Designing Brands: 7 Principles to Follow

Designing for brands is obviously not the same thing as simply designing the logo or a website for a company. There are many aspects of designing brands that appeal to people. It has to leave an emotional impact on them and increase the brand recall value. The impact should be felt through your cardboard displays for retail, on your billboards, and on your packaging. Here are 7 basic principles that one most follow while designing for a brand.

1. Design Cannot Be Isolated

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Remember that designing cannot be in isolation with branding. Both of these, even if identified as different activities still go hand in hand. Any kind of design about the brand speaks volumes about the brand. There has to be synchronization in the designs that are created for different purposes and there has to be a connection between all of them.

2. Branding Is About Relationships

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Branding has to be forming relationships. Yes, that is what branding is all about. It has to be something that every person from the target audience can relate to. Research says that people stick to brands that they are emotionally attached to. Does your brand do it? Move past the outer covers and touch the emotions of people?

3. Know Thy Brand

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It is important for designers to understand the brand and then create a design that goes well with the essence of the brand. Sometimes it so happens that designers with poor domain knowledge of the brand they design for end up creating designs that throw the wrong messages out. So if you are new to the industry for which you are branding, try to research a little more and have all the right concepts in your mind before you begin.

4. Branding Is Strategy

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If you want to make the branding of your company to be effective and create an impactful branding design, it has to be a strategic decision. Good designers cost money and any decision related to money has to get approvals from senior management of the company. You cannot just wake up one day and make the decision to get your business branded. It takes planning and sustained effort.

5. Ask Questions. Lot’s of them.

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If you are the designer, be ready to ask questions. More questions you ask the better insights you get about the brand. Better understanding of the brand is essential to design that really connects with the essence of the brand.

6. Keep It Simple

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Keep it simple. These days, many technologies are available that if used inappropriately can make the design clumsy. Keep it neat and crisp and straight to the point. It is not necessary to make drastic changes or create something unusual all the time. The simpler it is, greater are the chances of it being relatable and recallable.

7. Embrace Change

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Change for the better. It is not fair to be completely rigid. Google is a perfect example of how to incorporate change while still retaining the essence of the brand.

Having a good branding can boost the business of every brand drastically. It is profitable to do it right for the first time than trying to do it multiple times and not getting it right. So plan, strategize, choose the right designer and sit back and see your brand grow.