Two in five Fortune 500 companies use the color blue in their logo. Why is that? Because blue seems to have an indelible impression on people, as it’s been long associated with authority and confidence.
So, when consumers think about the likes of HP, Kroger, Intel, Ford, or American Express, they’re likely to experience a sense of trust.
This is the result of smart branding.
Color theory is only one part of brand identity design, but it’s one of the most important.
It’s one of the first things people see when they lay eyes on your website, logo design, and other marketing materials.
In this article, we’re going to talk about color and other important elements that make up brand identity design, such as logos, typography, imagery, brand voice, and more.
What Is Brand Identity?
Brand identity is your company’s personality, appearance, and behavior. It can represent tangible or intangible elements of your brand, including its history, messaging, tone, slogan, or visual identity.
To understand brand identity, think of a person’s identity. You can recognize a person by their name, face, voice, physique, what they wear, how they act, the way they walk or talk, how they think, etc.
It’s the same thing for a brand.
For example, pretty much everyone knows McDonald’s, even children do. What are two things that come to mind when you think of McDonald’s?
It would most likely be the “Golden Arches” and the brand’s famous slogan, “I’m lovin’ it.” Some of its menu offerings, such as the Big Mac, Happy Meal, or McNuggets, might also come to mind.
These are the makings of a strong brand identity.
Without these essential elements, it would be difficult to recognize McDonald’s and everything it represents.
One of the most important parts of brand identity is its visual identity.
When we see a McDonald’s while driving, we automatically recognize it by the Golden Arches.
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We might also recognize the red and yellow color scheme. These represent Mickey D’s visual brand identity.
It’s important not to confuse brand identity with brand image. While brand identity represents how a brand presents itself to its audience, brand image is how the audience perceives the brand.
Why Is Brand Identity Important?
Businesses need a brand identity because it helps them create a recognizable presence in the market. This helps them:
- Align their internal presence with external perception
- Establish a connection with their target audience
- Build trust and credibility with consumers
- Stand out from the competition
- Drive brand loyalty
3 Examples of Strong Brand Identity Design
Need inspiration? Take a page out of these brands that knock it out of the park with their brand identity designs.
1. Chime
The Chime brand features a vibrant shade of green. This evokes growth, vitality, and financial prosperity. The use of green reflects the brand’s fresh and progressive approach to banking.
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This helps Chime stand out from other banks, as many of the most popular financial institutions use the color blue in their branding. Some examples include Bank of America, Chase, American Express, and Capital One.
And you might remember that blue helps create a sense of trust.
So, how does Chime convey this when its color scheme consists mostly of green?
Customers need to feel confident that their money is secure when applying for a credit card to build credit or opening a checking account.
Chime helps convey that trust in its brand messaging, which highlights how it makes it easy for people to open a bank account online. Its messaging also revolves around empowering users to take control of their finances and achieve their financial goals.
2. Aventon
Aventon, an electric bike company, exemplifies a cohesive and memorable brand identity. Their brand book clearly understands their target audiences, brand purpose, and values. Aventon’s visual identity, including its logo, color palette, and typography, is consistently applied across all touchpoints, from product design to marketing materials.
The brand’s personality is portrayed as courageous, inclusive, inspiring, and playful, aligning with its mission of enabling people to find happiness through motion.
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Aventon’s brand book also emphasizes the importance of consistency in messaging, customer experience, and brand reputation monitoring, demonstrating a comprehensive approach to building a strong brand identity.
3. YETI
YETI, known for its durable coolers, drinkware, and outdoor gear, is one of those brands with a strong history and compelling backstory. Its founders were avid fishermen and hunters whose adventures often led to broken equipment. After almost every adventure, they’d end up right back at the store because they struggled to find high-quality, long-lasting gear.
Then, a company was born — a company dedicated to creating high-quality products that could withstand the extreme conditions of the great outdoors.
That’s why its logo features the silhouette of a stylized yeti, a mythical creature associated with strength and endurance.
YETI celebrates the spirit of adventure and exploration. The hope is to encourage its customers to embrace the outdoors and seek new experiences. YETI’s products aim to enhance these outdoor experiences by being durable, whether it’s stainless steel to protect against drops, double-wall insulation to keep beverages cool, or UV-resistant plastics to withstand the rays of the sun.
This brand strategy has turned coolers into billions.
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How To Establish a Strong Brand Identity
Follow these strategies to craft a brand identity that’s hard to forget.
Know Your Target Audience
Who are the people with whom you want to interact with your brand?
Conduct market research, analyze customer data, and gather feedback to understand your target audience’s motivations and desires. Then, create an identity that appeals to them.
Apple targets younger, tech-savvy consumers. Many of its target customers are working professionals, entrepreneurs, or creatives (e.g., designers, artists, and musicians).
These users often crave simplicity, minimalism, innovation, quality, and reliability. Apple achieves this with the premium quality of its products and their ability to interoperate across devices (iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch).
Define Your Brand Purpose and Values
As you think about your audience, define your brand purpose and values. Going back to the McDonald’s example, its founders wanted to make fast food more accessible and affordable.
This goal is baked right into their mission: to “make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone.”
Create a Brand Style Guide
Use a brand style guide to make sure your identity is consistent across different marketing channels.
Here are the elements to include in your brand style guide:
- Logo: What single graphic mark, emblem, or symbol will represent your brand?
- Typography: What fonts will you use in your brand elements?
- Color palette: What colors will you use in your branding?
- Messaging and tone of voice: What are the brand values and key messaging pillars you want to communicate in your marketing campaigns?
- Imagery and graphics: What are your guidelines for using photography, icons, illustrations, and other visual elements?
In your brand guidelines, consider including examples of each element so that members of your team know exactly how you want to portray your brand.
Be Consistent
Consistency is the cornerstone of a powerful brand identity. Just like a person’s reputation is built on consistent behavior, a brand’s visual identity thrives on maintaining a unified presence across all touchpoints.
Consistently release and publish branded content, such as blog posts, social media brand posts, brochures, pamphlets, and eBooks, to avoid the appearance of “radio silence” between your brand and your audience.
Take Beaches of Normandy’s logo for example. It’s military green with a classic soldier’s helmet. The logo appears on the brand’s website, social media pages, and even brochures, which strengthens brand recognition.
Beaches of Normandy’s constant visual reminder reinforces brand recognition and creates a sense of familiarity with its audience. Also, their consistency fosters trust since when customers see a brand presenting itself in a unified manner, it conveys professionalism and attention to detail.
For example, Beaches of Normandy’s website seamlessly integrates its military color palette, even in its blog posts, like the one about The Utah Beach Museum. This consistency assures potential customers that they interact with a legitimate and reliable travel agency.
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Beaches of Normandy’s constant visual reminder reinforces brand recognition and creates a sense of familiarity with its audience. Also, their consistency fosters trust since when customers see a brand presenting itself in a unified manner, it conveys professionalism and attention to detail.
For example, Beaches of Normandy’s website seamlessly integrates its military color palette, even in its blog posts, like the one about The Utah Beach Museum. This consistency assures potential customers that they interact with a legitimate and reliable travel agency.
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Build a Tech Stack to Monitor Your Brand Reputation
Use technology to keep track of your brand’s reputation. This will help you track and analyze key performance metrics, monitor how people talk about and interact with your brand, and make necessary changes to improve brand identity.
Use a social listening and analytics tool like Brandwatch to monitor brand mentions, sentiment, and trends across social media, news sites, blogs, and forums.
Add a social media management tool to your tech stack to analyze audience engagement with branded hashtags and measure the ROI of social media marketing.
Keeping Your Brand Ahead of the Rest
Every memorable brand has a unique brand identity. Without one, no one would be able to recognize your brand.
An unrecognizable brand can’t stand out from competitors or drive customer loyalty. On the flip side, a brand that creates a lasting impression on its target audience is more likely to make a name for itself in the market and dominate its competitors for years to come.
Get started on DesignCrowd to find the resources you need to start your brand identity design project.
Written by DesignCrowd on Monday, August 12, 2024
DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.