Branding it all its glory.
When we think about brands - what makes you trust them? Why did you buy from them in the first place? Why do you keep buying from them? The answer: TRUST.
When a business creates a brand they want you to trust that brand - that includes the design, colors and messaging. Brand essence (what encompasses a brand in its entirety) ensures that a customer, you, has a long term relationship with them.
My dear friend and graphic design extraordinaire, Lou, and I talk about what businesses can improve on ALL. THE. TIME. Businesses have so much potential - if only they were in touch with their brand as much as they were in touch with their finances. It’s crucial to get your brand right as it’s the face of your business.
To construct this blog, I spoke with Lou about common questions we get about creating a brand and ensuring its longevity.
QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN YOU CONSTRUCT YOUR BRAND:
If your brand was a person, what would they sound like?
What personality would your brand exude? Friendly, conservative?
How would your brand personality make you feel? Energetic, calm / reassured?
How many audiences is my brand speaking to? Short / long termers / millennials / Baby Boomers?
Logo
If you think of your brand as a whole person, then your logo and wordmark (the image and font elements of your brand combined), are the face of your brand. This is the first piece of who you are, and what you embody that your audience will see. It is important that not only the imagery and style of line work chosen represents the “personality traits” of your business, but that the font choice also portrays the same resonance.
Colors
The same importance should also be put on color choice. There is a subconscious reaction that we all have to color, usually based on our life’s experiences, but underpinning all of that is the psychology of color. There has been many decades of research about the psychology and meanings of color, and while at first glance it might seem an odd phrase of turn, when put to the test, you would be surprised how ingrained and automatic the psychology of color influences our decisions.
For example: If I was to ask what color comes to mind if I want something hot, firey, full of strength and easily noticed, I presume most, if not all of you would be shouting RED at me. And rightly so. Red is the first color that we as humans see on the color spectrum and that is why it is used for all of our stop signals and emergency light systems. It is also a color that encourages appetite, and is widely used as a primary color-way for many food outlets branding.
In turn, aqua or teal sits on the opposite end of the psychological spectrum. It resonates calm, soothing, relaxation and when combined with a deep, rich navy blue, encourages confidence and sophistication.
If I was to visit a yoga or meditation space, I would be naturally more drawn to a space branded with the cooler, more calming colors of blues, greens and purples, instead of a space that had the vibrant, energetic colors of red, yellow and orange, because from a yoga or meditation space I want somewhere that exemplifies the “personality traits” of what I want or expect to get out of that experience. This is why it is really important that your color choice of your brand also aligns with the ideal “personality traits” of your business. Conflicting elements within your branding, be it design work like line choice, image style, font choice or color choice, send out the wrong message to your audience and make for a confusing brand identity, which in turn can mean less customers to your small business.
Images
Your choice of imagery plays a vital part to complete the “personality” of your brand.
Use of vector graphics and illustrations work seamlessly with a young, light-hearted, playful personality. Photographic images tend to lean towards a more professional, sophisticated personality - and within these sub-elements you have the use of color and how it is applied to the images. The same image has a very different feel and even meaning when it is used in full color versus black & white versus monotone overlaid with a single color.
Consistency
Last, but not least, consistency is key. Consistently applying images in the same manner and using the same brand colors (no matter how limited you might feel initially) is imperative to portraying a consistent and reputable brand identity to your audience. I often have to remind clients on a regular basis, that while they as the business owner see their brand and it’s elements on a daily basis, their audience does not, so keeping your branding consistent and on “personality” is so important to ensuring that your audience knows and recognises your brand instantly.
The last word … If you’re not feeling the right vibes that your brand is putting out there, then it’s time to reign in your branding strategy. Better yet, ask some non-bias humans for their thoughts on your brand. Because if you’re not aligned, then you’re not selling to your full potential.
If you don’t have a Lou in your life (and I’m sorry you don’t), then email us for some branding tools and tips.
Thanks LTT.
