Branding: More than just a logo!

Branding of a business is really important, good branding can encourage the consumers to be more trusting of a business. However, with base to effective branding is building a strong brand. Branding is more than just a logo, although a visual identity can be a really important part of branding. Logos or visual identities are often the most recognisable part of a business’ branding.

What is a brand?

The terms business and brand are often used interchangeably especially on social media however there is a clear difference. A brand is more than just a business name or logo, it’s all about the impression a business gives off about their products/services.

 Every brand has some sort of personality this could be serious, fun, cheeky, compassionate or any number of combinations. The story of a business and the tone of voice they wish to use will also help discover the personality of a brand. It is important to consider the target market of a business when building a brand, a family run funeral directors would have a much different personality and tone to a female owned clothing brand aimed at young women.

The most important part to a brand is consistency, honouring the business’ values with every decision gives the brand a trustworthy impression. The brand of a business is all about the impression it gives off to the consumers, what does the business want to portray to the general public.

What is branding?

Branding is the deliberate creation of a brand; the design of the branding should reflect the brand. To create effective branding the following must be considered:

Brand essence and core identity

What is the purpose of the business, what gap in the market is the business trying to fill? What is the vision and mission of the business? What is the business trying to achieve, is it a gap in the market or to elevate current experiences, creating a cleaner alternative to current offerings? Tapping in to what makes the business unique will create interesting branding which will make the business stand out. The values and guiding principles of a business are what drives a business and it’s branding. The visual branding should reflect these values as much as the actions of the business.

Brand identity

The brand identity is all the visual and design related assets that represent the business and the brand built to support it. This includes the name, personality, communication style and visual identity (this includes the logo, colour palette and typography).

The visual identity

Logos, colours, typography, photography and illustration all build the visual identity which represents the branding of a business. This is the part which often gets confused with the branding itself. Understandably so, this is the part that the consumers see and that they relate to the business. The visual identity is the first impression and sometimes the only impression that the consumers get of the business. How often do the consumers actually read about the values and mission of a business?

All factors of the visual identity work together and have equally important roles, the logo is the most recognisable part of the visual identity. It displays the business name and subconsciously the consumers will think about the logo when the business name is mentioned. The typography must be consistent with the logo but also throughout all designed assets. This helps build recognition and creates readable information making the business feel more trustworthy.

The colours used within the visual identity are key at conveying the personality, tone and communication style of the branding. Different cultures have different meanings and feelings behind the colours so choosing colours for branding can make a real difference. It is important to always do appropriate research into the colour palette to make sure the colours chosen are appropriate and work well with each other.