Some brands put so much effort into shaping their visual identity. These brands are probably a success or well-recognized worldwide. This is how crucial visual branding is and why people love a cohesive and well-thought-out brand identity. But what is visual branding, and why is it important? Here’s everything you need to know about visual brand identity.
What is visual branding?
Visual branding comprises all the design elements representing your brand, core values, advocacies, customer service, goal, consumers, and vision. It reflects your brand’s personality through colors, symbols, icons, messaging, and imagery.
Shaping a solid visual identity is essential for brand awareness and marketing. Not only will you use these brand elements in advertising, but these components will create the first impressions of your brand. These design elements convey the overall feel and look of your brand. It evokes specific emotional responses within your target audience.
Every company must ensure they create an impactful and memorable visual identity. This way, your brand will stand out among your competitors, and people will remember you. Visual branding is applied to your logo, website, flyers, business cards, billboards, and other print and online marketing materials. Your visual identity also positions your unique value proposition appropriately without giving the wrong information about your brand. It helps imprint the proper branding, personality, and image in your users’ minds.
Why is visual identity essential?
People consider visual cues to learn about a particular brand, so visual branding is vital to convey the right tone, messaging, and perception. Most consumers evaluate a brand based on the imagery, graphics, and other visual assets they see, such as packaging, signage, and logo. In a nutshell, the brand experience mirrors your customer experience.
Here are some reasons why strong visual branding is imperative:
- It helps your target audience what they can expect from your brand, what products or services you offer, and the kind of customer service you provide
- It visually explains your position in the market. Showcasing high-quality visuals indicates that you’re also a premium brand, strengthening your foothold in your industry.
- Visual branding enumerates what makes your brand unique and differentiates you from competitors.
- Helps gain affinity from your target audience
- It helps your brand build loyal and supportive communities, provided the imagery is created based on marketing psychology.
- Quality branding visuals display professionalism and quality products and customer service.
5 Elements of visual branding
Branding visuals shouldn’t be based on whim or random thoughts. You must brainstorm with the marketing team and carefully curate various design elements representing your brand. When deciding on what details to include, start with these five:
1. Logo
The design choices you make to create your logo are a crucial step in this process. Your company must reinforce your brand name and personality. Every icon, symbol, font, or color you integrate into your company logo must signify a story or promise to your target audience. When crafting a logo, consider simplicity. It can be tempting to incorporate multiple icons or your preferred colors. However, ensure they all complement the other design components. A company logo is the “face” of your brand and is the first visual asset target audiences are exposed to. Make the first impressions count. Consider hiring professional graphic designers for this process, which will make or break brand recognition.
Logos come in different types, too. Here are some of the most common logo types:
- Wordmark logo
- Monogram or letter mark logo
- Abstract logo
- Pictorial mark logo
- Combination mark
- Emblem
- Mascot logo
2. Typography
Typography is more than just the font style, size, and layout. On top of aesthetics, typography strengthens your messaging beyond words or phrases. Just like your logo, the typographical appeal of your branding and marketing assets contributes to how people perceive your brand. Choosing the most appropriate font type is necessary to get your audience’s anticipated reactions and impressions.
When choosing the font style, you may select from one of these:
- Serif fonts (Good for traditional brands due to its classic appeal)
- Sans serif fonts (Suitable for more modern brands)
- Script font (Nice for more feminine or retro-themed brands)
- Decorative font (Excellent for playful brands)
Pro Tip: Combining fonts is another way to make your typography stand out. But a rule of thumb is to not go over two fonts. Pairing serif font with sans serif font keeps the composition balanced.
3. Color palettes
Do you ever notice why most fast-food chains use red in their interiors? That’s because colors elicit particular emotions and responses from people. Red stimulates the appetite as it evokes energy, which is perfect for fast-food restaurants, keeping operations quick and flowing. Green is also primarily used for health-related brands or companies that sell organic products. Choosing suitable color palettes must be based on color psychology, and only the experts can put together matching ones that represent your brand.
4. Graphic elements
When deciding on how your visual branding looks, every graphic element matters. Shapes, textures, icons, patterns, negative space, and layout all contribute to visually appealing imagery. Using these graphic elements throughout your online and offline collaterals will ensure you maintain branding consistency.
5. Imagery
Imagery pertains to all the above elements weaved into each other to form a compact, memorable, significant, and timeless branding visual. Imagery consists of multiple design elements collectively melded together to reinforce a brand’s voice. It speaks for your brand whenever target audiences are exposed to it. It’s a crucial aspect of branding that helps to establish a solid and consistent visual identity for a company or product. This imagery is used across various platforms to create brand recognition and resonate with the target audience.
Conclusion
Visual branding is the conduit that reels in more prospects and converts your leads. It’s your brand differentiator that helps impact consumers’ purchasing decisions. All curated design elements contribute to how you want your target audiences to perceive you. Ensure you’re not hastily creating mundane branding visuals. Make it stand out and become a well-recognized brand worldwide.
