Brand Design Tips for Business Owners

Behind every successful business is a great image, but cultivating that image takes more than great product or impeccable customer service. Your brand plays a key role in defining how customers see your business. A great brand design not only leaves lasting first impressions on new customers, but also reassures loyal customers while setting your business apart from competitors.

There are three ways that you, as an entrepreneur, can go about creating the perfect brand for your business:

• Go for the low-cost option and buy stock templates, pre-made logos, etc. You’ll save money, but you won’t stand out from the crowd.
• Hire a professional designer. This option has its perks, but it can prove costly and it’s all too easy to end up with the designer’s vision for your brand rather than your own.
• Tackle the brand design process on your own. You’ll not only need your own design tools, but also a certain level of proficiency and design skill.

No matter which path you take, there are several important aspects of brand design to consider. You could say that brand design is like a puzzle. Finding the right pieces and understanding how each piece fits helps bring everything together.

What’s a Logo?

A logo is more than just an identifying mark for your business. It’s also the starting point of your brand design, as your logo dictates your overall brand appearance. A strong logo can carry the rest of your brand design, so it’s important to design one that not only resonates with your customers, but also holds up with time.

Coming up with a strong logo is no easy feat, which is why it’s important to consider the following as you develop your logo:

• Define your brand identity. Have a clear idea of what your brand is all about and what sets it apart from others.
• Avoid the cliches. Some concepts are blatantly obvious and overdone. When it comes to logo design, it’s better to set trends rather than follow them.
• Consider the logo type. There are different types of logos – abstract marks, mascot logos, combination marks, lettermarks, emblem logos, etc.
• Study the big brands. A strong logo can make or break a brand, so it only makes sense to study the brands that made it and what made their logos take off in the first place.
• Design in black & white first. Finding the right colors for a logo can be a bit overwhelming. Starting in black and white lets you focus on the basics before worrying about color psychology.

Color Psychology and Color Theory 101

Color has a strong influence on the way we think and react, so it’s no surprise to see how color affects the way we perceive brands. We associate certain colors with specific thoughts and emotions. For instance, red often invokes passion, fierceness, and strong energy, whereas blue often invokes calm, peace, and imagination. White invokes cleanliness and mental clarity, while black is often associated with elegance, sophistication, and strength.

These meanings can easily change not just with different shades and hues, but also by differing countries and cultures. The meaning for a particular color in one country can be vastly different in another, for instance.

Color theory also plays a powerful role in brand design. Brands typically use one of the following color schemes:

• Monochromatic – A single color, usually for minimalist brands.
• Analogous – Colors located next to one another on the color wheel. Used to create harmonious designs that also guide users where they need to go.
• Complementary – Colors that are complete opposites of one another. Commonly used to create vivid, stimulating visuals.
• Triadic – Colors taken from three different sections of the color wheel. Used to create bright, dynamic designs.

Color psychology is a powerful tool to harness in your brand design, but it’s also one that should be used carefully.

Iconography and Typography

Icons are another piece of the brand design puzzle. When used properly, these symbols, images, and illustrations can make a huge impact on your brand design without the need for copy. The key to incorporating iconography into your brand design is knowing when and how often to use it. Too many icons can easily overwhelm visitors, while too few can leave visitors feeling lost.

Choosing the right typography for your brand is also crucial for success. Any font you ultimately choose must not only be able to communicate your brand’s personality, but it should also be unique, memorable, and more importantly, legible. It also helps for your brand font to work across multiple platforms (web, mobile, print, etc.)

The Importance of Style Guides

Think of a style guide as a GPS for your brand design. Just as your GPS helps guide you in unfamiliar territory, your style guide helps keep your brand on track and your messaging consistent with its goals. A well-developed style guide gives your designers a solid framework for creating cohesive marketing materials, not to mention it makes their work a lot easier.

When you create a brand style guide include all of the elements involved in your brand design:

• The brand logo, including appropriate color formats, minimum sizes, taglines, and treatments to avoid.
• Brand typefaces for titles and body copy, including formatting preferences and weights
• Web styles including buttons and forms
• Writing samples, including words to avoid
• Photography compositions and templates

Tips to Remember

Know Thy Audience

The best designs in the world can fall flat if they don’t resonate with your customers. This is where knowing your target audience and what makes them tick comes into play. It’s the reason why so many businesses do market research before diving into design concepts.

Search for inspiration. Start a brainstorming session with your finest designer minds and throw some concepts out there. Find out what sticks and what doesn’t. Don’t be afraid to think like your target audience.

See what your competitors are doing and take note of any trends they’re embracing when it comes to brand design. See which designs stand out among them and, more importantly, what makes them stand out.

Choose Your File Types Carefully

Knowing which graphic file types to use and when to use them is also important. Raster file types like TIFF, JPEG and PNG are great for creating highly detailed photos and graphics, but they’re impossible to scale upwards in size due to their fixed pixel count. Ever try to blow up a JPEG image, only to wonder why it suddenly looks like a blurry mess? Blame it on the pixels.

Vector file types like SVG and EPS work a bit differently. Instead of relying on pixels, these files instead use proportional formulas that allow the image to be resized without affecting its quality. That means you can make vector images as big as you need them and not worry about blurry or distorted images.

Any brand design you create should also come with a vector file for easier editing and reproduction. Having these designs in vector form makes it easier to tweak or use elsewhere (for instance, you want to make t-shirts with your brand logo).

Keep Things Simple and Timeless

Less is more when it comes to brand design. The simpler your design, the easier and faster customers can recognize and grasp the meaning behind it. Simple designs are also more likely to withstand the test of time. Avoid complexity whenever possible.

Make Your Brand Memorable

You’ll want a brand design that stays on your audience’s minds long after any business transaction. Incorporate unique or uncommon design elements that immediately stand out from the competition. Pay close attention to how you use fonts, colors, symbols, etc., as you create your brand design.

Strive for Legibility

Site visitors are often turned off by text that’s hard to read, especially when said text is layered over a bright or busy image. Adding a darkened overlay to images can help make the text more readable without completely losing the background elements you want to showcase.

Conclusion

No one said it was easy to create a great brand design. With the above tips, however, you’ll be well on your way to crafting a powerful and memorable brand design that speaks to your audience while bringing them to your business again and again.