Everything You Need to Know About the Power of Visual Branding

When a customer sees a logo, it should be more than just a design. The logo, the font, and all the other visuals create what we know as a visual identity for your business.

Your purpose is to incorporate the right elements to leave a great first impression, and this is the power of visual branding. So, what is visual branding? How can it help your business? What are its elements? Keep reading to find the answers to your questions.

What is Visual Branding?

As the name suggests, a visual brand involves creating a brand for your business using visual elements. It includes everything from your logo design, the colors used on billboards, your website theme, and the font used in business cards to tell your customers more about your brand.

All these elements are incorporated together to send your business’s message. Several factors should influence your decision while trying to create a visual identity for your business.

Your industry and target market
Your unique selling proposition that sets you apart from competitors
The products and services you offer and sell

Importance of Visual Branding Strategy

Creating a visual brand for your business is more than just combining some colors and interesting designs. It should be thoughtfully studied to help achieve the target objectives.

In most cases, customers will judge a book by its cover. They’ll walk into a store and make assumptions about the brand based on how it presents itself.

Visual branding is used to achieve five main goals.

It creates a unique identity and personality for your business.
It outshines your competitors and shows why you’re special.
It tells your target audience more about the nature of your business and its operations.
It delivers an emotional impact on your target prospects, eventually transferring them into paying clients.
It serves as a coherent body that combines all the important aspects of your brand.

A well-executed visual branding strategy promises the customer a satisfying experience. In addition, they know that a company that has put so much effort into designing its visual identity will probably put more effort into the quality of the services and products it sells.

how to use visual branding to achieve goals

Famous Examples of Visual Branding

There are several inspiring examples of how a brand can use its visual identity to establish its status in the market.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is one of the most known brands, with its iconic chilled can or trademarked bottle. The colors red and white are easy to notice from a distance and contrast beautifully with the beverage’s darker color. Moreover, these colors have been long associated with Santa Claus and the holiday season, reinforcing the brand’s idea of sharing with your friends and family. The brand uses an older font to signify its history and its authenticity. It also uses different catch phrases like Taste the Feeling and Share a Coke to draw the target audience’s attention to the fact that Coca-Cola is more than just a drink, but a happy experience you can share with others.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s also has one of the most successful visual branding strategies that managed to stand the test of time. The yellow and red color palette is bright, friendly, happy, and can be easily noticed.

This brand focuses on happiness, from the large M capital that features a double smile when inverted to the actual smile it displays on its logo and packaging. In addition, the names of the meals themselves, like the Happy Meal, emphasize the idea of happiness. The brand’s happy characters like Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar are extremely loved by the target audience, children and their families. All the promotions and deals focus on the idea of family, friends, and happiness, reinforcing the brand’s identity.

Elements of Visual Branding

Designing a successful visual branding strategy requires a combination of five key elements. These elements should be mixed and incorporated to send the same message.

1. Logo

The logo design is probably the first thing the target audience will notice about your brand. This is why it’s important to choose the logo wisely. There are seven types of logo designs that you can find in a logo book.

Emblem logo, like Harley Davidson.
Pictorial mark logo, like Apple and Twitter.
Logotype or wordmark, like Coca Cola and Google.
Letter mark logo, like Louis Vuitton.
Abstract logo, like Airbnb and Nike.
Mascot logo, like KFC.
Combination logo, like Burger King and Dove.

2. Font

Using different fonts sends various meanings while showing your brand style. For example, cursive writing signifies elegance and history, while block letters signify stability and reliability. A simple font shows practicality, while an elegant one shows sophistication.

3. Color Palette

Every color has a different meaning you must consider while creating your visual brand. For example, orange signifies energy and friendliness, so it’s used to create the logo of Fanta and Crush. It also connects to the company’s main product, the orange-flavored soda.

4. Graphic Elements

All the patterns, shapes, textures, and icons should be connected and displayed in the same fashion. You should also follow the same color palette used in your logo and font.

5. Images

Finally, the images you include in your visual brand should relate to all the other elements. You can use stock photography or your original pictures, but they should all follow the other rules you applied to the other elements of your visual branding strategy.

How to Design an Outstanding Visual Identity

You need to put a lot of thought into creating your brand’s visual identity. Think about what you want your target audience to first notice when they see your brand’s name, and you can follow these steps.

Articulate what your brand’s personality is all about.
Do your market research to understand the buyers’ persona and your competitors’ approach to creating visual brands.
Gather inspiration regarding the look and the feel of your visual brand.

Let the Experts Help

You don’t want to make any mistakes while designing your visual branding strategy. This is why you need to find a reliable agency that offers high-quality and customized branding services to help you create the brand identity you’ve always dreamed of.

All you have to do is contact us today, and a team of experts will be ready to answer all your questions. Your unique visual identity is only one click away.

Oleksandr Yaremenko CEO at iM4U Digital Marketing Agency

Oleksandr Yaremenko has been a sales and marketing professional since 2007. As a national sales trainer and coach for top management, he has honed his skills in both team management and sales effectiveness. In 2016, he founded his own digital marketing agency, where he applies his experience to help clients achieve their goals.

Oleksandr is a graduate of Ericsson University’s business training program, where he specialized in sales and management. He is known for his ability to effectively develop clients, increasing their annual revenue by 2-4 times through an integrated marketing approach.

20.09.2022

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Oleksandr Yaremenko