When deciding how to brand your business, there are 10 elements of branding design you absolutely MUST have for a consistent brand. Your brand is more than just a logo or a color scheme; it’s the embodiment of your values, personality, and the promise you make to your customers.

In this guide, we’re diving into – and simplifying – the intricate process of designing your brand identity. Here, I’ll offer tools and insights to help you create a brand that your future customers and clients trust.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Brand Philosophy
Brand Voice
Colors
Fonts
Logo
Alternate Logo
Submark
Icon
Elements / Patterns / Textures
Imagery

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Brand Philosophy

Your first step is to identify the brand values your company holds. If you’re a photographer or wedding professional, this is going to look different than if you’re selling beauty products. For a service-based business, you’ll want to answer the following questions:

1. How do you want your customers to feel? (for example: stress-free, joyful, comfortable, confident)
2. What values do you personally hold? (for example: efficient, compassionate, trustworthy, fun)
3. What is the personality of your brand? (for example: elegant, wild, professional, fun, spiritual, whimsical, timeless, trendy)

Brand Voice

If you’re a solopreneur, this is literally just how you talk to clients. Determining your brand voice can be that easy! If you work with a team, how do you, as a whole, talk to clients? Are you casual and conversational? Efficient and professional? Relaxed and witty?

It takes practice to write how you talk. Lots of people are way more formal in writing than they are in real life! To help you build that skill, consider these questions – and maybe even ask your best friend:

1. How casual or formal do I speak? Everyone uses contractions like “can’t” and “isn’t,” but do you speak in a way that’s grammatically correct? Professional even if you’re talking to a friend? Or maybe you’re a free spirit who isn’t afraid to swear at work. Maybe somewhere in between. Start noticing!
2. Do you tend to talk a lot, or do you wait until you have something really important to say?
3. Are there any signature words or phrases you say all the time?
4. What’s the cadence of your speech like? Do you talk a mile a minute? Do you like to pause to think between sentences? Maybe you’re quiet for a long time and then share a well-thought-out something.
5. If you were going to get up on stage without warning and give a 10 minute presentation on literally anything – your work, your knowledge, your hobbies – what topics would you discuss, and how would you share about them? Do you like to share things in a step-by-step format? Would you inspire? Would you share how to apply a big idea to someone’s life?

Brand Colors: The Part of Branding Design That’s Easier Than You Expected

As part of my business coaching business, I also offer branding photography. One of the biggest mistakes I see is when personal brands – brands that revolve around 1-2 people – choose brand colors based on what they think other people will like, based on trends, or even based on color psychology.

While color psychology can absolutely be a powerful marketing tool, this strategy has a pretty big hole in it. If you’re a personal brand, you’re using your face to sell a product or service. And if you’ve chosen brand colors you would never normally wear, that’s bad news for your branding. Either:

A) your branding photos don’t match the rest of your website/social media, or

B) you might end up wearing colors that look bad on you.

I don’t like either of those options for you. On the other hand, if your brand colors happen to also be some of your favorite colors to wear, everything gets 10x easier! Not only is your branding design more visually appealing, but you don’t have to think as much about what you’ll wear to show up on social media. It’s totally natural to stay consistent with your visual brand.

Fonts

Fonts, colors, and photography are the things that define how your visual brand makes people feel, so choosing the right fonts for your brand is important. To make sure everything is consistent from here on out, you’ll want to define your fonts for…

• Heading 1
• Heading 2
• Heading 3
• Heading 4
• Body Text
• Accent Text
• Logo Text

I like to choose one SERIF font (a serif is the extra little lines at the ends of letters, like in Garamond, Georgia, or Times New Roman), one SANS SERIF font (no serifs, e.g. Calibri, Helvetica, or Roboto), and one SCRIPT font (something more decorative).

Logo

Your main logo is the one that fits at the top of your website – usually a rectangle – and includes the full name of your business. You’ve already picked your fonts and colors, so if you’re trying to DIY your branding design, it’s time to head over to Canva and get started! They have tons of templates to get you headed in the right direction.

Alternate Logo: The Optional Branding Design Element

If you have a main logo with a lot of design elements, you may want to have a simpler one to use sometimes! Your alternate logo exists for times when you want to communicate the name of your business more than the branding of your business. It’s not always necessary to create this one, but it’s a great option for those with extra fancy logos!

Submark

Think of the submark like a detailed stamp or watermark version of your logo. Your submark is a 1:1 logo with the full name of your business that probably fits best on a product, in a corner of your website or business card, or in your email signature. I’d recommend creating a square version of your logo even if you’re not sure you’ll use it!

Icon

Finally, the icon is one of the most important and most overlooked variations of your branding design. The icon will act as your signature. It doesn’t have the full name of your business, but you’ll use it when the name of your business is already visible. It will live in tons of tiny places, like your website favicon and maybe your email signature.

Elements / Patterns / Textures

How do you want people to feel when they see your branding design? Elements, patterns, and textures play a massive role in that! To understand how that works, let’s define what they are first.

Elements: Non-photo images that are used in your branding, like a sketch of a leaf, a stylized heart, a specific shape, or certain style of arrow.

Patterns: Repeating elements, often used as a background in graphics or used on products or product boxes.

Textures: Physical or photographic design with a specific physical quality, like clay, linen, brick, leather, glass, or water.

Deciding up front what elements, patterns, and textures to use will help create a very consistent brand, but it also decides how people will feel. The good news is, there are no real rules here because it’s subjective. The bad news is, there are no real rules here because it’s subjective. The key here is to avoid overwhelming your brand with these extra pieces. Trust your gut and stay consistent!

Imagery

Call me biased, but the photography on your website can make or break the one and only first impression you get with your website visitors. The photos on your page communicate so much to your customers and clients.

Warm photos evoke coziness and nostalgia.

Clean, posed photos evoke professionalism and trust.

Action photos tell a story.

And the right photos can go even deeper, touching on those emotions and results that your brand promises. We’re social critters at our core (even the introverts), so your face says more than we can ever say in our copy. On the flipside, photos might be giving your customers and clients the wrong message.

Blurry, low quality photos can raise a red flag: this is not a professional.

Overly edited photos can create a disconnect between you and your customer.

Fake smiles and unnatural colors can feel, well, fake.

It can be an absolute game changer to get the right photos on your website. It’s so worth the investment! If you’d like to learn about how to work with me, you can read more on this page.

Wrapping Up Your Branding Design

Establishing a strong brand identity involves a lot of different pieces. By carefully considering how you want your customers to feel, aligning your personal values, and defining your brand personality and voice, you lay the foundation for authentic and relatable communication with your audience.

Selecting brand colors and fonts that resonate with your personal style not only enhances visual appeal but also ensures consistency across platforms. Moreover, crafting logos that clearly communicate your brand essence provides recognizable symbols that reinforce brand recognition.

Elements, patterns, and textures further contribute to shaping the emotional response elicited by your brand, while high-quality imagery serves as a powerful tool to convey your message effectively. Ultimately, investing in cohesive branding elements not only enhances your professional image but also fosters trust and connection with your audience, paving the way for long-term success in your business endeavors.

If you’re looking for some more support in your business, you can learn more about how we can work together here!