compelling story and to make your audience connect to you visually, emtionally and verbally, there is a lot more to think about. Let's go through some of the extra elements you can think of when creating your brand assets.
— Choose the right photography style for your brand
At one point or another, you will need photos. Whether it's a portrait of you for your About section, your social media platforms profile pictures or shots of your products, it's inevitable.
As always, consistency is key so make sure your photography style matches your brand identity in terms of colour palette, personality and storytelling.
If you're using royalty free images (ie: Canva, Shutterstock, etc) consider cropping or playing around with the hues to make sure the photos look coherent with your brand identity.
— Design graphic elements that bring personality to your brand
What are graphic elements? It's a very broad term that describes all the visual components of your brand's identity. For Philippa Lee's brand identity, the dotted lines representing a portion of acupuncture charts is a constant graphic element for the brand. Those are elements that are purposefully scattered around marketing materials to add more flair and character to the brand, making it feel elegant, sophisticated and delicate.
Here are other examples of common graphic elements:
✴ Icons & Illustrations
✴ Borders, frames & lines (ie: round angles on photos)
✴ Textures & Patterns (ie: for photo overlays or backgrounds)
✴ Decorative items (ie: abstract shapes)
Branding goes beyond looks
Logo, colour palette, fonts, photography style & graphic elements are the core of a brand identity. But branding goes waaaay beyond looks. It is here to tell your story in a nontangible way, to highlight your expertise and professionalism, to elevate your project. It's a cohesive pack that cultivate a connection with your audience.
In a digital world full of easily accessible templates, a lot of the websites out there look quite similar. How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors? Why would your audience come to you instead of someone else?
To enhance your own brand identity here are some of the elements you should think about:
✴ Brand mission and values
✴ Target audience
✴ Slogan or tagline
✴ Tone of voice
As a brand designer, it is my job to help you lay the foundations of your brand, extract your core values and translate into a visual system.
Some of the questions I ask my clients when working on a brand (re)design are:
Why did you decide to start your business?
What problems are you solving?
What are 3 words you would use to describe your brand?
If you need to remember one thing about this article:
Think about your unique selling point and make sure your brand identity reflects that uniqueness visually, verbally and emotionally. That is the key to a solid brand.
Need help with your branding and brand identity?
You don't have to do everything yourself. I'm here for you.
Whenever you are ready, here are some ways I can help you:
Free website review, for those of you who just need to talk things through. A free call to go through your website and give you feedback on your current brand identity and a list of easy tips to improve your overall look and feel in just a few clicks!
Branding consultancy, for those of you who like to do things on their own but need an design expert's guidance and support. An in-depth 90min call to discuss your brand strategy followed by a personalised game plan with clear action steps for you to work on your website.
Branding packages, for those of you who are ready to invest in your (re)branding. Let's talk about it! Book a (no obligation) discovery call. We'll take time to discuss where you are at in your entrepreneurial journey and I'll make up a personalised package that matches your needs.