We perceive visual identification as one of the key elements of branding, is the process of building a brand and its image. This tool is necessary to create the company’s image, as well as a way to form a consistent awareness of the company, how it is perceived by potential customers. Properly composed, standardized and consistently applied elements of visual identification create an identity that is considered professional and trustworthy. Learn how visual brand identification can help your business.
Brand visual style – what is it?
Building a brand image is a process that consists of many elements that should be implemented in a long-term and consistent manner since their development. This is, above all, the name, slogan and mission, history, website and social media channels, language of communication, suggestions and opinions. But the element that has a special meaning and unites all the others is the visual identification of the brand.
What is visual identification? It is a system of visual elements, consisting of a trademark (logo), colors and typography, as well as a visual key. These elements must be consistent and reflect the identity of the brand – its history, idea, nature of the industry and its distinctive features from competitors. The main goal is to make it easier for customers to recognize a brand based on its visual presentation on the Internet and beyond. This goal will be achieved if it is unique to be remembered.
Why does visual identification work?
Building a brand is important so that it can arouse the interest of recipients, attract new customers and gain their trust. Nowadays, visual content is an integral part of brand identity. There is a reason why sociologists and psychologists call our society a picture. Visual elements affect recipients on many levels. About 65% of the population learns visually, so we can understand and assimilate visual content faster and easier than textual content. It is these facts that are used in the process of building an image with a coherent and sophisticated visual identification.
Tożsamość korporacyjna– it’s like telling a story without words. Already in 1985, silent films delighted the world with the opening of cinema. A picture without sound, without subtitles – only a visual message evoked emotions and gave the audience an impression. So, it was in the past, so it is today. Concern for the consistency and timeliness of visual brand identification pays off with greater awareness, confidence building or credibility.
It is also worth remembering that we are biologically conditioned in such a way that we judge things first “at first sight”. We attribute negative qualities to a person or company based on first impressions. And it is the professional visual identity of the brand that can guarantee a positive opinion. This evokes the first associations with a particular company and affects its recognizability.
Elements of effective visual identification
The visual style of the brand includes the basic elements because of which specific projects are created. The determining factor in the development of a specific image concept should be the company’s strategy, careful analysis of its needs and target group.
- BRANDBOOK – description and standardization of the logo.
- Visual key – Many graphic elements that are used in all materials published by the company.
- Color – Choose the leading color of your brand, which will be reflected not only in your logo or website, but also in the published content. This will immediately associate the publication with you and make it more accessible.
- Graphics – Try to develop a consistent style of photography and graphic design.
- Video – Visual consistency of video can be achieved not only by cropping and expanding frames, but also by marking the content in them in the same fonts and colors.
- Typography – selection of one or two fonts, their combination, size and ratio with other elements of the visual key.
- Printing industry – printed branded materials, such as: business cards, folders, price lists, forms, envelopes, etc.
- Marketing materials– determining the consistency of visual creations, such as: banners, billboards, posters, brochures, flyers, graphics, infographics, videos.
- Packaging (optional) – boxes, labels, stickers, scotch tape.
- Branded gadgets – pens, business cards, branded candies, gifts.
The visual accents of your brand are important for its recognizability in the minds of recipients. These seemingly insignificant factors, such as color consistency or typography, should be used to stand out from other brands that publish their content on social media and the Internet in general.
What are the functions of visual identification?
The most important functions of visual identification include:
- highlight the brand in the market, emphasizing its uniqueness in various aspects;
- creating associations with the brand;
- formation of brand recognition;
- influence the gaining of trust of recipients;
- destruction of communication barriers;
- raising awareness on social networks, etc.
Internet users are simply bombarded with all sorts of advertising messages, information, visual campaigns and more. As a result, we are dealing with so-called banner blindness, a phenomenon in which our mind somehow ignores the absorption of banner ads and focuses on what we are looking for on a particular page or channel of social networks. As a result, attracting the attention of Internet users has become even more difficult than ever. And even if they interact in response to these messages, they are often not remembered.
To cope with this, the entrepreneur has to use additional marketing and image tools. One of them is professional visual identification, which can subconsciously remember the recipient and make him come back to you when he thinks about products or services in your industry. Why? Thanks to the fact that you managed to stand out from other visually inappropriate messages, you caused specific impressions and emotions, and thus increased your chances in the race for interest and will be remembered as associations with the visual identity of the brand.
Advantages of consistent visual identification
The company’s image plays a huge role in the operation of the business. Visual identification helps recipients, after accessing visually consistent messages several times, to look at the company from a different angle and remember it better. Creating a positive image is a long-term job that requires patience and consistency, which considers all the details and nuances. By taking care of the sequence of visual messages and materials created for the marketing needs of your company, you force potential customers to even unknowingly begin to create a creative image of your company. They will see the sequence of communication in all channels of the brand and recognize it after the creation of messages.
Logo, repetitive graphic patterns, fonts, colors and other components of visual identification increase trust in the brand. The recipient, seeing the website, communicating on social networks or in printed materials that relate to each other, will appreciate the company as modern and attentive to detail. It also gives you more confidence in the quality of the products or services you offer.
In addition, as your business grows and your marketing efforts grow, the demand for projects will grow over time. If you take care of a specific scheme in terms of visual identification, creating additional projects will be much easier and their implementation – more efficient. Companies that have already developed a concept of visual identification are launching new products and services much faster. Thanks to the characteristic symbols, they do not need to be so intensely engaged in advertising to distinguish them from other messages that appear on the Internet.
Visual style of the brand in social networks
When preparing your content for publication, it is worth remembering that most people browse social networks mainly through applications on their mobile phones. Therefore, materials must be prepared precisely in terms of mobility of their reception. Typically, this content is consumed rushing when someone is standing in line, in the waiting room or resting from work. We see social media as a temporary springboard for entertainment. Therefore, the content we present should also appeal to them visually. The form of publications must meet the requirements of the platform on which they are located. In addition, they must match each site of the publication.
Programs that help create visual identification
- Coolors.co – color palette
- Canva.com/font-combinations – font selection
- Thenounproject.com – figures
- Canva.com – Create graphics and short videos
Summing up
The time, effort and money spent on creating a professional strategy and concept of visual identity is an investment that will be very profitable for you. Not only financially, but also strategically. Visual identification is not superfluous. This is an element of brand identity that has a real impact on the functioning of the business. Thanks to him, you will gain recognition according to the recipients, and you will be easier to gain their trust. Your company will be mentioned more often because all its components will appear in many places, and at the same time they will be unique, always appreciated.