Branding for Designers: Things You Need to Know

Branding is always a very misunderstood word. People have very different ideas to define branding. Many people think that a logo is a brand.

Well, if you also think the same then I must tell you, a logo is not a brand. A logo is to identify, not to describe.

So, what exactly is a brand?

A brand is a promise, a big idea, and a reputation. A brand can create emotional connections, and emotions can be good or bad. People respond to the brand with loyalty or simply reject them.

Now, many of them will still have a question in their mind that why can’t we consider logos and visuals as a brand?

So, let me tell you that through an example: Suppose a company has very good visuals and a perfect logo which communicates about the brand. But, when the customer interacts with their customer support agent, they behave or talk rudely with the end-users. And as such the end-user has a negative experience with that brand.

In this case, do you think a good design or good visuals can make his/her experience positive, by any chance?

No, right!

So, a brand is a mix of multiple components. And all the components are of utmost importance.

Components of a Great Brand

A brand comprises of various components and they are:

Website Design

It is actually the very first thing people look at while checking out a brand. It can make or break your business because website design always helps to make the first impression.

Logo

Logos basically help to identify a brand. It helps the people to recognize and so it should be easy to remember.

Colors

A brand’s color palette helps to build a successful company identity. It also helps to be consistent in designs.

Tone & Voice

The tone and voice basically helps to express the brand’s vision and ideas, about the beliefs and person behind them.

Visuals & Images

Visuals and images play a vital role in branding as they are considered as a very powerful form of communication. This is so because without saying a word, an image holds the power to communicate a lot to all the consumers. So, one should always use images that speak louder than the words.

Products

The products with a good branding on them helps to stand out amongst all the competitors. A good reputed brand helps to attract consumers because of it’s loyalty.

Reputation

This basically means that how your brand is getting perceived or viewed by your consumers or the end users. The brand should be active on digital media as well as via offline media to build a good reputation.

Expectations

Every brand promises some or the other thing to their consumers and that’s where the expectations come into the picture. A brand should always fulfil their promises so as to meet the expectations of their end-users.

Customer Service

It is both used as to attract and retain the customers. It helps a lot to build brand loyalty and trust. This component is very important for the brand, because even if your products are great but you lack in your customer service and support, your customers will gradually lose their interest.

By combining all the above components, a brand is made. And a good brand stands out amongst all. All these components help build trust for a brand. And this trust helps make customers loyal to their brand.

It’s very difficult to maintain a good brand image because it is dependent on various things as mentioned before in the article. A brand’s emotion can never be neutral. Because a single mistake can decline your brand image and so a person always have either a positive emotion towards a brand or negative.

Designer’s Role in Branding

The very first thing for a designer is to understand the big idea of the client’s brand. One should understand what the client wants to communicate to the people. You should always consider the whole picture.

A clear message should be provided by the client to the designer, but, in case, if the client is not able to make you understand that, it’s the designer’s job to ask multiple questions about the client’s brand so as to understand the emotion and vision of the brand. This will only help a designer to communicate a clear message from the visuals and designs.

A designer should have frequent communication with the client which is basically called collaborating. Working with client makes the job easier. But, one should always remember that clients are not designers. So, a designer should always deal with the client with patience.

Also, the designer should always take care of the brand consistency while designing the different marketing collaterals, etc. Be it poster, a Facebook post or a blog banner, all of them should be consistent in terms of design. As it helps to make the audience’s experience smooth and positive.