The Basic Principles of Branding Design: Learn From the Experts!

Branding design is the process of a company’s identification. It is the creation of the brand mark (logos), colors, graphics, imagery, and typeface that make the company stand out. A company’s brand identity design is basically their personality as a whole, it represents who the company is and what they do. Essentially, branding design should be able to reflect who the company’s target market is, and its goals and values.

In branding design, there are two important parts: content and visuals. Content sends messages through words. Notice the captions of the brands you follow, individuals can more or less tell what field of business they are in. On the other hand, visuals reflect the brand through fonts, colors, and graphics. For example, if the brand is more on the professional side, notice that the colors they use are usually black, white, and blue. However, if the brand is targeted at the younger audience, the colors that are seen are bright and playful.

Competitive Advantages that can be earned through good visuals

1. Value

Visuals that are very pleasing to the audience will automatically give them the impression that your brand is well established, professional, and trustworthy.

2. Unity

Having cohesive visuals for brand design makes it easier for customers to recognize the company.

3. Uniqueness

This is one of the reasons why investing in a good brand design is important. Being different from any other company will make customers remember the brand more. They will keep going back because no one else has what your company has.

Top 10 Design Principles

1. Keep it Classic and Timeless

Before building a company’s brand design, ask first where that company sees themselves in 50 years because that company did not pay to have their branding only last for a few years.

2. Less is More

The golden rule of designing is DO NOT over design. Having complicated visuals will only confuse customers. A perfect example of this is Nike. Their logo is just a check-looking symbol and it looks so simple, but that’s what makes it easy for people to recognize the brand instantly.

3. The Holy Trinity

If there is one thing to remember about the use of colors is to always keep to a maximum of three. Other than having more will possibly overwhelm the audience, maintaining three colors is also budget-friendly

4. Psychological Factors of Colors

Every color has its own association. For example, red and yellow are usually used for food companies such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, and Pizza Hut uses yellow and red for the logos. This is because yellow elicits comfort, while red tends to make individuals feel hungry.

5. Blank Spaces

Make sure to make room around the graphics and content because it will give emphasis on the important parts.

6. Elicit Emotions

One of the important things to remember when building the brand design is evoking people’s emotions. When the brand taps into an emotional side of an individual, they will surely remember the brand for a long time.

7. Be Eye-Catching

It only takes a couple of seconds for people to scroll through the feed these days. The branding design should be catchy enough for the people to stop and look.

8. Keep Slogans Short and Simple

When the slogan is as long as a sentence, people will surely forget about it. A perfect example of this is Nike’s “Just Do It” or “Finger-Lickin’ Good.” Just from reading these slogans, consumers already know what company they belong to because they are short, yet powerful. They also directly characterize the company.

9. Pick a Memorable Name

Choosing a company name is another vital step in building the company’s brand. Make sure that the name is long-lasting. Do not depend on trends, but ask yourself where you see the brand in 50 years or so.

10. Personalize your Branding

It is important to add a little of “you” into the mix. This will definitely help with making the company stand out from the others.

Branding Design is a long process. However, it can definitely be fun! Think of it as “decorating” or “dressing up” the company’s image. When feeling lost and frustrated, always remember why you are doing this in the first place! At Verafede Inc., we exert our greatest effort to create a good brand design that will fit your story, your identity, your personality, and your goals. To know more about branding strategies, reach us here!

Jade Hao

Jade Hao is a fun and free-spirited designer. She mostly specializes in illustrations and graphic design. Jade loves traveling and trying out different experiences so most of her inspiration comes from observing different art styles of different countries. One day, she aspires to have her own design studio that caters to local and international brands.