How to Create the Ultimate Brand Design

How to Create the Ultimate Brand Design

When it comes to creating a brand design, you may want to leave it to the experts. Learn how to create a memorable brand here.

Keyword(s): brand design

Your business lives or dies by the strength of its brand. A good brand is memorable and earns loyalty. Bad brands can undermine all your marketing efforts.

Look at the 2021 CIA rebrand. While the website looked great, the logo garnered plenty of derision on Twitter. That's because of the disconnect between the logo's appearance and its target audience.

You don't have to suffer the same problems. By following the right process, you can nail your brand design and wow your customers or clients.

Read on to learn how to create a good brand.

Go Beyond the Logo

Your brand and branding are not the same things. The brand is how people experience it and perceive it when they encounter it.

Branding is the process you go through to create that brand. Your brand design includes the visual elements you create to showcase that brand.

So your brand is more than just your logo. Getting your brand right is what inspires 'brand loyalty'.

Think about Starbucks. What do you think of first?

Is it the personalized name written on the cup? Or the scent of coffee and pastries? Perhaps it's the tapping on keyboards and a gentle hum of conversation.

That's their brand. The green mermaid is just shorthand for all of that.

So when you're building a good brand, think about how you want people to feel. When they hear your name, what should they think of first?

Sell the Brand Values Through the Whole Design

What are your brand's core values? Is it sustainability, empowerment, or value for money?

The brand design needs to sell these values through the whole design. That means choosing colors that fit the values, not current trends.

For example, let's look at the rise in 'girl boss' businesses. Many of the brands feature the same hand-lettered fonts. They use pink and gold. Their lifestyle images include soft furnishings, plants, and luxury items.

They all say 'girl boss'. If you're looking to hire a female business coach or a marketing consultant, you'll know you're in the right place.

Yet they're focused on trends and a sense of fitting in. They want you to feel reassured because the branding 'looks right' for the offer. Yet they don't tell you what the brand's values are.

By comparison, you might go to another marketing coach's website. She uses navy blue and a bold orange-red. Her photos include fantasy novels and geek merchandise.

She's offering the same services, but it feels different. It says "I don't do things the same way everyone else does. I go for what works, not what's on-trend." You can understand her brand values before you even speak to her.

Your brand should do the same. Let your design choices sell your brand for you.

Create Your Brand on Paper Before You Start Designing

You can't infuse these values into your design until you know what your values are. Get clear on those before you start the creative process.

Figure out who your company is. Is it clear to potential customers who you are and what you do?

Next, look at your USP. It's hard to find a truly unique selling point these days, so you may have an ESP (emotional selling point) instead.

Either way, you need to figure out what makes your business different from your competitors. What do you do or offer that makes you the ideal choice?

Why do you do what you do? Marketing guru Simon Sinek advises you start with your 'why' when you create brands. Why you do what you do is often more compelling than what you do.

Define your business values. What do you stand for? Who do you help? This needs to go into your brand design too.

Finally, decide who your ideal customers are. Now you can choose elements to represent your brand that appeal to them.

Decide on a Brand Voice

Your brand's 'voice' covers a range of things that help create a brand identity. It dictates how your brand shows up in the world, from your copywriting style to how you use social media.

Getting your brand voice right also makes it easier to make design decisions. A sarcastic or 'ironic' brand voice will suit different typography than a fun, whimsical voice.

They'll also help you to choose the right colors, imagery, textures, and even interior decor. The brand voice will keep everything coherent, which leads to a memorable brand.

Look at the bath and beauty brand, Lush. Their handmade ethos suits the handwritten typography, bold colors, and unapologetic copywriting. It tells customers exactly who Lush is the moment buyers step into the store.

Create a Style Guide

The easiest way to make sure your brand design stays consistent is to create a style guide. They're sometimes called brand guidelines too.

In both cases, they detail your specific colors, fonts, shapes, and imagery. It might also include different versions, like logomark versions of your logo. Anyone that is new to your business will know the right elements to use given the situation.

This means everything you put out into the world will communicate the right values to the right people. It also saves time when it comes to creating assets. You start the work knowing you're using the right 'ingredients'.

It also makes it easier to see the brand as a whole, rather than separate parts. You can see what works well together and what needs to be changed. This means you can tell when the brand needs to be refreshed or totally redesigned.

What Brand Design Will You Create?

Wondering how to build a memorable brand design? Follow the tips in this guide to keep you focused on a coherent brand.

It'll provide a strong experience for your customers. This helps to 'sell' your brand before they even speak to your staff. A memorable brand will do much of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to sales.

You don't need to create your brand alone. Contact us today and let us help you create the amazing brand your business deserves.