What does a brand consist of?
Design is such an important part of branding that – if done correctly – can communicate the nature of a brand wonderfully. However, a lot of research has to go into the design process so that a brand can be built to be effective and to stand out in a crowd. The list below is just the tip of the iceberg 🗻 but it gives a good overview of what goes into the strategic process behind branding.
1. Positioning
Where does your brand lie within the landscape of its niche?
Positioning should show in what ways your products or services are better or different than those of competitors. These unique selling points (USPs) should be highlighted so you stand out to your target audience 🌟.
Ideally, your desired brand position aligns with the consumers’ image of that brand. This can be achieved through research and consistent communication.
2. Personality & communication
The personality of your brand is key. It affects how others feel about it and are typically expressed in human-like adjectives such as trustworthy, playful, sophisticated, or funny. For example, Disney is seen as inspirational, Nike as motivational, and Apple as innovative.
Personality is often expressed in values, aesthetics, and communication. It can affect positioning, increase the likelihood of attracting the right kind of audience 🥰, and much more.
This is why communication is so important: it drives the image that you want your brand to emanate. Here, not only what you are saying is critical but how you are saying it, through the tone and channels you use 💬.
Finally, it’s vital to be consistent, transparent, and authentic.
3. Design
When someone has no prior knowledge of your brand, the only avenue to attract them is through how the product or service looks. Whether you’re a sushi restaurant or a jeweler, design delivers a beautiful opportunity to stand out in the crowd of your competition.
The design of your brand needs to be aesthetically pleasing, easily understandable (i.e. clearly show what your product/service actually is), communicate the potential value ✨ for the buyer, and distinguish itself from similar products or services within your niche.
There is a design principle called MAYA, which stands for “Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable”; your design needs to be easily understandable so that a potential customer can still identify what your product or service actually is, but it should also break some rules in terms of how it looks: designs should be contemporary, exciting, but also just good. Most importantly, the design should communicate and match the other aspects of your brand as well.
The design of a brand is its visual identity, consisting of a logo and logo variations, typography, a color palette, and other elements that may be important to a particular brand (like a website, business cards, social media designs, other print assets, a pattern, etc.).
4. Customers
Your customers are everything. They see your product or service in (online) stores, buy it, use it, and in your ideal scenario, become little brand ambassadors 📣, growing your reach through good old word-of-mouth. However, the opposite can happen if you are not creating a positive experience for them through your brand, as that will be the message they spread instead.
Always keep your customers in mind:
Who is your target audience?
What designs would appeal to them?
What media and tone of voice are most effective when communicating with them?
What is most important to them in the journey of buying your product or service?
5. Products & services
Your products and services are where a lot of these different elements meet. At the end of the day, these dictate what niche you are even in and who will be interested. The way you package your goods and services (design!) and how you talk about them can help sales (or decrease them 🥺) and affect your positioning.
6. All the things that make it different
A brand is how a company/person/etc. is different and the features that make it identifiable by others. 🪄
It includes all of the things that we’ve talked about: Personality, voice, products & services, visual design, position in its niche, and its customers. Through research, you can create an effective and consistent brand that ticks all of these boxes.
A brand can really be transformed with each of these elements, and stand out in the crowd to those that matter most in its success.
