When it comes to product purchasing, people always prefer to go for a familiar brand. And in this scenario, it is not that a marketing strategy works best always but there is another side to the coin – brand designing. Yes, the graphic designers play the part here. Every particular product, be it a clothing brand or another one, needs to withstand its competitors and should be easily perceived by the consumers besides attracting new eyes. To achieve so, a company needs to hire a skilled and best graphic designer.

How designing of a brand plays the key role?

Design is a key part of the term brand. It includes signs, logo, symbols, colour combinations, etc. The design of the brand must be like that the people or buyers should become used to choose it, relate to it and be accustomed to go for it. Branding and brand designing should involve graphic designers to study the market, observe the target customers’ taste and choice, following the company’s goals and motto.

To make it simpler we have framed some key stages for designers to adopt to come up with flawless and successful branding and brand designing. Here we go..

1. Study the brand’s principles and goals

The first thing a company needs to do after hiring a designer is to let them know their company’s manifesto. In short, the designers must be aware of what goals the company has set, on what principles the staff are working on so that they create an impact with their designing part.

Designing is an impressive visual representation of a brand that catches the customers’ eyes. But more importantly, the design part of a brand equally portrays the brand’s identity within its visual representation by including the brand’s goals and vision.

So, it is the designer’s responsibility to go ask for the exact requirement of their clients/brand to make an impact on their brand. And if the company has not set the final goals or principles yet or is in the process of amending some, no worries, they may do it in future.

2. Perform thorough research 

Analysing the market and users’ perception towards a new brand or a new product from an existing and established brand is utmost important. Catching the pulse of potential buyers, examining their reliability is a designer’s job once he is done with estimating the goals and assets of a brand.

The next step is to comprehend the peers and competitors of the brand in the market. This is crucial in deciding the success rate and reliability chances of the brand or its product.

3. Making an impactful logo

It is not that every logo is recognizable by the consumers and they believe what they see as new. Moreover, a logo is different from a brand although it is a crucial part of creating a brand identity.

A typical logo is the one that catches the attention, occupies the buyer’s mind, seeks trust and stays there for long. For instance, Apple, Addidas, etc.

Once the users get accustomed to the logo of a brand and notice its products are of great quality and durable, they stick on to that brand. So, make sure your logo is a visual representation of your brand provided it also reflects your brand’s goals and principles in brief.

Logo designing is a crucial creative process that is worth investing more time in it. Firstly, the designers need to analyze the market and the logos of competitors to put any similarities at bay. Then, they have to listen to the requirements of their clients including colour palette selection, font style, size and other aspects.

Note that logo designing plays a key role in branding. So, make sure you test the finalized logo on different surfaces (walls, posters, business cards) and in different sizes. This is to ensure your logo is creating an impact.

4. Creating Other Visually Catchy Elements

You would not believe us if we say other visual representations can let a brand reach close to more buyers other than a logo. Yes, a brand logo of course is the main visual remembrance when it comes to consumers’ recognition and reach. But there are mascots  (specially designed characters) that work wonders being the representation element of a brand other than a brand’s logo or within it.

Remember our favourite KFC and McDonald’s? Come on, not about the finger-licking taste of it. What comes next to your mind reading or hearing these brands? Yes, the popular old man – the owner of KFC – Colonel Harland David Sanders. The brief red and white sketch of the man beside with an apron and a bow is what a mascot is for KFC. Similarly, when it comes to McDonald’s, it is that friendly smiling clown we observe almost at McDonald’s store welcoming us. Thus, we have to agree that we unknowingly connect visually and memorably to a brand and its visual elements like mascots.

Other important visual representation includes typography. Brand designers can ask their clients for their interest in a particular brand or choose and finalise on one by self. A brand’s identity can be stamped in the minds of buyers with its typography to if it can be designed in an easily readable yet attractive style. Remember the famous red cursive font of coca cola? It is as simple as that. Companies can use a mix of font styles too for creating an impact.

5. Incorporate the corporate look and feel

Once the brand is done with its logo, mascots, if any, colour palette, typography and other visual attributes, it is the designer’s responsibility to work on integrating all these elements into a well-furnished corporate styled design. To ace that corporate look, there are some must-haves that companies should possess. Business cards, letterheads, billboards, banners, vehicle branding all these falls into this category.

For instance, if a company focuses on enhancing its brand identity, it should not overlook even minute key details like leaving its brand vehicles without having their brand identity elements painted on them. This is a good way of outdoor or mobile branding and marketing besides it also creates a good recognition within the consumers leaving an impact.

Other corporate style elements include company T-shirts or hats. Not that every company or brand can get their employees to wear uniforms representing the brand or its logo. Employees of some companies may have logos or brand identity elements printed on their T-shirts or hats. Even here, the designers have to show their skill set by getting the right size and clear font inked.

Besides acing all the above-addressed stages, the graphic designers hired by a brand also need to provide a style guide or a guide of instructions to their clients to assist them in utilizing the brand identity elements and colour palette in the right way. In simple, designers should assist a written document on what are the dos and don’ts of using the graphics or designs created for the brand. Anything done wrong or any kind of mishandling without this style guide can leave a flaw on the visual representation of your brand and the brand identity.

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How To Create The Best Brand Identity?

Who are you? What all makes a unique you? If your friends and peers are able to look up to you, recognize you and give prominence to you, then you have made up yourself something special.  And this special is what your identity is. Same is the thing with a brand’s identity – brand identity.

Cutting to the chase, the brand identity is something that a company builds up its features, characteristics and promises or proposals in a unique way that are perceived with attention by the target audience or buyers. A brand, which can be a company or product usually, should be noticeable to the audience and build loyalty. Creating a differentiation and cultivating a familiarity among the consumers is what makes a brand identity. It is not just the name or a logo, but includes lot more of elements and factors. For instance, a particular colour that has been consistently in association with a brand’s designing. Also, the taglines, certain logos, etc.

Simply saying, if you are registered among your office group as a person with good dressing choice or for those geeky eye glasses collection, that’s it, this makes your identity. A company too seeks to cement its identity in consumers’ brains with distinct features.

Remember, your brand identity is the face and fate of your business. So, never let it face a chance as it can lead to tarnishing your firm.

Here are some insights that can help you craft a great brand identity. At least a flawless one.

Ask yourself “What’s our mission? What are our principles?”

The most important thing that connects your brand to the buyers is your mission. The values that you abide by.  The vision your clearly have towards reaching your goals. Put simple, have a clear cut answer to “Why you started this business or product?”

Next understand your peers and competitors

Once you entered the world of competition, position your brand in the line and keep knocking it up towards number one. In the process refine your principles and keep up with your values. This makes your brand get perceived by the audience.

Building up the look and feel of your brand identity

The next priority to be given following the vision and mission is the designing part of your brand. Identify and finalise your logo. Choose the font style, use great colour combinations, play the gradient. There comes the graphics. The graphic designing plays crucial role in ballooning your brand identity.

If your brand is any product, hone the packaging and labeling section. If it is a company, discipline your staff. For instance, if you present your brand’s identity to the audience and consumers with a vast hype and if your customer services are bad, thus, your efforts go in vain. So, don’t leave your brand’s identity to the chance.

So, what elements you need to look into for designing the best brand identity?

Here come the best few…

• Typography

Do you remember our childhood favourite drink coca cola? Now that, you just have seen the drink’s name in a weird font style, right? That’s what made its brand identity – it special cursive script (which runs in your mind now). So, we mean, selecting the font style that best fits your product and should not be leaving the audience or consumers’ mind any time soon is the key.

• Choice of colours

Out of the hundreds of shades and tens and tens of popular colours, let us discuss the basic hues and their meaning straight away. Understand their context and match your brand’s preferences to the colours you are going to choose.

If you want your brand to be perceived by the audiences as

• Exciting and youthful – Choose  Red (That is why most of the television channel logos go for red)
• Nature and money – Choose Green (Like as in investment firms or agricultural based products)
• Trust and truth – Choose Blue (News channels for instance)
• Luxury or Royalty – Choose Pink or Purple (Women related brands or products)

Other than these basic hues of the colour palette, some brands choose Gold or Silver that add sophisticated and a modern look to their identity. For instance, few mobile brands.

• Shapes and size of Logo

Not that you get a vast  identity if your logo design is big. Relating to your brand’s features and products, select the form in which you require your brand identity to be. Make a point that your logo should be stylish yet classic but not trendy. Since, trends fade away with time. Also, the logo should be catchy and interesting which is to be occupied in the brains of the consumers.

Note that a simple small apple logo is now standing as a major status identity for many!

• Website or Physical space

If yours is an e-commerce platform or any digital marketing area that mostly relies interacting with consumers and audience online,   make a point that your webpages and website are clutter free, easy-to- navigate, and most importantly the look and feel aspect is at its best.

If you have a physical space to  show your brand’s identity, show up with your ambience, interiors and the staffers.

• Business cards

Yes, the next most important things in shortest form. You need to spread your brand’s name and identity far more than it is before. So, you also need to be professional and pessimistic. Your business card represent you (your brand) in simple. Also, it connects your brand to the new set of people. Keep your card simple yet ordered. Your brands logo, your name and details including the contact number are just enough.

• Packaging of the products

A well-furnished product of great quality in a poor package always leaves a tarnished image of the brand in customers’ mind. Be it a retail product or e-retail purchase, the outside packaging of your brilliant and beautiful brain-child must be a ‘wow’.

These basic things of building a brand identity can help you cement your brand’s place in the ocean of competitors and make is easily recognized with the audience and users.