What is branding design — tips and principles
Summary/Overview
What is branding design?
Branding design is how a brand chooses to visually represent itself whether in a physical or digital sense through elements such as colors, fonts, logos, and other design elements. Branding design is an important part of creating a visual identity for a brand and helping it to become recognizable through consistent branding when appearing in spaces such as on billboards or social media.
As well as helping brands to become more memorable, and showcase the personality of the brand, branding design also helps to differentiate a brand from other competitors and leave a lasting impression on their target audience.
Without branding design, it would be so much harder for brands to convey the identity and personality associated with their business, and it would harder for brands to attract and appeal to customers or clients without being able to showcase their unique character.
Branding design core principles
- Consistency: Effective brand design requires consistency. In order to create a recognizable brand identity, there needs to be consistent use of the same design elements across your content. Many businesses create brand design guidelines for exactly this purpose – to document the dos and don’ts of design and ensure consistency across all surfaces.
- Recognition: Recognition is born from consistency but also requires a level of uniqueness and character in your branding to ensure that your brand can be picked apart when in a crowd. Crafting a recognizable brand identity will help you to feel familiar, safe, and memorable when encountered by your target audience over time.
- Trust: Brand design is a powerful tool that can be used to convey your brand personality and identity but moreover, it can be used to build trust with your audience through your use of colors, fonts, and other design elements. Show your audience that you are a reliable and trustworthy brand through your design and the way you choose to present yourself.
- Scalability: It’s important that brand design is scalable, meaning that your branding choices are appropriate for a wide variety of situations and types of imagery. Only then will you be able to unlock the power associated with consistency and build a recognizable brand over time.
The elements of eye-catching branding design
The most eye-catching and memorable content has multiple visual, typographical, and thematic elements working in harmony to tell a story. As you create new social media posts, banners, and digital ads for your brand, think about how all the pieces fit together. The essential elements discussed below should be coordinated and complimentary to each other, coming together to create a brand design that is both fresh and memorable.
Logos and branding design
A well-designed logo grabs attention and helps your brand make a strong first impression. Successful logos are designed with business goals and the psychology of shapes and colors (how they affect us emotionally) in mind.
As you begin conceptualizing your new logo, think about what makes your business unique: you want a logo that is meaningful and visually appealing. It’s best to avoid including too many details or words so that your logo can be resized for larger and smaller designs while still being recognizable.
Another good rule of thumb: your brand logo should contain no more than three colors. Keep it simple, impactful, and symbolic. If you can’t decide on what your logo should look like, try the Adobe Express free logo maker to experiment with dozens of variations of your logo using different styles and color schemes. All you need is your brand or business name to get started with the logo design process.
Branding design color
Second, pick a color palette that reflects your product or services. There are over 15,000 hues to choose from in Adobe Express, powered by Adobe Color, so play around and dip into color theory to see which shades are complimentary, or play with color psychology to learn which colors are associated with certain moods and emotions. For example, did you know that blue connotes tranquility, calm, and intelligence? Or that orange is inherently energetic, playful, and optimistic?
Typography in branding design
Third, consider your brand typography. Design best practices suggest using a maximum of two or three fonts to capture your brand personality. Explore classic serif fonts or decorative scripts, bold block lettering, and sleek minimal types. Before committing, test out different styles and sizes to ensure the text is legible on each design.
Get to know your authentic voice
Finally, make sure the tone of your messaging lines up with your brand mission and values. If you’re sharing important information about products and services in the healthcare, security, legal, or financial industry, you’ll probably want to use a serious, straightforward tone of voice, and a more subdued or traditional color palette.
A social media post or headline that sounds tongue-in-cheek, could easily be confusing or off-putting to customers. On the flip side, ads for pet toys, beauty products, food, or fashion might benefit from more playful, clever messaging. After all, the way you represent your brand is all part of the design.
Tips for branding design
Clarity is key
When it comes down to branding design, clarity should always be a priority. If your fonts are hard to read, your colors lacking in contrast, or your text difficult to understand then your overall message and the impact of your design will be lost.
Be open and adaptable
All of the most successful brands are open to change and feedback. It’s common for brands to update their branding every 7-10 years with minor refreshes in-between to revive their current branding, as well as ensure their brand always has the best impact on their audience. They pivot to ensure that they are in-keeping with design trends and continue to feel modern and fresh against competitors.
Free branding design templates
Don’t worry, you’re not on your own when it comes to branding design – with Adobe Express you have access to thousands of free templates that help you to develop a sense of style and brand identity that fits your business best. Begin by checking out our range of logo design templates, fully customizable and ready to make your own.
