You may be asking yourself: why would creating a visual identity bring any benefit to your business? After all, that logo that gave you a super job to do already solves your problem.
It is a start, but the truth is that the visual identity goes far beyond the logo, and it can be the differential that makes a consumer choose a product/service or another. Therefore, it is worth understanding what its real meaning is and start applying it in your enterprise.
Do you want to understand why creating a visual identity will boost your business? Then check out this post to learn more.
1. What is the visual identity?
A visual identity is a group of graphic and visual elements representing something, which can be a brand, a service, a product or even the organization as a whole.
2. Elements of a visual identity
The elements may vary from one project to another, but in general, they are colors, typography, patterns, textures, icons, symbols, photographic style, and logo, among others.
If you thought that visual identity was just the logo, don’t worry, this type of confusion is very common because the logo, or graphic brand, is one of the main visual identity elements.
Logo Types
There are three main categories of logos, image, words and a combination of both. See what the types within these categories are:
Graphical representation – Symbol or icon
They are formed by a symbol or graphic icon, in general, representing a real object, making reference to what the company does or its name.
Abstract
These are more conceptual, and they are an abstract representation of your company that makes the audience think about a general perspective of what you want to bring.
Color palette
Colors are very important for the construction of visual identity. Because it is a perceptual element, color has numerous implications in psychology, causing different sensations and influences. Many believe that colors can have a variety of psychological effects on people. Therefore, you must know the meanings of colors to choose a consistent palette with your business objectives.
Typography
Another essential element of the visual identity is typography, also called a font. Its best-known categories are serif typography, sans serif typography, cursive typography, and display typography. The proper choice of the font in conjunction with all the visual identity elements makes it reflect appropriately what you want to communicate.
Image
It can divide the images into two sets: shape and photographic/video style.
Shapes
The main geometric shapes that it can highlight are circle, rectangle, square, triangle, hexagon, star and lines.
Photographic style
Here, it is important to assess what emotion the image must convey, the characteristics, lighting, framing, and filters used.
Why create a visual identity?
Now, you may get clearer what visual identity is, but after all, why should you create one? The most used reason would be a picture is worth than thousands words.
Another reason to think about this investment is the confidence and professionalism you can transmit through a good construction of the visual identity.
Besides, these days we see so many ads. As much as you have good content, product or service, the first thing people will look at is visual. This way, a well-defined visual identity will cause a good first impression. It will still put you ahead of your competitors who have not yet thought about it.
One of the factors that make people use a certain product or service is the feeling of belonging. A well-structured identity generates this feeling in people and creates strong bonds, as they identify with your company and its values. Therefore, it is essential to use the right elements so that all your communication is coherent and converses with your audience.
Where to start creating a visual identity?
In addition to all these components, remember that your visual identity must be created with essentially three factors in mind:
For whom you will speak: the definition of your persona will guide you through the construction of your identity because the choices of colors, fonts and images, for example, will have a much more relationship with the audience you want to reach than that with your tastes.
What are the values of your company that you want to convey: when your values, culture and personality are consolidated, it becomes easier to disseminate and transmit them in a more coherent and unified way.
What benefits can you bring to people: by knowing your products/services well, you can identify whether they are on the same page with your company’s values, and audience and the way it presents itself should reflect all these aspects.
In this way, all this set of factors together will make you reach the right person, with the best communication and at the right time, taking to him exactly what he was looking for.
How to create the visual identity?
When talking about creating a visual identity, a very common question that can arise is: “which program to create a logo should I use?” After all, a good logo design makes all the difference, and has a great impact on cooperate identity.
The tool is not always the most important at the time of creation because you can purchase the most expensive and robust program and still not develop what you need. The ideal is to find an application that is simple and practical and is mainly compatible with your skills and needs.
As not only is Photoshop trusted, but the DesignEvo logo maker could be in help. DesignEvo is a specialist in helping non-designer to create logos in minutes. With more than 10,000 templates, you can easily find one that fits your industry niche and customizes your company values. Best of best, you can preview your logo before downloading for free.
Wrapping up
So, have you convinced yourself?
Thus, it is clear that the development of visual identity is an essential factor for any organization.
When done in a planned and well-structured way, you can bring all these benefits; show all your professionalism in addition to taking your business to the next level.
From now on, you know the basic elements for creating a visual identity. By bringing all these items together, you will be able to communicate in a much more efficient way with your audience.
