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Business magazines and websites are sprinkled with terms like branding, brand identity, logo design, corporate identity, and brand strategy. Different terms can describe the same thing. Sometimes the same term is used to describe different things. Confusing! As brand identity designer, we want to be clear with our clients about what we do (and also what no designer can do for you.)
Your brand is what people think of when they think about your company. It’s your reputation. It’s influenced by your values, your products, your marketing, your customer service. It’s shaped by magazine articles about you, how your stores smell inside, and what your neighbor’s mom said about you at the grocery store. And yes, it includes your logo, website, and business cards. Everything people encounter when they interact with your company adds to their perception of you. This is your brand.
“Branding” is the effort to influence this perception. You can’t control what your neighbor’s mom might say. But you can do your best to make the right impression.
A subset of a brand is the brand identity (also called corporate identity or identity system). The key word is identity. Just like with people, checking an ID proves you’re you and not somebody else. The tangible elements you can see when a company communicates with you make up its identity design:
Logo, colors, fonts, taglines, photography style, illustration style, patterns, icons, messaging.
A brand style guide is a document that records this identity. It keeps everyone on the right track, using the right fonts, colors, and more. Applications, or places where this identity can be applied, include websites, business cards, brochures, signs, packaging, vehicles, and more.
Brand identity designers use strategy to create the elements of your brand. Your logo, color palette, typography, image style, tagline, voice, and tone should be unique to your company. They help illustrate your brand. An identity designer isn’t going to make the conveyor belt in your plant run faster or tell you which employees to hire. But we can influence the public’s perception of you by creating an appropriate, consistent look and feel.
Most people use the internet to obtain a product or service. See for yourself how quickly your sales increase!
Strong identity design differentiates you from the other choices. You stick in customers’ minds.
Even if you’re new, there’s no need to look like you launched yesterday. The right brand identity design can convey stability and longevity.
When your design fits your company and is associated with a good experience, customers form a lasting emotional connection.
Maybe you’re a small business beginning from scratch. Or maybe you’ve been around for many years, and you’re wondering whether you should update your existing brand identity. After all, it’s gotten you this far! Is it worth investing in better design?
For businesses that get all their customers from neighborhood referrals—and they’re satisfied with that—it’s probably not worth it. Think of plumbers, mechanics, or dentists. As long as their service is great, nobody minds if their visual branding is less than stellar.
But if you’re in a competitive market or an industry where aesthetics and messaging can increase your revenue (think food and beverage, hospitality, fashion, financial services, health and wellness, etc.), you can benefit from the work of an identity designer. You might need a brand refresh if your mission has shifted, your audience has changed, or you have new competition. Maybe your old identity design seems dated, and consumers are no longer responding.
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