Simple ways to strengthen your brand identity using graphic design

There’s a lot that goes into establishing a brand – from the business name and logo to printed collateral, a website, and social media pages. When building your brand, it’s important to keep in mind that every touchpoint leaves an impression in the minds of the audience reached, whether good or bad.

So how can you use graphic design to help ensure that your brand leaves the best first – and lasting – impression?

Just as your message helps to define your brand, the look and feel you develop for your brand are just as essential and serve to support and enhance your messaging. Graphic design allows you to bring the words to life and create greater clarity and meaning.

Ask yourself these questions:

Does your logo support and complement your brand?
Do you have the right file formats?
Are your colors consistent?
Is it easy to share files with contractors?
Do you have a system for creating social media assets?

After answering these questions, consider what areas of your brand may need a refresh – your logo, brand font, color palette, website design, or other elements.

A visual brand is crucial!

A business’s visual brand is a crucial aspect of its overall brand identity and has a significant impact on how the company is perceived. Here are some reasons why a business’s visual brand matters:

Recognition: A strong visual brand can help customers easily identify a business and its products or services, creating an enduring impression and establishing brand recognition.
Trust: A visually appealing brand can help build trust with customers, as a well-designed brand often conveys professionalism, competence, and attention to detail.
Differentiation: A unique and consistent visual brand can set a business apart from its competitors, helping it to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Emotional connection: Visual elements, such as images and graphics, can evoke emotions in people and create a stronger connection with the brand. This can increase customer loyalty and drive repeat business.

Create digital assets to leverage

A graphic identity system encompasses a wide range of visual assets, and when crafted well, it can simplify future branding and graphic creation. Your logo is an important part of your business, but it’s just the start of building a system that can really back up your brand message and value.

By creating a suite of digital assets, you can easily produce new collateral and resources to support your brand that share a unified look and feel, thereby ensuring consistency and reinforcing brand awareness. This suite can include:

Logos
Icons
Original images
Stock images
Color palettes
Graphics
And more

Establish a visual personality

Laying a foundation for your brand’s visual personality will help establish consistency across different marketing vehicles such as print, web, and social media. This continuity will not only help build brand recognition – it will also save you time, money and stress as you move forward because you won’t have to start from scratch every time you begin a new marketing communication initiative.

As different needs arise, it will be much easier to continue building out a library of digital assets since you’ll have a strong base from which to springboard.

Looking for more ways to evaluate your brand’s look?

Now is a great time to assess in-depth how your brand and messaging are performing for your business. Learn more in our free resource, The Essential Brand Evaluation Guide & Checklist.

This free guide can help you discover if:

Your brand is strong and engaging.
Your brand truly aligns with your organization.
Your messaging is focused and compelling.
Your people know, understand and embrace your brand.
You have identified your key marketing or messaging points.
Your brand and messaging effectively differentiate you from others.
You need a brand refresh or total revamp.

Sharper Creative is here to help

If you need assistance crafting any part of your graphic identity, reach out to a professional, skilled, and resourceful graphic designer with a strong branding background. Sharper Creative would love to help. Simply schedule a call with our team here!