17/10/2022 | BRAND IDENTITY design
A 5 step process to
develop your branding.
Written by Lauren Rogers | Brand Designer/Founder
The next steps in launching a business is giving it a brand so you can sell your product or service.
Besides the quality of your product, your brand will be the final deciding factor for your customer to purchase. We all hate to admit it but we buy into brands that give us that feeling. The feeling that we’re safe… the feeling that we’re fun… the feeling that we’re amazingly attractive (hence the huge amount of sex appeal in advertising that exists in this world) – you get the idea.
There is one common thing with any type of branding, they have all worked out their core story, the one that will help them write their communications, know who they’re talking to and in general make the whole branding process enjoyable and rewarding.
So let’s get straight into it with some tips to get you on your way to creating a brand with personality!
Step 1
Developing your brand story
The first step is to delve deep into your brand and why you exist, Simon Sinek’s TedX talk – Start With Why, is an awesome listen. He talks about always starting with the why, this is what will keep you going and inspired. If you have the budget, then go ahead and find a trusted brand strategist who will work with you on your why, to understand the process, read ahead to help you get the best foundations you can before delving in to the “face” and personality of your brand.
Brand Vision: Write down the reason you exist.
Brand Mission: Write down the path to achieving your vision. What do you do and how are you going to do it?
Brand Differentiators: Write down what makes you different from your competitors and why would your customers do business with you instead of them?
Brand Values: Write down what you believe in, what you stand for and what defines you.
Brand Personality: Put in writing how you want to speak and behave, your tone of voice and this is where the visual brand development process comes into it. It’s also a great idea to get a copywriter on board to help with this.
Once you’ve defined all of the above you’ll find that your communication, your visual identity (the brand identity part, which I’ll explain in a bit) and the actions you and the people in your company takes will be clearly defined and easier to work towards.
Step Two
Figuring out your ideal customer
Sit down and work out the exact person buying your product. This means write down that persons name, age, family, where they live, what they do in their spare time, why they buy certain things etc. A tip on this is to find someone you know, who fits your demographic and ask them all the questions. Once you know who you’re talking to the brand will seamlessly begin talking to this person. And yes I know, this is scary, it might feel like you want to talk to multiple types of people. The thing is, this step is to make your brand so much clearer, but amazingly you’ll still attract all types of people, you’ll just be so much better talking to your audience.
If you sell a good product, many different people will buy into your brand. This process really helps create a brand that is solid and not confused, if you are consistently sending the same messages then you will build an audience and gain trust.
Step THREE
Finding the perfect graphic designer to help you build your new brand identity
Ok so you’re clear on the above points, you understand your core target audience and your brand vision and you’re excited to start on the logo design so you can launch it into the world.
I feel blessed that I get to be involved in this part of the process because it is always the most exciting and you see the most growth from launch. My top tips in your search for a graphic designer is to look through their portfolio carefully and closely. Find someone who specialises in brand identity design, not just logo design. Do you love the style of logos they design, do their brands look like enough thought and time has been put into it, do they look unique and memorable? There are designers out there that will just give you a logo, this will leave your whole brand feeling flat because you will have the logo and no-where to go.
They should always supply you with a brand proposal with mock-ups to see how the brand applies to various applications, a suite of assets including a logo suite and any graphics used, a style guide and if there is imagery that goes with your brand the photography.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
- Attention to detail. Are their logos neat and tidy? Is everything aligned and edges joined? Are there spelling errors?
- Ensure they specialise in brand identity design, not just logo design.
- You should love the style of logo’s they design. If you’re not vibing their style then they just aren’t for you.
- Are their brands professional and finessed? All edges are neat and joined.
- Are their brands unique and memorable? Not on stock sites!
THINGS TO AVOID
- Sites like Fivvr and 99 Designs. They can leave you with something that is not tailored to you and not unique
- Trying to save money by cutting corners. Your brand is essentially selling your product so spend now to reap the rewards later
- Designing it yourself. When you brief a designer, yes give them ideas but let them do the research and figure out the best personality for your brand based on your brief
- Don’t give enough of a brief. Make sure you’re briefing any designer thoroughly so they understand who you’re selling to
Step Four
Developing. your visual brand identity
Once you find a designer you’ll want to brief in your project to them. The thing is there are varying levels of brands that can be created, I highly suggest finding someone that will give you a brand identity, this is an outline of all the design elements that make up a brand as well as the logo. When they develop your brand identity they should always include mockups of your logo and branding on different applications which show “graphic application”, (which is how the graphics that support the logo are used) the font usage, brand messaging if you’ve supplied this. A designer generally won’t write the copy for you as this is another task for a copywriter.
A lot of time goes into creating a strong brand that doesn’t exist already, so respect the process and I can guarantee you 5 years down the track, when you’ve solidified your place in the market you will be thankful that you invested money upfront to get it right. To re-do your branding a few years into business will set you back massively.
Step Five
Keep your brand running like clockwork.
Ok this is the end, I promise. I know it’s a lot to take in but by following the process and not skipping ahead you will have a solid brand by the end.
This step relies on your continued dedication to your brand to keep it strong and consistent, don’t skip nurturing your brand voice. This means any newsletters, emails or social posts you send out, keep referring to your tone of voice and ideal customer and talk directly to them. This will seriously make your marketing much more targeted but not only that it will get people buying into your brand as well as your product and start to think of your brand as a consistent thing in their life. Very important right now!
If you can, use a graphic designer on an on-going bases to build you new brand assets, advertising and anything that needs the finesse of a skilled designer. I understand not everyone has this budget, in which case Canva is a life saver if you don’t have the Adobe suite of programs. Utilise the style guide your designer “should” have supplied you to keep colours and fonts consistent.
We’d love to help you develop a rounded brand, get in touch to have a chat with us