Five Traits of a Well-Designed Brand
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A strong and strategic brand is a powerful tool that can fuel your business growth. It allows you to connect with your audience and leaves a lasting impression on your website visitors and social media followers.
But what exactly is a strong, strategic, and well-designed brand?
That’s what I’m going to cover in today’s post.
Unique and Standout Design
When it comes to branding, you want your brand to stand out from others in your niche. Otherwise, two bad things happen:
You’re easily mistaken for your competitor
Or worse, you’ll be seen as a copycat
While you might provide the same service as someone else, there’s no reason why your brand should look the same. You are what makes your brand unique and it’s important to translate that uniqueness into a visual brand that is recognizable and unique to you.
Cohesive Design
A cohesive brand will help you build trust, familiarity, and allow you to become instantly recognizable no matter what platform someone stumbles upon your content. There are two parts to a cohesive brand:
visual elements such as colors, fonts, icons, patterns, textures, imagery, and your logo
your brand voice and messaging
Your visual elements are just that — visual representation of your brand voice, messaging, and values. Your message, values, and voice are intangible elements of your brand but they are just as important as your visual elements. They, too, play a part in connecting with your ideal audience and helping you stand out among others in the same industry as you.
Versatility
By versatile, I don’t mean ever-changing. A versatile brand works well across different mediums and adapts to different use cases. Think about all the different places where a potential client might come across your brand. It can be an Instagram post, a Facebook Ad, a promoted pin, a brochure, a billboard…
That’s why it’s important to have elements that are not only consistent but also can work in different sizes.
A classic example of this is having several different variations of your logo:
a primary logo version that works well in your website header or in a letterhead
a alternate logo version that works well for business cards, invoices, thank-you cards, etc.
a submark that can be used for mobile logos, social media profile photos, and anywhere else where your primary logo would look weird or cut off
an icon that can be used for your website favicon
Clear and Focused Message
Your brand message is the primary way your audience is going to connect with your business. In order for your message to resonate with them, it needs to be clear and focused. The best way to establish a clear and focused message? By digging deep and figuring out your why, followed by your brand values.
Remember, your brand represents your business, your mission, and your vision. A well-designed brand has visual elements that are deeply rooted and based on your brand strategy.
Simplicity
If you’re DIY-ing your brand, remember this — simple is always better. Just because you’ve read somewhere that your brand color palette typically has 5-7 colors, that doesn’t mean that you have to follow that rule blindly. It takes an expert eye to use color strategically throughout your brand collateral so unless you’re a trained designer, keep it simple.
Too many colors, especially if you have no neutrals or different shades end up being too harsh for the human eye. Confusing layouts with tons of icons or other decorative elements scattered throughout can be overwhelming, especially for people with disabilities.
On top of that, your brand message gets lost in all of the details if there are too many elements that are vying for visitor’s attention.
The key to a well-designed brand is to have very few strong elements and subtle accents that don’t overpower the rest of the design.
Final Thoughts
The purpose of your brand is not just to make your Instagram feed or your website look pretty. It’s to provide your audience with an experience and connect with them on a deeper level. Branding brings your business to life and as such a well-designed, strategic brand helps you stand out from others in your industry.
It makes you look polished and professional and builds trust with your audience.
Are you ready for a cohesive, well-designed brand for your business? Start by downloading my free branding guide “Six Elements of a Six-Figure Brand” below.
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