Your brand is one of your company’s greatest assets, reflecting your company values while offering a distinct identity that sets you apart.
Investing in good design is very important, as it has been shown to influence customer perceptions throughout the buying cycle.
Think about famous brands such as Nike and McDonald’s — the iconic tick and golden arches have stood the test of time, remaining recognisable for generations.
But before you start developing a successful brand, you need to analyse your business, audience and market thoroughly from a design perspective.
Here are five factors to consider when designing your brand:
1. Your brand identity
Start by considering what you like about your brand and conversely, what you don’t like about it.
Think about the words you want people to associate with you brand, as well as words you don’t want people to think of.
When it comes to brand image, consider where your brand falls on a scale between the following descriptions:
- Masculine / feminine
- Simple / complex
- Colourful / muted / bold black and white
- Adventurous / conservative
- Approachable / exclusive
- Necessity / luxury
- Fun / serious
- Casual / professional
- Modern / classic
- Rugged / elegant.
2. Your products and services
Obviously, you know what your products and/or services are, however your brand designer may need some help understanding exactly what you offer.
It also helps to consider how your customers engage with your products or services and what makes them unique.
Do you offer products that are budget or quality? Are they competitively priced or sold at a premium? Would you say they are entry-level products or high-end?
The answers to these questions should shape how your brand looks and feels.
3. Your customers and target audience
Your brand should not only reflect your company values, but also connect with your customers and target audiences.
Consider who your current customers are and who your ideal customers would be, taking note of any differences.
Think about the problem that your product or service solves for your customers and what that means in real terms.
Ask yourself what your customers love about your business, product or service, and whether they would recommend you to others.
Don’t forget to ask yourself some hard questions about your brand like: is there anything your customers dislike about your offering?
An example of brand design for Cadre Health Solutions, created by Assemblo.
4. Your market
When thinking about your brand, it helps to consider what your market and your competitors look like.
Consider how your direct competitors appear, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, and study what sets your business apart.
When you’re looking at your competitors, you want to look at how you’re different and how to reflect that in your brand.
Use the process to identify your brand truths, which are facts that you and your customers agree upon about your brand, to inform the direction of your brand.
5. Your design direction
Review what brands you admire and weigh up why you like them, providing your designer any examples of brands or logos that you like.
Make a note of colours, fonts and imagery that you’re fond of, but also stay open minded in case your designer takes a different approach.
It’s also important to flag any brands or logos that you want to avoid, highlighting anything that you don’t want to see in your new brand.
Assemblo’s approach to brand design
The above five factors will provide valuable insights that you should use to develop your next brand.
At Assemblo, these factors are important to our brand design process, helping our designers create winning brands for our clients.
Assemblo is a full-service marketing agency based in Melbourne, combining a range of skills and services to deliver effective marketing campaigns and activities for our clients.
To find out more, give us a call on (03) 9079 2555 or drop us a note via the contact form below.