How to turn your ideas into a visually successful brand
I recently sat down with my fellow small biz gal Mel Loy, (founder of Hey Mel Comms. & Training) and we unpacked the psychology of WHY business owners need a strong visual brand. Beyond that, we also discussed about how you can go about creating your own, without the overwhelm. You can listen to the audio here of our quick 20 minute chat, or read on below for a more in depth Q&A transcript - all the gold nuggets of wisdom we didn’t cover on the podcast!
Why is visual branding so important to a business?
I get this comment a lot! “Lisa, why should I give a rip about visual branding in my business? It’s just colours and shapes and a few typefaces. It’s not technically essential like business insurance or enforced by law, like paying taxes.”
However, I tell people - ‘if you’re spending this much time, effort and energy into building a business, you’d want to at least honour it by putting some thought behind representing it well.” - I liken it to creating a visual personality for your business. Your logo and branding visually communicates what you offer at a glance. Potential customers can make a decision if they want to engage with you or not based off what you’re putting out there. And when a brand is the first thing people see when it comes to a business, you want to be putting your best foot forward.
Not only that, branding clearly distinguishes you from your competitors. Say for example, if you were at a trade show and had a stall, instantly you are lumped together with the rest of your potential competitors. At a glance, you’ve got to stand out. And having a consistent brand rolled out across your graphics, business cards, website, social media, in store signage, even right down to the tissue paper you’re gift wrapping or pens you’re using, you’re sending out a strong message - “I know what I offer, I’m highly organised, I’m well thought out - if I’m professional internally within my brand, you can trust me to be professional with you externally, so let’s do business.”
Mel: Why is visual communication so powerful?
Lisa:
It’s so powerful because there’s so much to be said about winning customers over through visuals - there’s so much psychology behind it that people don’t realise.
Nonverbal communication through your branding is essential for building trust and establishing your authority with your consumers.
There’s a theory called the 7-38-55 rule: 7% of all communication is done through verbal communication, whereas the nonverbal component of our daily communication, such as the tonality of our voice and body language, make up 38% and 55% respectively.
As much as you can talk the talk, you gotta look the part too. The more time and effort you invest in polishing the visuals in your brand, the more professional you look. And the more professional you look gives your consumers confidence to trust you and want to do business with you.
Mel: What are some of the common mistakes people make when developing their brand?
Lisa: Being inconsistent with your colour palette, fonts, images, even going further as tone of voice in their copywriting, etc. It may seem insignificant and small, but it goes back to the psychology of if you don’t look put together externally, it gives potential customers less confidence to trust you. Think about it - nobody likes doing business with a company that looks like it’s held together with string, nor do we like doing business with people who are stressed, busy, rushed, apathetic.
Second one is thinking you MUST cram every single element and message into your logo - it will look busy and cluttered. It might look great up close, but once that logo is reprinted in black and white at 3cm high or embroidered at 5cm, you lose so much detail and messaging. A well thought-out brand takes all these elements and messages and spreads them across different parts, like their website, in the tone of voice on Instagram captions, email signatures, what gifts they buy as thank you presents for their clients, etc.
As a designer, what information do you seek to help you create a visual that truly represents a brand?
Because I want to create brands that are authentic and true to the owners, I seek to know the person behind the brand! Often, a small biz usually starts with one or a few extremely passionate people, which means there’s a lot of authentic heart and personality that I draw inspiration from.
I like seeing what makes them tick - what are their core values, things they like/dislike, what kind of lifestyle they lead, are they fun, playful or more professional and corporate etc. And from there I associate their traits with colours, fonts, visuals.
What are your top five tips for creating and using branding?
1. Keep your logo simple, and your brand full of personality.
2. If you don’t have design skills, don’t be afraid to use free online resources like Canva and Pinterest to help with generating inspiration and ideas.
3. Research your target audience and learn how you can capture their eyes on your brand and talk their language.
4. Once you have a refined style guide, STICK TO IT!
5. Rebrand as needed to keep up with where your business is heading and to keep up with the times.
Over the years, as your business evolves, so does your brand. Major brands have all tweaked their logos over the years to keep up with the times - and you can see they all shift and transition. Think about Instagram or X (formally Twitter) - everyone hated when they rebranded but we’re all used to it now.
If people don't yet have the funds to pay a designer to create their brand, where could they start?
Brainstorm ideas - Pinterest is great for moodboards to gain the look and feel of where you want to go.
Refine ideas and pick out the visuals you really want to get across, and where
Finalise your font & colour palette choices
Create a basic logo in Canva if you’re feeling confident. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming or complicated, and you have full permission to use those free resources! Like I mentioned before, Canva is amazing! not a dirty word! And designers act like it is which is really sad. It’s a fantastic vehicle to do the small to medium jobs, but hire a designer for the more in-depth tasks like vectorising your logo, icons, background patterns, style guides, etc. Alternatively, if you’re not feeling confident with any of this, it’s best to hire a designer (hello, me!!) and go from there.
When it comes to creating a visual brand from scratch, everyone has to start somewhere, and these are great stepping stones to get a brand in place and refine over time. Even if you say “I’m not creative, I’m not computer savvy, I can only draw stick figures.” That’s fine! I got you! If the whole thing freaks you out, and you’d rather pay a professional to look after it, you can book in a free 15 minute chat - simply fill out an enquiry form here :)
