Startup Brand Identity Design Guide

Brand identity and what makes the business unique is the visual identity of the brand and it will separate the business from any person or company in your business.

Brand visual identity is what the audience sees at first glance, and after receiving a product or service, they associate the visual identity with the product or service offered. The product or service offered builds the relationship between startups and the customer and builds customer loyalty and brings your customers to you.

Visual identity design includes logos or brand design, packaging design, website design, social media application or template design, business card design, office set and letterhead design, and even personal clothing design.

Remember that in most cases, logo design alone is not enough, because an organization with all its managerial and executive layers, in addition to a logo, needs a brand with a precise definition, brand identity design, and verbal and visual brand identity. Which include the goals of the organization. So you need to design a brand identity system that will work towards influencing the mind of the audience.

 

What is the role of brand identity system?

The role of the brand identity system is to appeal visually and quickly assign meaning to the audience about what the brand is all about. And that visual appeal is at every touch-point throughout the brand. If they can see the brand, if they can experience the brand visually, that’s part of the identity system.

In order for a brand identity system to play its role effectively, it needs to communicate certain characteristics. And those characteristics are key, they are determined within the brand strategy itself as to how the brand is going to appeal and resonate with that audience. And those characteristics then influence the brand system and all of the elements within it.

 

Here we have a startup brand identity design guide and its elements:

• Logo

The logo is a visual element of your brand identity. It’s used on your brand website, packaging, all social media, etc.

The word logo has become synonymous with the word brand, to the point that a lot of people who don’t know too much about branding believe that a logo is a brand.

The logo plays a very important role in creating your brand identity, but it is not the only important parameter, but a very important one.

So with everything being said, there are certain characteristics that a goof logo needs to have, these characteristics are:

• Simplicity
• Being different
• Flexibility and versatility
• Proportion and appropriateness
• Being purposeful
• memorability
• not belonging to a specific time
• uniqueness

• typography

Typography may seem like a simple component of a brand’s overall identity, but finding a brand-appropriate font that can convey what you want to say is difficult. It plays a really important role in setting the style of the brand.

Each font has its own unique characteristics and features, even as an amateur, you may find that there are many fonts, from which you can choose the right one for your brand. Another way to use the right typography for your business is to customize it. You can order a typographic design from a typographer. It’s recommended for startup businesses to have customized typography designed.

Here are some of the most important things you need to consider while choosing typography:

• Use two or three fonts for a cohesive look: one for the screen font, and one or two fonts for the article.
• Make sure the fonts you select are easy to read.
• Choose a font that fits your audience.
• Do not try to use common fonts and stereotypes that all businesses use.

 

• Color palette

Visual elements play an important role in conveying meanings and emotions, and color plays an important role in these elements. The color palette sets the mood for your brand because color has the ability to influence our mood because of our primitive relationship with color (our relationship with nature). We assign meaning to things based on their color. So there are some psychological connotations when it comes to color, so it’s very important that we use that wisely and strategically.

For example, we all know that green is a symbol of freshness and growth, and businesses use green to showcase new products. Red is also known as a symbol of urgency, passion, and excitement.

The colors you use in your brand should reflect the purpose of your brand. These unique and memorable color palettes can inspire you and help you build your way up.

• Patters

Patters can be used very effectively throughout a brand identity system. They can be used in a variety of different environments. They provide texture, allow you to fill blank spaces, and can be used to read the brand experience as a whole.

They are a flexible tool for brands to use throughout the brand identity system, and it can be very effective in helping your audience to recall your brand.

For example when you see someone walking with a Versace bag in their hand, even if you don’t see the logo, you’ll know that’s a Versace bag because of the pattern.

As a startup, you need to think about what your brand is and what it represents. Share that with a designer and they will create a suitable pattern for your brand.

 

• Image/photography style

Imagery is a very good way to engage your audience, as it has the ability to set your brand’s picture and evoke the emotion of your audience.

Humans process visual content better and faster than written ones, and visual content stays in memory longer than textual content. Therefore, a collection of attractive and quality images in order to attract potential customers is very important and vital.

If you have a big budget you can get a professional photographer to create a new image style for your brand. But even without a big budget, the right designer can help you to come up with an image style that is aligned with your brand strategy, characteristics, and the emotions you want your audience to feel.

 

• Graphics and iconography

Graphics and iconography are one of the most flexible tools within the brand identity system, because you can use them anywhere you want (website, packaging, business card, etc). Where there is visual engagement, is a place that you can use graphics or iconography.

All of this contributes to the overall brand experience. Using icons to better express concepts is one of the essential ideas, but since the audience’s attention is easily distracted from the brand marketing content, businesses should look for ways to attract and retain the audience’s attention. If the graphics and iconography are used properly, the audience will be attracted to the brand in a professional and sustainable way.

 

• Illustrations

Illustrations are images with a cohesive mood and style. They are a visual way to portray or illustrate a written text. There are brands that will either go with a unique image style or unique illustration style, but there aren’t many brands that use both.

You need to consider what image your audience should have about your brand and if illustrations align with that image. If they do, use illustrations within your brand identity design.

 

• Grid style

Grid style allows you to have consistency in the information you’re displaying across all platforms. If there is no cohesiveness or consistency to how the information is displayed, then everything will seem kind of messy and all over the place.

You can use grid styles in your social media accounts, like Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook, etc. This helps your viewers predict the location of different information and read your content more easily. This will make your audience get used to your content and make it look comfortable to them, which helps branding.

 

• Motion and animation

Brands are evolving and we’re experiencing them in many different ways. If you think about ways we encounter different brands, you will see that there are many opportunities for a brand to have animations in there, to add to the overall brand experience.

Motion graphics are created by graphic programs. The effect of motion graphics on branding is way more than other advertising methods because it is a combination of graphic design, animation, and the science of using designed elements, which is finally combined with music and related sound effects.

The influence of color, form, texture, movement, etc, can engrave your brand in the audience’s memory and record the color palette, logo, typography, and other elements of the brand in the viewer’s mind more permanently.

 

Conclusion

Ultimately, visual identity is what sets you apart from the endless sea of competitors, telling your customers “who you are” and what they should expect from you. Try to match your brands’ visual design face with the brand identity you have defined. Think about what you want your brand to look like and to feel like to your audience.

If you want to make a positive difference to your target community, you need to design your brand identity design as carefully as possible.