Creating a visually cohesive brand is critical to get right. From typography, typeface, use of photography to the brand’s personality and strategy, it’s all essential to creating a visual brand identity that brings value. We sat down with our Creative Director, Jorge, aka “Llorch,” to discuss what it takes to develop a visual brand that stands out.
Research, Research, Research
It all starts with strategy. The first step to creating a successful visual brand identity is to understand your competitive landscape. Look for inspiration in other brands. What do you like about other brands? The way they communicate their products? Or the use of certain visuals or videos in communication? Understanding the market will enable you to develop a strategic framework and provide a strong foundation to create your visual brand.
Get To Know Your Customer
The goal of creating a visual brand is to communicate your company’s value in a manner that connects and resonates with your targeted audiences. But, before you can do that, you must spend some time getting to know your customers. Discover what their pain points, goals, and needs are.
Developing A Brand Book
This is where strategy and design fuse. If you don’t already have a brand book, you need one. A brand book is your company’s guidelines on how your brand looks and sounds. It should include brand architecture, brand concept, values, tagline, logo & wordmark, iconography, image style, web guidelines, and packaging. These guidelines enable companies to stay on brand across all mediums consistently.
If you already have a brand book, make sure you are constantly checking and updating it as needed. It’s important to update your brand guidelines to ensure that all deliverables consumers will view are consistent. Consistency reveals to the consumer you’re a strong company with a clear objective developing a sense of trust between the company and possible client or buyer.
Put It To Test
There are many ways to test the effectiveness of your visual brand. This can be done through user testing or focus groups. It is important to test your brand to know which elements need more work and which ones resonate well with your audience.
Developing an effective and clear brand is challenging. At 45/RPM, our strategist and design team work together to create meaningful visual brand identities that stand out For more detailed information check out our Downloadable Digital Marketing Workbook.
