What’s a brand identity?
We love branding pro Marty Neumeier who defines a brand identity as “the outward expression of a brand, including its trademark, name, communications, and visual appearance.”
Why is it important?
- Makes your brand recognizable
- Helps you stand out from competitors
How do I do it?
1. Determine who your brand is!
What message do you want to send?
What’s your mission?
2. Audit competition
What are those in your field doing to define themselves?
3. Ideate visual identity
Mood board: Creating a mood board can be a great way to start getting a feel of your brand. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself in this step, just start collecting photos, illustrations
What is it made up of?
Important Components
- Design
- Logo
- Colours
- Typeface (usually 2)
- Illustration/Photography Style: textures, treatment of type and images (is there a lot of whitespace? Do photos bleed off the page?), iconography, data visualization
- Copy: Brand voice & tone, content messaging, look and feel/aesthetic, brand mission, vision and values. Choose typefaces that display the essence you want your brand to have. You can do this physically with cutout photos and type, or digitally by copy/pasting photos you find online, or just by making a board on pinterest.
4. Logo
5. Color palette
a. Choose colors
- 1 main color
- 1-3 accent colors
- Color for background (doesn’t have to be white) and type (doesn’t have to be black)
b. Consider color psychology
Red: Passion, love, blood, power, anger
Orange: Warmth
Yellow: Happy, bright, sunshine, light, wealth
Green: Optimism, life, growth, nature
Teal: Calm, peace
Blue: Cool, calm, trust, loyalty, conservative
Pink: Feminine, youthful
Purple: Cool, vibrant
6. Typography
Usually 2-3: One for headings, one for body copy
7. Additional elements
Photography, Illustration style, Icons
8. Build brand guidelines
Consolidating all the work you’ve done on creating your brand.