What is Brand Design & Why Does It Matter?
While looks may not always matter, they do when it comes to building a successful brand identity. Brand design enables you to create a signature look for your brand, which helps you to stand out from the rest of the crowd. After all, no one wants to look the same!
In this article, we will dive into all the major aspects of brand design, including the meaning and importance of brand design, industry-leading examples, and ways you can develop your own brand design.
The Meaning of Brand Design
Brand design is essentially a system of aesthetic features which shape how customers perceive your brand. It solely relies on visual elements in order to illustrate a brand identity, which makes your business instantly recognisable. Here are the 5 major visual design elements that make up a brand design:
1. Colour Scheme
When navigating through the creative process of your brand design, you must have a consistent pallet of colours, which are included throughout all advertising mediums used to illustrate your brand's image. This will enable you to uphold a professional and attractive appearance.
2. Logo Design
Your logo design is a powerful symbol which encapsulates the very essence of your business. It is intrinsic to your brand's identity that you create a clear, visually appealing logo that accurately depicts the nature of your brand.
3. Typography
The typefaces and fonts you use throughout your branding are equally important visual elements which contribute towards your brand design.
Rather than opting for your average Helvetica or Comic Sans font, you should create your own supporting typefaces to accompany your brand's image, as this will promote character and individuality for your business.
4. Photographs
A picture can speak a thousand words, especially when it comes to brand design! Including representational imagery throughout your business's profiles will instantly illustrate the purpose of your brand to customers. In marketing, we call this phenomenon 'visual storytelling'.
You should strategically place the location of each photograph in areas which are highly visible and easy to view.
For instance, if you own a sportswear brand you could have images of models wearing your products located throughout your social media platforms and on the homepage of your website, so audiences are instantly presented with them upon browsing your brand's profiles.
5. Illustrations
Illustrations present just as much character as other brand elements, if not the most! It is essential to ensure that all illustrations used throughout your marketing efforts are in line with your colour pallet, as well as uniform to the style of your typography and logo design to ensure your brand exemplifies unity and coherence.
Why Does Brand Design Matter?
The core objective of forming a brand design is to successfully attain brand recognition, so that your customers can easily identify your brand within your business's market landscape.
Because brand design is presented throughout all marketing collateral such as websites, social media pages, apps, packaging, advertisements, brochures, and so on, it's extremely important to ensure every design attribute perfectly represents your brand.
To help you grasp just how important brand design is, we have compiled the major benefits that this strategic approach to marketing can provide:
Brand Design Helps You Stand Out Within A Saturated Market
There are several brand elements which not only create an attractive presentation for your brand but also ensure your business is distinct from its leading competitors. Regardless of whether you are a beauty, fashion, or lifestyle brand, being recognisable is intrinsic to any business's success.
Brand Design Facilitates Brand Identity Which Gives You Credibility
Because brand design distinguishes your business from competitors, it paves the way for brand identity.
If you ace every visual element during the brand design process and ensure you create a cohesive image, your brand will not only look great but it will also look professional, giving your business credibility which will encourage customers to trust your products and/or services and make a purchase.
A Cohesive Brand Design Will Encourage Brand Loyalty And Brand Recall
The way in which customers perceive your brand is quintessential to forming and upholding brand loyalty. By creating a striking and attractive image which directly relates to your target audience, customers can easily remember your brand, which will clear the way for brand recall.
Once you form a brand identity that's bold enough to achieve brand recall with your target audience, it will be far easier to sell your products/services which will instantaneously help you to retain customers and secure brand loyalty.
Top 3 Examples of Brand Design
To show you what a successful brand design looks like, our expert team of marketers have shortlisted 3 of the best industry-leading examples which will certainly inspire you to develop your own brand identity design.
1. Monday Haircare
Monday is an incredibly successful niche hair care company that we have worked with in the past. The New Zealand-based brand most notably upholds consistency throughout its branding design.
One of the best ways it does so is through its packaging. All of the brand's bottles feature the same pastel pink colour, logo, and even shape, creating a signature look that can be identified from miles away.
In keeping with their pink aesthetic, Monday's website features an array of pink-scale photographs, all of which capture their products in various scenarios (such as by a bathtub, in someone's hands, etc).
Aside from making its brand image exceptionally attractive, Monday has mastered the art of uniformity, enabling this brand to be both memorable and distinct.
2. MAC Cosmetics
Canadian makeup brand, MAC, has always remained at the top of the cosmetics industry since the 1990s. With a sleek black branding design that extends beyond its packaging and into its stores, Mac has successfully made its mark all around the world.
Aside from the brand's general aesthetic, MAC also has a timelessly minimal logo which is instantly recognisable at a single glance.
3. Typology
Typology is a modern Parisian skincare brand which offers a polished and refined brand design.
With minimalistic and clinical imagery throughout its packaging, logo, and website, Typology's marketing collateral harmoniously adopts a contemporary, somewhat futuristic, aesthetic while maintaining an organic feel that successfully appeals to sophisticated consumers.
A Guide To Creating Your Own Brand Design
Creating a branding design is a complex process that requires a considerable level of research and creativity. We recommend you spend extensive time and effort developing and analysing the following factors to make your vision auspiciously come to life...
● Conduct Market Research: The only way you can identify what aesthetic appeals to your target audience is through strategic market research. Your findings will help you shape your branding design around your audience's preferences so that your brand effectively attracts customers.
● Reflect Upon Your Brand Strategy: In order to fortify a design that is not only instantly recognisable but also impactful, you must revise your brand strategy.
This will include assessing key elements, such as your brand personality, tone of voice, and positioning, which can be used to inform your brand design, ensuring your general image is relevant to the purpose of your business.
● Create A Style Guide: Before initiating the creative process of your brand's design, compile your brand's logo, fonts, images, and so forth. This will help you and your marketing team to stay on track and uphold the same image throughout every marketing method.
Need Help Creating A Strong Brand Design? Check Out PicStudio...
At PicStudio, we offer a multitude of bespoke marketing services tailored to beauty, lifestyle and fashion brands, both big and small. If you are in need of assistance creating your brand design, we warmly invite you to contact us today and get one step closer to forming a spectacular brand!
