Why Your Brand Needs More Than Just A Logo
Every once in a while, I get inquiries from new business owners who say they ‘just need a logo’. While a logo is an important element of your visual brand, there are more pieces that work together to build a cohesive brand. This is why as a brand designer, I don’t offer logo design on it’s own. To build a strong, trustworthy brand, you need a brand identity.
What is a brand identity?
Your brand identity is made up of the message and values of your business and the visuals that accurately represent that message. It includes how you want people to feel when they experience and interact with your business. It’s basically the personality of your business.
Brand identity can be broken down into two components:
1. Verbal Identity
Your verbal identity is the strategy and message behind your brand. This is where we talk about your purpose, mission, audience, what you do and why you do it. What your business stands for, how you want people to feel when they experience your brand. Getting clear on your brand strategy is important because it’s what will guide the visuals. This is what will give you a unique, aligned visual brand that will grow with your business.
2. Visual Identity
Your visual identity includes your primary logo, secondary logo, submarks, colors, typography, patterns. These are all of the visual elements that work together to build a cohesive brand. By having a consistent set of colors, fonts, and visual elements, you create a visual language that becomes recognizable to your potential clients. This builds trust, conveys your message, and positions you as an established brand.
As you become more established in your business, you’ll find that there are many items you’ll need to create for your business. These are called brand touchpoints. Brand touchpoints include things like your business cards, website, marketing materials, workbooks, client forms, email newsletters, pdfs, etc.
It’s important that these items all look like they’re coming from the same place. This is where it becomes important to have an established brand identity to build from. If you create a bunch of materials using whatever your favorite new color or font is that day and then just slap your logo on it, your brand is going to look disjointed and probably confusing.
Won’t my brand get boring if I’m always using the same colors and fonts?
When your brand is new it's important to establish the foundation. Think of it like a house. The foundation comes first, it’s the structure and will always remain consistent. The way you decorate the house can change over time. When you have an established foundation, you can experiment with trends, but ultimately you wouldn’t put a super modern sofa in a rustic farmhouse. You create within the constraints of your foundation. Your established brand identity gives you a container to create within, and the visuals can always tie back to your strategy.
A brand identity gives you the foundation to build your brand. A consistent visual brand will build trust and convey your message in a way that you know is aligned with your vision and strategy. Your logo alone can’t do all of that. So while your logo is a key part in your brand identity, it isn’t your brand and it’s just one piece of the puzzle.
If you want to get clear on your brand message in order to create a visual brand that feels aligned, be sure to grab the Brand Clarity Workbook. This will guide you through getting clear on your verbal identity and making sure your visuals match.