Top 6 brand design element must haves
Do you feel like your visuals are all over the place? Believe me, I feel like that too sometimes! Good thing I have some tips on how to help your brand visuals start looking better. You want to think of these elements as being part of your brand world or ecosystem. They should all work together and communicate to your audience that this is your brand.
Logo - Your logo is your brand symbol. It is a trademark that is used throughout your brand. Think of it as a sticker or branding element that helps elevate your brand name.
Fonts - Now I know a thing or two about fonts, trust me. When putting together your brand, you usually want to pick one to two fonts that you will use throughout your brand visuals. These fonts will be on your website, business cards, marketing graphics, social media graphics and everything else that is tied to your brand.
Color Palette - Most brands use three, four or five colors consistently throughout their visuals. Starbucks uses a consistent green and white, while Apple uses black and grey. You’ll see this is in all industries. Different musical genres also do this. Most meal bands use black and red as their two primary colors. Pop artists tend to go with brighter colors like pink, blue and yellow. They key is picking your color palette and being consistent with their use.
Photography & Icons - You want to choose a style of photography to use. If you’re using muted landscape photos, stick with that style on your website and social media. The key is to have your audience instantly recognize your brand element when they see it. The same goes for icons. If you use line icons, make sure to stick with that style. Don’t mix up line icons with flat illustration icons. Your audience will start to confuse your brand identity with another one. Keep your styles consistent.
Tone - What does your brand sound like? Are you formal? Or do you lean toward the casual and more conversational? These are things to think about and establish when creating your brand. This tone is to be carried out in all your brand copy. Emails, ads, social posts, the tone of your brand voice distinguishes you from other brands it it connect your audience to you.
Consistency - Once you have all your elements you need to use them consistency. I’ve been stressing this in the previous points but this is the most important thing to remember. You’re website should look like your business card and your elements should be on all your networks you use for your brand.
When you have established your brand elements, the last step it to put them all together in a brand guideline. This insures that whoever gets your brand guidelines will know exactly what your brand is and how to look and sound like your brand. This is especially helpful when you start hiring outside freelancers and new employees.
