What is Branding Design?

06 Nov What is Branding Design?

If there’s one thing we know as a digital marketing agency, it’s that just having a product and a website isn’t enough. Nowadays businesses need to have a complete package- one whose parts all look, feel, and speak in the same way. They need to have a message. And that message needs to connect with their audience.

This is called branding.

In short, branding is the process of creating a consistent image and voice. One that differentiates your business from its competitors, and stands out in your customers’ minds.  A brand is the combination of everything your business uses- the company name, logo, writing style, visual style, and so much more.

In order to maintain the consistency and integrity of all these elements, designers will create brand guidelines (also known as brand standards, a style guide or a brand book). These guidelines cover all details of the brand, including:

• the vision and voice
• color scheme
• logo: specifications, acceptable variations & uses
• typefaces (fonts)
• examples of the visual style to be used in graphics and/or photography

Why Does a Company Need Brand Guidelines?

Brand Guidelines are intended to give designers a clear outline to follow when creating materials for your business. That way, you don’t have to stick to one designer in order to get the same branded look and feel- anyone you hire for design work can create a similar result (if they know what they’re doing).

To those that haven’t used them, Brand Guidelines can often feel like a cage that limits creativity- but this is not at all the case. A company thrives best when it stays true to its brand; if that visual image strays too far, it can affect the consumer’s perception and damage the integrity of your business.

Take a look at brands like Coca-Cola, with its classic signature logo, red color scheme, and consistent themes that make the consumer feel refreshed and happy. Or with Apple and their clean logo, san-serif typeface, and their simple, clean imagery that builds the perception of high quality, modern, and well designed products. Both of these companies have solid brands that they stick to relentlessly, and as a result they’ve built some of the most loyal customer bases in the modern market.

As a designer myself, I’ve found that Brand Guidelines are the most valuable asset for a business to have. Not only do they save a lot of time in the long-run, but they tell you all about a business in a matter of minutes, giving clear directions on designing for your brand and allowing you to brand.

To see examples of branding design in action, here are some of my favorite brand guidelines:

Fawkes FX is a creative digital design studio specializing in branding, responsive websites, graphics, animations and photography. We work closely with our partners to build and solidify their brand across all mediums, so they can see better results from all of their marketing efforts. If you’d like more information about our branding design services, or anything else that we offer, feel free to get a hold of us on our website or at (971) 888-7576.