Building Your Brand
If you remember, I did a rebranding in September this year. In this post I talked about why I decided to do a full makeover of my brand design. I also promised in that blog post that I would do some more blog posts on the topic of branding for you, so today we're taking a closer look at what branding is... and isn't.
What does "branding" mean?
The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers' mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.
Branding is what makes people think of you. It's not just the visual, but we'll go into that in a minute.
More than a logo
Of course, your logo is part of your branding. It's your symbol, and is generally placed on your marketing material. A logo doesn't have to be complicated or even have an image. In fact, a simple text logo can actually be better.
For my new logo I decided to go with simple text. Depending on the logo you choose you might want to have an alternative logo too. For example I have two.
Logo:
Alternative logo:
The alternative logo is just a simplified version of the logo. This is in case I need a transparent version to use (without the background colouring).
Colour scheme
Whilst your logo is something people will immediately identify with your brand, your colour scheme also plays a role.
This is my main colour palette for my brand:
Using the same colours helps people identify your brand, and gives consistency.
Fonts
I use BEBAS NEUE, Aileron Thin, and Verdana as my main text fonts. Using the same fonts across the board is also a visual part of your branding. Again consistency.
What about the non visual part?
This is the most important part of your brand. This is what people think of when they think of you. What words do people use to describe you, and therefore ultimately, your brand?
What personality adjectives describe you?
adaptable, adorable, agreeable, alert, alluring, ambitious, amusing, boundless, brave, bright, calm, capable, charming, cheerful, coherent, confident, cooperative, courageous, credible,cultured,dashing, dazzling, debonair, decisive, decorous, delightful, determined, diligent, discreet, dynamic, eager, efficient, enchanting, encouraging, enduring, energetic, entertaining, enthusiastic, excellent, excitable, exuberant, fabulous, fair, faithful, fantastic, fearless, frank, friendly, funny, generous, gentle, good, happy, harmonious, helpful, hilarious, honorable, impartial, industrious, instinctive, jolly, joyous, kind, kind-hearted, knowledgeable, likable, lively, lovely, loving, lucky, mature, modern, nice, obedient, painstaking, peaceful, perfect, placid, plausible, pleasant, plucky, productive, protective, proud, punctual, quiet, receptive, reflective, relieved, resolute, responsible, righteous, romantic, sedate, selective, self-assured, sensitive, shrewd, silly, sincere, skillful, splendid, steadfast, stimulating, talented, thoughtful, thrifty, tough, trustworthy, unbiased, unusual, upbeat, vigorous, vivacious, warm, willing, wise, witty, wonderful, zany, zealous.
So when you're thinking about your branding make sure you take into consideration all the above elements to ensure a professional look, and most importantly, more effective branding.
In this post we've looked at branding in general. This is the basic stuff that you can use on your website, blog, marketing materials, etc...
For the authors amongst you, branding can be used for your books too. Maybe you use the same fonts on all your book covers, or a certain style, or elements. For example, author Nicholas Sparks often has an image of a couple almost kissing on his romance covers. Again, using the same fonts across your books can help brand them. I'm happy to change the fonts on any of my available premade book cover designs should you require it. As well as my premades, I also offer custom cover designs too, and so can definitely help you brand your books.
How would you describe your brand? Do you have consistent visual branding? Let me know in the comments below. Also feel free to ask questions. I love a good discussion đŸ˜‰
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