What is visual brand identity and why is it important?
Insights for developing your brand’s best visual identity
Guest Blog Post by: Arianna Valle, Valle Creative Consulting
Simply put, visual brand identity is the collection of visual elements that represent and communicate a brand’s differentiators. These elements are most often a logo, colors, typography, and imagery.
These elements offer a quick and effective way to convey your business’ purpose to your audience.
The most important aspect of a strong visual brand identity is consistency.
The visual elements should be an extension of your brand voice
Highlighting your differentiators
Strategic imagery supports your marketing message
Flexible visual brand elements maintain consistency across different platforms and marketing materials.
Remember, consistency builds trust with your audience. Through presenting your brand clearly and consistently, folks will trust that your brand will provide what you’re promising.
Think of it this way: you expect your local coffee shop to operate according to their listed hours of operations. If they didn’t have a consistent schedule, that would impact your decision of where to head next time you craved java. We are creatures of habit. Consistency translates as security.
The same principle applies to your branding. If your branding is inconsistent, folks won’t understand what to expect from you, which negatively impacts their ability to trust you.
How to create a visual brand identity
First, you need to identify your brand differentiators.
Your brand differentiators will help guide your visual brand identity.
My favorite way to identify your differentiator(s) is to name your “why.”
You are unique. Therefore your business is unique. To best position your brand, you need to understand precisely how it is different from other options on the market. Use the questions below to uncover and understand your brand’s differentiators.
Why did you start your business?
Why are you passionate about what you do?
Why is the product or service you provide important to you?
Why does the product or service you provide benefit your customers?
How are your offerings different from competitors on the market?
Secondly, identify your audience.
Your visual brand should align with the interests and desires of your audience.
Understanding your audience begins and ends with specifics. If you try to please everyone with your brand, you’ll end up pleasing absolutely no one.
Tips for identifying your audience:
Ask yourself who you are trying to attract to your business.
Who do you want to work with?
Who are your ideal customers?
Consider audience characteristics and demographics
Focus on audience desires
Where is your audience?
Identify which social media platforms your audience frequents.
What news sources & websites do they read?
How can you reach your audience?
Once you understand your brand differentiators and audience, you can begin to develop your visual brand identity.
Every aspect of your visual brand identity is an opportunity to showcase your brand's personality.
Think of your visual identity as an extension of your brand voice. Again, the point is consistency.
The visuals should match the tone of your brand and seamlessly connect to the story you’re sharing with your audience.
BRAND PHOTOGRAPHY
The photographs you use to portray your brand on your website, social media, and in content should be an extension of your brand’s mission and purpose.
Give a snapshot of who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Folks can comprehend an image much faster than reading text.
Things to consider when planning your brand imagery:
What is the purpose? Ensure the images you are capturing will serve your business goals.
Who is the face of your business? Ensure they are captured and prominently displayed in your visual brand identity.
Portray emotion through expressions and colors.
Express your brand story through imagery.
Mission statement
Purpose
BRAND COLORS
Brand colors influence your brand's logo, typography, and imagery. Identifying what colors are aligned with your brand voice will help you maintain consistency across your visual brand elements.
The emotional connection to color is important to incorporate into your brand identity.
So, how do you select your brand’s color palette?
Start with the emotion you want to evoke with your business. What is the vibe of your brand?
Different colors represent and evoke different emotional responses.
Purple represents wealth and sophistication. This is seen in historical imagery of royalty throughout the ages.
Pink is a nurturing, loving color. It is often associated with the divine feminine.
Blue evokes a sense of calm, serenity, and wisdom.
Then, the hues and saturation of the color impact the effect it carries.
Research color psychology if you’d like to dive in-depth… there’s way too much to cover in this blog post!
BRAND LOGO
Your brand’s logo should relay a key point about your brand with a simple visual cue.
Think of your logo as the welcome mat to your business. It’s a place to convey some of your personality while sharing a message with your audience.
BRAND TYPOGRAPHY
Your brand’s typography is another opportunity to showcase the energy and personality of your business and act as a cue to your ideal customer.
A funky and playful accessory brand, Chunks translates their flagship squiggle hair clip designs into their typography and logo. As you can see in this example, your various visual branding elements will directly impact one another and should work together seamlessly to portray your brand to the world.
There you have it! A comprehensive introduction on how to create your visual brand identity.
If you’d like to learn more about developing your brand voice and visual identity, click here. The Bloom Retreat is for womxn and non-binary business owners to gather, build community, and prepare for what’s next in both life and business. Check out the marketing and branding facilitators here.
