For a lasting impact in today’s business landscape, it’s key to create and sustain a unique brand. Find out what it takes to build a brand identity.
Building a brand is a journey that demands time and a thorough understanding of your business. To succeed, the process must be systematic and meticulous, otherwise you risk a misalignment between who your organization is and the image it projects.
Based on our experience building distinct brands, we have identified five unavoidable steps in the development of a brand identity.
Step 1: Understanding "the brief"
Clarity about the core values, mission, and unique selling points of your business (“the brief”) goes a long way in establishing the foundation for the design of your logo. Knowing this information all but ensures the outcome is representative of your brand.
Our team breaks down the brief into three components:
Brand Values: What is your brand all about? What’s the tone you use to describe it? What it reminds people of? Learning how the brand talks to people help us make artwork choices and strategize about how to present your brand in a way that feels real and welcoming.
Target Audience: Who are the people who could use the product? Why may they want it? Where do they live? How old are they? How much money they make? What do they like? The answers help us create detailed profiles, so we know who we are talking to.
Competitor Analysis: What are others in the market doing, particularly your competition? What’s working for them? What can we do differently? This knowledge can help us find unique and smart ways to stand out. It’s equally important to identify benchmarks to measure the success of your branding efforts.
Once we have clarity on the brief, we clear up any ambiguities with your branding team and establish the scope of the project, timeline, and deliverables.
Step 2: It all begins with a moodboard
A moodboard is the visual foundation of any branding project. It includes a collection of images, colours, and textures. The goal is to set the tone and evoke the specific emotions the brand aims to be associated with.
By incorporating the elements linked to the brand’s identity, a moodboard becomes a guiding light by ensuring a cohesive and consistent direction. This is how:
Clarity: A moodboard clarifies the branding vision and helps the client understand the aesthetic direction. Clarity is key to avoid surprises.
Consistency: The moodboard serves as a reference point. It ensures all design elements align with the brand mood.
Inspiration: A well-crafted moodboard inspires creativity and lays the ground for a successful branding process.
Armed with these insights, our team collects visual inspiration from various sources and chooses a platform (Figma, Illustrator) to create the moodboard. Then we divide the curated collection into three categories that align with the desired aesthetic. We pay close attention to the layout and visual composition for visual appeal and add brief descriptions or annotations to clarify choices.
Following reviews and refining, the client is presented with the moodboard. We explain each section, receive and assimilate their feedback, and deliver an updated version that accurately represents a common branding vision.
Step 3: Logo Conceptualisation
The next step consists of brainstorming and sketching out various conceptual ideas (experimentation and exploration enable the convergence of abstract thoughts into tangible design elements). Every concept aims to convey the brand’s message visually in compelling fashion.
Fonts and colour palette must complement the logo while evoking the desired emotional response. Worth singling out, typography greatly contributes to the cohesiveness of the logo with the brand’s personality.
A successful logo design remains effective across different platforms and sizes. Ensuring scalability and adaptability allows the logo to maintain its integrity, whether displayed on a billboard or a business card.
Feedback following every iteration is crucial to refine the concept. This collaborative process ensures that the outcome resonates with stakeholders and aligns seamlessly with the brand’s identity. During this iterative phase, striking a balance between simplicity and uniqueness is key.
“You can’t simply toss a logo out into the market and hope it works. Until the logo is truly associated with a brand experience, it’s just another logo. Without a story, people will make one up for you—and there’s no guarantee it’ll be right. Or good.” Interbrand
Step 4: Brand elements and style guide
The development of additional visual elements —patterns, icons, illustrations, photography— contributes to a comprehensive and versatile brand system. A brand system proposal is presented to the client or stakeholders, alongside the rationale behind each design decision.
Once approved, our agency puts together a comprehensive style guide outlining usage guidelines for each brand element, including colour specifications, size, imagery, and other relevant details. The guide is to be accessible to all team members and stakeholders and include examples and best practices to help ensure consistent branding in different contexts.
Step 5: Application Across Platforms
Once the design system is set, our agency starts building the visual and interaction patterns across applications. This includes UI components, layout grids, accessibility tests, and other design elements. The goal is to ensure the brand system is responsive and adaptable to different screen sizes and devices, and ultimately maintain a consistent brand experience.
For branding implementation to succeed, open communication channels between design, development, and marketing teams are key. Teams must collaborate so the execution of the brand system is consistent across all applications.
Implement version control for design assets and documentation to keep track of all changes.
Ensure every team in your organization is working with the latest brand assets.
Regularly review and update the brand guidelines and design system based on feedback and evolving brand needs.
Conduct regular brand audits to ensure all applications adhere to the established brand guidelines.
Identify and address any inconsistencies or deviations promptly.
Conclusion
Designing a brand is a methodical and strategic process that demands a clear vision, careful consideration, and a step-by-step evolution from a simple concept to a complete brand system.
From understanding the essence to refining concepts and making thoughtful design choices, every step of the process is designed to elevate your brand beyond aesthetics and help it become a visual embodiment of your organization’s identity and values.
Our experienced team knows how to navigate the intricate design landscape and put together a complete branding plan bound to resonate with your intended audience.
Let’s build a consistent and impactful brand together. Get in touch!
