Visual Branding
What is visual branding?
Visual branding consists of the visual elements that a company uses repeatedly to present and represent itself. It’s made up of the company logo, colors, typefaces, and other graphic elements to create a recognizable and distinctive brand identity.
“But wait!” you say. “We’ve got a great logo. Isn’t that our brand?” The answer to that is no. A brand is much more than your logo. Your logo is one element of an overarching visual branding system—it’s that entire system that works together to establish a strong and memorable visual identity for your company.
Visual branding communicates the values and personality of the business, and helps to create a lasting impression on customers. And that lasting impression can increase brand recognition and loyalty. When choosing a branding agency, you should look for one that has experience in creating visually appealing and effective brand identities. This includes understanding your brand’s values, mission, and target audience, and developing a visual identity that reflects these elements.
How do you create a visual identity?
A branding agency works with a client to create a visual identity system using a process that involves research, strategy development, and creative work. No client or brand is the same, and so neither is the process for building a company’s visual identity. At TMC, we tailor this approach to each individual client’s needs.
We any employ any or all of the several following steps when working on a visual identity with a client:
- Research.
This step involves conducting research to understand the client’s business, target audience, competition, and industry trends. This research helps to inform the development of the visual identity system, and sheds light on whether a company needs a brand refresh or rebranding. - Brand strategy.
A company’s brand strategy will define the brand’s core values, personality, and positioning. This strategy serves as the foundation for the visual identity system. - Design concepts.
Based on the brand strategy, we develop several design concepts that explore different visual directions for the brand. These concepts typically include logo design, typography, color palette, and other graphical elements. - Refinement.
We work with you to refine the chosen design concept, incorporating feedback and making revisions as needed. - Finalization.
Once the design is finalized, we create a comprehensive visual identity system that includes brand guidelines for using all of the visual elements across the entire brand. - Implementation.
We work with the client to implement the visual identity system across all touchpoints and marketing materials. - Monitoring and updating.
Often a client chooses to continue working with us so we can monitor the implementation of the visual identity system and provide ongoing support to ensure consistency and effectiveness. We can also update the visual identity system as needed to keep it relevant and aligned with your goals and objectives.
Example: Kenton County Public Library
In 2018, The Library approached TMC about a brand refresh. It had been 10 years since the visual brand had been updated. Building off of the Library’s history of the learning tree, TMC developed a new logo and brand guidelines to modernize the Library’s visual identity. Iconography, color utilization, program logos, and patterns were developed and brought into the brand.
An important part of the branding work we do at TMC is ensuring that all features of a new/refreshed brand are reflected in each client’s assets. With this in mind, TMC designers developed a vibrant and versatile newsletter template and variety of flyer templates with a clean, updated, engaging design that will serve the library network and its surrounding communities for years to come.
Why is a visual identity important?
Visual identity is important to a company’s overall brand strategy for several reasons:
What should I look for in a visual branding agency?
A good branding agency should have a team of skilled designers who have deep experience creating visual identity systems. You’ll want to look for a creative team that has a solid background in developing branding systems that reflect a company’s personality and values. They should be able to provide guidance on how to implement the visual identity across all of your communication channels, both print and digital.
In addition, the agency should provide guidance on how to maintain consistency in your visual identity to ensure that the brand is easily recognizable and memorable to customers.
Here are some partners who have entrusted their logo creation and brand development to the experts at TMC:
Still have questions?
We’d be surprised if you didn’t! Let’s talk it through. We’d love to look at the pieces of your marketing puzzle and figure out the best way to successfully build your brand.
