3 Branding Basics Every Graphic Designer Should Know

I’ve observed a lot of graphic designers focusing only on making their designs beautiful. Often they forget that every design has a purpose and that is to communicate a message or some information to its target audience effectively.

Different Strokes For Different Folks

I’m not saying that the designs should not be attractive. Of course the logo design, brochure design or packaging needs to look attractive, but ‘attractive design’ is relative.

What graphic art attracts a sophisticated luxury product buyer could look too drab and dull to a flashy teenager. And what instantly catches eyeballs from rural buyer would in all probability be an instant-miss by this chic urban customer. The point is, design keeping in mind the target audience.

Inconsistent brands confuse buyers

Graphic designing is an element of branding. A customer experiences brand through the product or service, that brand’s values, personality and communication among other things. So all forms of visual communication including illustrations, packaging design, point-of-sale, website design, logo design, marketing collateral etc help create a brand identity in the target buyer’s mind. Communicate the brand consistently and clearly at every touch point. It should feel like it derives from one place.

Great design is invisible so that the brand message can shine through

I’ve seen graphic designers over complicate designs to convey marketing messages. The design challenge is to simplify the brand message visually in such a way that the design resonates subconsciously with the audience telling people how they’re supposed to interact with the brand. Highlight the brand and its message, not the design. “Design should never say, ‘Look at me.’ It should always say, ‘Look at this.’” – David Craib

Published by OH! Design Studio – a branding and integrated graphic design firm based in Mumbai, India. From brand strategy to brand activation on online and offline channels, OH! Design Studio provides 360 degree creative services for launching new brands, re-branding and online brand activation & marketing.

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Brand vs. Branding

What is meant by a brand and branding?

In a very narrow sense, brand is the unique name or symbol that identifies the seller of goods or services. But 'brand' is much more than that.

A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. On the other hand, branding is the process of building a brand (reputation). The purpose of branding is to create a pull for the brand in the market so that it resonates strongly with the target customer.

Read more to understand what is a brand and what is branding.

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What is a Brand?

What is your idea about building a brand?

A nice logo, an interesting name and maybe an appealing look and feel- do you think it ends there?

Brand identity is just a part of brand, but it is not everything.

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Then what is a brand?

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People come in contact with a brand in different ways. A prospective client making a new business inquiry interacting with your people is forming a perception about your brand. Your existing customer using your product or service forms some impression about your brand.

• Brand is Perception Just Like Social Perceptions.

Come to think of it- don’t you form impressions about other people based on what they wear , how they talk, their body language, personality, tone of voice, how they think, etc.

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In the same way, every brand has a personality and a tone of voice. A brand can choose how to communicate with their target audience and existing customers, what goals it wants to set, what strategy it wants to follow.

Read More About Target Audience >>

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For example, if your website design is unappealing, looks drab or is filled with dull copy or jargon that your target audience won’t understand easily, it just gives an impression that you don’t care for your site visitors enough to give them information properly or you don't care for their experience.

Take packaging as another example. A good packaging design can create a truly unique brand personality . But this packaging has to really speak to your consumer. If you don't know enough about your consumers, then that loose connect is your brand.

OH! Design Studio recently helped reinvigorate a dairy brand by giving its packaging more personality and identity, something that this client intended to leverage for its branding benefits as a part of packaging redesign exercise.

• Brand is Caring at every level.

A five star hotel’s marketing team which always complies with brand guidelines for all forms of communication does a wonderful job in presenting the hotel brand in a consistent way. But if that hotel’s F&B staff fails to acknowledge their customers who’ve been visiting that property for last 20 years then that’s your brand which doesn’t care much about customers.

• Brand is Reputation

Reputation is important not just for big brands but also for small businesses and for individual service providers.Good reputation wins customer loyalty and leads to them recommending you to others.

• Brand Identity and Design is also an important part of your brand.

You can personify your brand by giving it an identity as well as look and feel. Work with a branding agency which makes an effort to take your brand and communication design consistently across all communication channels- be it website, social media channels, blogs, brochures, packaging, and other marketing collateral which you create for promoting your business.

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If You Have A Business, You Have A Brand.

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Big or small, big corporate house or a one man army- it does not matter. Brand is everything that you, your people and your business does and the way you do it. The question is what type of brand you want to create or let’s say what kind of brand perception you want to build.

You might be interested in: How branding impacts sales?

 

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Getting Started

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Brand perception is influenced by the overall experiences customers have with a brand. Start by defining your brand and work on the brand strategy identifying how, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering your brand messages. This process is called branding.

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Published by OH! Design Studio - a full-service branding agency in India. From brand strategy to brand activation on online and offline channels, OH! Design Studio provides 360 degree creative services for launching new brands, re-branding and online brand activation & marketing.

Read more »