take your brand beyond the logo

Why do you need more than just a logo for your business?

In a saturated market, establishing a brand identity that resonates with your target audience and gets you noticed is more crucial than ever.

As a business owner, you’re probably thinking that you need a logo to kick-start your venture, but unsurprisingly, a whole lot more goes into a successful brand. While a logo is undoubtedly a significant component, it's just the tip of the iceberg. Creating a cohesive brand identity goes far beyond a single design element – it's about creating a cohesive visual and emotional experience that captures the essence of your brand.

Here is why a full brand identity is a vital investment for your business's success.

firstly, what goes into a successful brand identity?

A brand identity is a comprehensive set of visual elements that work together to create a consistent and recognisable brand image. It encompasses a range of design elements that extend beyond the logo, including:

Logo: The element most people recognise as part of a business and brand. This is a key aspect of your brand as it is one element your customers will start to recognise, the more they see it.

Logo Variations: This one is an element that businesses overlook, but any good design studio will explain why these are crucial for your business. Logo variations are different versions of your logo that are used for various applications. This ensures adaptability across different platforms and media. This would typically include a primary logo, a secondary logo and a brand mark. All of these would then be provided in all colour variations to make sure that your logo stands out on all backgrounds (think images, billboards, dark backgrounds & light).

Colour Palette: A carefully selected range of colours that reflect your brand's personality and evoke specific emotions in your audience are crucial for your brand identity. This will become a very distinctive element of your branding - for example, colours evoke emotion which create brand recall (think, Coca-Cola is red, Starbucks is green).

Typography: You can’t do anything in your business without selecting a font, which one do you choose? What works for your business? Choosing fonts that align with your brand's voice and message creates a consistent and readable text style across all communications. A design studio/brand designer is skilled to be able to choose appropriate fonts for your brand, so you don’t have to!

Visual Elements: Additional graphical elements are also needed in most cases, think about beautiful patterns for packaging, or icons for your website that reinforce your brand's identity and add depth to your brand. This adds variability to your assets, think about your website - what imagery is appropriate? Want to break down a big paragraph of text with an infographic? All of these will need to follow a cohesive style that matches your business. As soon as these elements aren’t consistent - your message gets confusing, your target audience aren’t following… unprofessional assets can be a dealbreaker!

Stationery/Collateral: You’ve got a logo, now you need to create a brochure, without all of the elements listed above, how can you do that? Consistent designs for business cards, letterheads, envelopes, pitch decks, brochures and other stationery items that showcase your brand identity in day-to-day communications.

Social Media Assets: Graphics, templates, and imagery for use on social media platforms to maintain a consistent visual presence. This is what makes your business come across as legit to your customers - if you have a cohesive feed that suits the aesthetic of your brand, you’ll be off to a great start! If you also want to utilise ads in your business, these will need to follow suit. Every element of your business needs to connect to each other to give your customers the ultimate brand experience.

Packaging Design: Design concepts for packaging materials that effectively convey your brand's personality and make a lasting impression on customers. Remember, this is potentially the first physical element of your brand that a potential customer will come across. You have to have well designed packaging that ensures they pick up your product from the shelf over your competitors! If all of the above hasn’t been determined, what font do you use for the information, what colour should the packaging be?

why does all of this matter so much?

Consistency Builds Trust: A cohesive brand identity ensures that your brand looks and feels the same across all touchpoints. Consistency breeds familiarity, which in turn fosters trust and credibility among your audience.

Memorability and Recognition: When customers encounter your brand across different platforms and media, a consistent identity reinforces your presence and makes your brand more memorable and recognisable.

Professionalism and Perception: A well-crafted brand identity demonstrates professionalism and attention to detail, enhancing the perceived value of your products or services. If you want to charge premium prices, you need a premium brand.

Effective Communication: A cohesive brand identity provides a visual language that helps you communicate your brand's values, mission, and personality more effectively to your target audience.

Differentiation in a Crowded Market: In a saturated marketplace, a distinctive and consistent brand identity sets you apart from competitors and helps you stand out in the minds of your customers.

Sounds like the dream right?

I’m sold, how do I get one?

Crafting a cohesive brand identity requires a deep understanding of your brand's essence, values, and target audience. Here are some considerations that we will make to bring your vision to life:

Define Your Brand: We will have a chat and work out what your brand's mission, values, and unique selling points are. This foundational step guides all design decisions aka how your brand will look ensuring it’s perceived appropriately by your target audience (spoiler: it’s not just a selection of pretty colours and images).

Research Your Audience: Researching your audience is key to understand their preferences, aspirations, and pain points - We want to make sure your brand resonates with them.

Visual Elements: Once the research and strategy elements have been put together, then we move onto your visual elements of creating a logo, colour palette, typography, and other elements that reflect your brand's personality.

Application and Adaptation: Once we’ve created your assets, it’s important that when we hand them over to you, you can continue to convey your brand in the right way, consistently. We develop extensive guidelines for how these elements should be applied across various platforms, ensuring consistency and adaptability. Think of this as a bible that covers everything that your brand encompasses. This means you have the confidence to execute your brand to it’s new standard! Amazing!

I want this!

A cohesive brand identity is a powerful asset that sets the tone for your brand's interactions with the world. It goes beyond the logo, creating a seamless and memorable brand experience that builds trust, fosters recognition, and differentiates you from competitors. Investing in a comprehensive brand identity is an investment in your brand's long-term success and the foundation for building meaningful connections with your audience.

Enquire with us to start your brand journey today. Fall in love with your branding as everyone else does too!

Found this blog engaging? Dive into more insights on the benefits of investing in your branding! Check out our related blog on how to achieve icon status for your beauty or wellness business Expand your branding knowledge and stay ahead of the competition.