The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Memorable Brand Identity [2022]

The words "brand" and " logo " are not interchangeable.

Although logos are symbols for businesses, they are not the whole image. The creation of the company logo is just the beginning of developing a brand identity. The need for a well-established brand has become more vital than ever.

"Can I be more successful in branding myself?"

Well, your brand identity is an important tool in helping your customers know how you are. Your company logo can be both effective and attractive for the most coveted clients. Your brand should have a cohesive identity that helps others understand your purpose and make connections in the same way that your product does.

If you are creating an identity for your business, it is important to choose appropriate visuals to reflect yourself and maintain a consistent style to help you build your branding.

It's difficult to build a lasting brand. How will you stand out from the rest? What do people think about you? How do you reach the right people? These questions will always appear as soon as someone starts thinking about what they'll sell.

Want the best method for creating recognizable brands? We'll provide you with everything you need to improve your image and create a lasting brand.

What is a brand?

Brands are the intangible assets and reputation of a business. Your brand is how people see your company—positively and negatively. A strong brand has a powerful influence.

Everyone has their own identity. Each of us has a unique personality, style of communication, and other characteristics that differentiate us. Similarly, brands have the same. Brands influence how their products are perceived and where they sit in the minds of customers.

Every time a customer interacts with your company, your brand should be consistent in how it looks, how it communicates, and how it behaves. This includes:

• Social media
• Physical locations
• Packaging
• Marketing
• Online
• Business Pages
• Email newsletter

Customers will recognize your company if it has a consistent brand, regardless of where they interact or connect with it.

What is the importance of a brand identity?

A brand identity is a collection of elements that act as a visual representation of a brand - the company's logo, color palette, typography, website, packaging, and other related materials - that define your brand.

Plant seeds of customer loyalty

In addition to your customer's loyalty due to your strong values and business goals, you can also become your customer's favorite by having a consistent brand identity.

These values and consistent identity can provide your consumers with a unique brand experience. So much of a company's success hangs on the verbal and written language of a brand. This can mean how you engage with followers on social media, your customer service protocols, and updates to your website's blog.

You must be enthusiastic about spreading your message if you are going to advertise and increase your customer base.

Stand out from the crowd

Your brand identity is displayed in how you communicate with potential consumers, the colors and other visual aspects of your business, your values, and the rest of the identity of your business.

Build trust and familiarity with your target audience

Most people are happy buying new products from brands they already know. Why don't we buy things from people we don't know?

It is here that strong brand positioning and messaging are important for businesses. An original voice increases recognition by drawing the attention of your target audience. This can be through social media channels like Instagram and TikTok. You will have an effective branding identity that attracts new clients.

How to create a brand identity

Creating a brand identity shows the visual identity of a brand including brand colors, designs, and logos that define the brand and differentiate the product or services. Consistent messaging leads to consistency in branding and consistent sales.

Do you use a logo? How about a consistent color palette? Is there a certain way you speak to the people you engage with online? These are everything.

A brand identity can be described as a visual representation of a business. Branding translates to how your product or service is perceived and how your message communicates to your target audience.

It can be as small as how you greet subscribers in a welcome email.

Generally speaking, a brand identity makes up the visual representation of a brand. However, the term incorporates a whole range of things including names, taglines, logo design, website, social media, and brand voice.

Design a great logo

Do logos need images? Are they brand names or something? Are they all together? Before you get to the style, remember this: logos are supposed to be meaningful.

Logos are a key visual component when building a brand identity. You can and should place your logo on all of your brand touchpoints—website, packaging, social media, etc.

Just look at McDonald's golden arches: its logo plays a major part in its brand image ever since the 1950s.

Choose the right typography

Typefaces can sometimes seem to be the most complex piece in branding. It can be difficult to select just the right font that fits your brand and conveys your personality. All fonts are unique, even by uninitiated observers.

Font choice plays a role in your logo design, social media content, website content, marketing material, and on your product packaging. A strong typeface place a role anywhere you display words or lettering.

Many fonts are minimal, and some are very elaborate (some Serif fonts). Keep between 2-3 different fonts for a cohesive look, one for the display and another for the body.

Choose a maximum of three fonts that you will use to avoid confusing the user. Use fontpair.co for inspiration and font pairings that complement each other.

Putting together the website

It is essential for your website to serve as an information hub for your brand and business. This digital landmark is the basis of your identity.

Here you can detail your life and work a lot more thoroughly than on social media. Your website must always be authentic. You should ensure that you get intensive training on the basic business strategy and market positioning and on the tone and message of your business branding to increase the traffic for your site.

Pick Your Color Palette

Color can be very useful in conveying your personality in all aspects of a successful brand. You will need a color palette that distinguishes you from your direct competitors and will keep your customers in mind.

Color psychology is nothing new, but it can be useful in guiding the decisions that we make. It offers some interesting information about the emotions and associations evoked by various colors. What brands come to mind when you think of black and white?

Colors certainly make up a major portion of your brand's visual identity. Color for brand identity needs a clear and accurate representation of a purpose.

• Red: passion, love, danger, rage
• Orange: freshness, vitality, caution
• Yellow: happiness, optimism, inventiveness
• Green: organic, growth, money
• Blue: devotion, peace, honesty
• Purple: intrigue, nobility, luxury
• Black: mystery, power, strength
• White: safety, cleanliness, innocence
• Gray: sophistication, formality, emotionlessness
• Brown: natural, stability, grounded

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Select The Right Graphics and Images

Icons and images play an important role in establishing brands. Institutions like MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) provide specific marketing standards for their website photography. All pictures have a light and bright feeling and use natural light wherever possible. The subjects are mostly young and, of course, handling some tech.

Photographs play an important role in branding and advertising for any business. It must also establish guidelines on which types of images (or videos) are appropriate to use.

Illustrations require uniform and consistent styles. Do not over-illustrate or clash with a specific style. Instead, imagine how illustrating a picture should interact with other visual components. For good illustrations to use for your brand, visit Ouch! Civ. They provide tons of free vector and 3D illustrations covering all industries.

Clear purpose and positioning

This is an important step in developing strong brands that promote growth. All details regarding your brand should have a definite and clear meaning. The entire procedure may be lengthy, complex, and requires extensive research, but the best way to successfully brand ourselves is by knowing who we are at our core.

Answer these questions to assess your current brand and craft a fresh brand identity to support your goals. Using these explanations, develop your company purpose, vision, mission, and value proposition:

Purpose Statement | Why do we exist?

A brand's purpose is its reason for being in business based on its beliefs and what difference it wants to make, either in the world or in its community.

ex. "To create a better everyday life for the many people" — Ikea

Vision Statement | What future will we create?

Brand vision refers to the ideas behind a brand that guide it towards the future. Without vision, a brand can become inconsistent, ineffective, and lost.

ex. "Empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more" — Microsoft

Mission Statement | How do we create this future?

If brand vision gives us direction, our mission is what drives us. Think of this as the 'how' of what a brand does.

ex. "Do everything possible to expand human potential." — Nike

Value proposition | What truly matters to us?

Our values articulate what we stand for and why we make certain decisions. Our values define what is most important to us.

ex. Patagonia
1. Build the best product
2. Cause no unnecessary harm
3. Use business to protect nature
4. Not bound by convention

Strong Brand Identity Examples

A strong identity — with a face and purpose — draws people to accept the brand’s offerings. When individuals become customers, the brand identity evokes a feeling of belonging.

Good products get customers, but good branding gets advocates. You have to make sure the brand name you are selling becomes recognized and loved by consumers. These steps are meant to help your branding be successful. It's simple to make – its implementation is a different matter.

To gain a greater understanding of how to build a strong brand identity, let's review some more examples:

1. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola's iconic brand identity dates back 131 years (that's right — Coca-Cola is 131 years). The brand's trademark red and white color schemes are immediately noticeable, especially as paired with Coca-Cola products.

When you see the name Coca-Cola, you most likely think of its logo. However, you might also think of Polar Bears, the red color and their "Share Cokes" campaign, or the classic ribbon-like images on their bottles.

2. Apple

When discussing a strong brand image, it's unrealistic not to mention Apple, with its famous emphasis on minimalism.

Apple focuses on innovation, accessibility, and privacy. It's no surprise that they keep information about their newest products well hidden from the public. Here's a look at their website.

3. Uniqlo

Although this is a relatively new brand in comparison to the two giants mentioned above, Uniqlo has made a strong brand image in a short time.

With a focus on sustainability, their brand marketing materials echo the "power of clothing". A global commitment to support recycling and the people who make the clothes. To potential customers, this is a mission statement and value proposition they can support.

How to keep your brand identity consistent?

Creating a brand style guide is the first step in developing a consistent brand. These are packaged booklets that assist designers, marketers, publications, potential customers, and even competitors in understanding the values, language, mission, personality, and visual elements of a brand.

For example, companies that offer affiliate programs often send their affiliates a brand guideline pack. Often in the form of a PDF document, but can also be a page on the company website, the brand guidelines detail a set of rules for how to market the brand.

These key elements are included in a brand style guide:

• Which brand colors to use
• How to use the brand's voice, properly
• What typography fits the brand personality
• Which logo design to use and when
• How to market the brand on social media
• What language to use when speaking to potential customers
• The brand's core values, mission, purpose, and vision (not required)

In this example, Starbucks does a great job breaking down the elements of its brand. Their style guide is a page on their website, which makes updating it with new information and assets simple. Keep this in mind when creating your own brand style guide.

We’re confidently turning down the volume of competing messages to elevate experience, removing obstacles in the way of people finding exactly what they seek at Starbucks.

Paired with clear imagery of its logo, color palette, fonts, and typography, Starbucks also gives viewers a detailed look into how it speaks to customers through its brand voice page.

The style guide gives a free look into precise visual elements of a brand

Time to Use Your New Brand Identity

Brand identity distinguishes you from competitors and conveys what your company stands for and what you can offer to your customers.

Your brand identity and design must accurately reflect who you are to your customers if you want it to be perceived positively.

Consider bringing in some expert help if you're feeling overwhelmed or lack the resources to complete the task yourself. Find the right creative agency for you with our tips, or reach out to us. If you need help getting your brand started, we are more than happy to help.