November 2023


Regardless of the nature of your business, without a strong and purposeful brand identity, things are going to get pretty messy, pretty quick.

From underbaked to completely unusable visual branding, we’ve seen and fixed many brand identity disasters.

In this article, we explore what brand identity is, what brand blunders we’ve encountered and how they might occur, and we give an overview of what a good brand identity should look like.

What is a brand identity?

A brand identity is more than a logo. A brand identity is a complete system that encapsulates all aspects of your brand and the way it presents itself to the market.

A brand identity includes the logo, the visual language, brand guidelines, and the brand’s strategic intent and delivery, including the tone of voice, which is expressed through written, motion, and visual methods.

At BrandOps, we have encountered an alarming amount of brand identities that simply miss the mark. There have been many reasons for this.

Let’s explore how brand identity failures show up and how we might avoid them.

Top 10 brand identity fails

1. A one-pager trying to pass as ‘brand guidelines’.
2. Absence of visual language beyond fonts, colours, and a logo.
3. Untested and unrefined visual language.
4. Logos purchased from a stock library.
5. Logos without landscape, portrait, reversed, and mono versions.
6. Lack of a digital avatar.
7. Lack of quality fonts, e.g. only offering Microsoft fonts.
8. Overabundance of different font families.
9. Colours that don’t align with colour psychology rules, brand intent, or the business sector.
10. Brand identity without a brand strategy.

How to purchase a dreadful visual brand identity

Ignorance is bliss
‍Failing to educate yourself on what to expect when procuring branding services can leave you exposed. We would advise caution if you are paying for a brand identity that doesn’t include the full breadth of brand expectations (explained below).

Not seeing the value in paying for design or strategy work
‍These are often the customers who need to redo their brand identity. Enough said.

Skimping on costs
‍You will definitely get what you pay for. And there are consequences for your brand with this approach.

Engaging inexperienced brand designers
‍Engaging the wrong type of designer often results in brand identity failures that inevitably require the work to be redone.

Logo, fonts, colours – that’s all I need, right?
‍WRONG. Read the section below.
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What a good brand identity looks like

A complete brand identity should include:

• Brand strategy
• Logos
• Visual language
• Brand guidelines.

Brand strategy
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‍Brand strategy should include the following:

• Mission and Vision Statements
• Competitor Analysis
• Brand Positioning Statement
• Elevator Pitch
• Brand Tone and Temperament (Tone of Voice)
• Brand Promise
• Brand Story
• Services specific to your offering
• Audience.

Logos

• When creating logos, designers should not download graphics from stock libraries or mimic existing designs. All design work should stem from unique thought.
• Digital avatars need to be created for use in digital media.
• Portrait and horizontal logo variations need to be created.
• Standard, reversed, and mono versions of all logos need to be created.
• Once finalised, logos should be supplied in RGB, CMYK, and PMS colour modes. All logos should also be supplied in the following file types: Illustrator or EPS file, PNG, JPG, and SVG.

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Visual language

• Visual language is the second-most important aspect of your visual brand after the logo and is derived from the brand concept.
• Visual language includes fonts, colours, graphics, imagery, and sometimes typographic elements. We explore the first three below.
• Graphics

• The graphic component of the visual language should demonstrate the brand concept.
• It is the second-most important aspect of the visual brand behind the logo.
• It communicates the personality, purpose, or intent of the business.

• Fonts

• Font choice is influenced by the brand strategy.
• Up to two design-level font families should be used, from different font categories.
• Up to two Microsoft font families should be used, from different font categories.

• Colours

• Colours should be chosen by tying the strategic approach to the brand and by applying colour psychology.
• Colours should not clash, and be tested, iterated, and refined until aesthetically correct and usable across various media.
• For professional services, it can be useful to have either dedicated colours or a separate colour palette for charts, graphs, and diagrams. This allows for better data differentiation and consumption via the use of high-contrasting colours.

Brand guidelines

Brand guidelines are not a one- or two-page PDF; rather, they should be 10 to 50+ pages in length and capture all the rules and expectations of your visual brand.

Brand guidelines should include:

• Elements of the brand strategy, such as the tone of voice, mission, and vision statements
• The various versions of the logo
• Logo size rules
• Logo clear space rules
• Logo governance (what not to do)
• Digital avatar
• Rules for co-branding
• Colour palette
• Typography
• Graphic elements
• Imagery
• Motion graphics and expectations
• Brand application examples over a cross-section of media types
• Contact details of the company and/or brand manager
• Disclaimer.

Brand identity creation is a process that takes time, care, and intent.

Conclusion

Having resuscitated many brand disasters in the past, we have seen firsthand what going down the wrong brand creation path has cost businesses.

Aside from taking a financial hit, you get one shot at launching a new brand to the market. And the damage that can occur when launching a sub-par brand, only to have to correct course within months, sends unfortunate messages to your clients and competitors.

Do your research.

Know what to expect.

And choose a reputable design firm with experience in brand identity.

Only then will you be steering your brand in the right direction.