Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Powerful Brand Identity

How to Create a Powerful Brand Identity (A Step-by-Step Guide) 27/03/2020 14)23
How to Create a Powerful Brand

Identity (A Step-by-Step Guide)
by Nate Butler
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What is a brand identity? Is it your logo? Your color palette? Your

infographic style? It’s all that—and more.
Branding pro Marty Neumeier defines a brand identity as “the outward

expression of a brand, including its trademark, name, communications,
and visual appearance.” To us, a brand identity is the sum total of how
your brand looks, feels, and speaks to people. (Sometimes that even
https://www.columnfivemedia.com/how-to-create-a-brand-identity Página 1 de 35
includes how it sounds, tastes, feels, and even smells.)
Ultimately, a brand identity is a way to communicate with the world,

differentiate yourself from your competition, and create a brand
experience that encourages people to engage with you.
Some brands have elevated brand identity to an art (think Apple,

LEGO, or Levi’s), while others have made it their entry into the playing
field (think Warby Parker or Casper). These brand stars succeed
because they know who they are and why they exist—and they use
every aspect of their branding to make sure we know it, too. (Brands
with weak identities often struggle because they either don’t know who
they are or struggle to communicate it well. Not sure if yours is
working? Here are 9 signs it’s not.)
If you want your brand to succeed and thrive in the future, you need
to build a brand identity that accurately conveys your essence and is
flexible enough to evolve with you. But that doesn’t happen overnight.
It requires deep thinking, a team with strong communication and
design skills, and an intimate understanding of your brand. But it can
be done well, with excellent results—as long as you have the right
guidance. Luckily, you don’t have to go it alone.
How to Build a Brand Identity
To demystify the process for you, we’ve crafted this step-by-step guide
to building a brand identity, focusing specifically on the visual elements
of a brand identity. The process can seem intimidating, but we’ve been
through it many times with our creative partners (and through our own
rebranding), so we know firsthand what mistakes to avoid, and how to
make it easier on everyone.
If your brand is in its early stages or preparing to rebrand and not

sure where to start, follow these tips to move through the process
seamlessly and build a stronger brand identity that sets you up for
success. Ready?
Step 1: Complete Your Brand Strategy
Your brand identity is a tool to help you execute your brand strategy.
Your strategy is a detailed plan that outlines exactly what you’re trying
to achieve and how you’re going to achieve it. Your brand identity,
along with your content strategy, helps you communicate in ways that
will let you achieve those goals.
As such, before you dive into your brand identity, it’s important to have
a fully fleshed out strategy. As we walk through our creative process,
we’ll cover some brand strategy elements, but in this post we’ll be
mostly focusing on the process of designing your brand identity.
To set yourself up for success, it’s important to complete your strategy

and understand your brand’s core values, brand voice, and brand
messaging architecture (aka your positioning, value prop, tagline, and
brand stories), as your visual design will work in tandem with those
elements.
If you don’t have your brand strategy documented (or have never
gone through the exercise), follow our stress-free guide to creating a
brand strategy, and download our free Brand Strategy Toolkit below.
Once you’ve documented your brand strategy—and gotten sign-off from

leadership—you can focus on brand identity.
Step 2: Understand What a Brand Identity Is and What

Makes It Great
A logo and a color palette alone do not make a brand identity. When
designing your identity, you need to create a comprehensive visual
language that can be applied to everything from your website to your
packaging. Depending on your brand, your needs may be more
expansive, but a basic brand identity includes:
○ Logo
○ Colors
○ Typography
○ Design System
○ Photography
○ Illustration
○ Iconography
○ Data visualization
○ Interactive elements
○ Video and motion
○ Web design
That said, just because you design these elements doesn’t mean they’re
effective. A strong brand identity needs to work for everyone, both
your internal team (e.g., brand ambassadors, content creators) and the
people who will interact with it (e.g., customers). As you embark on the
design process, make sure your brand identity is:
○ Distinct: It stands out among competitors and catches

your people’s attention.
○ Memorable: It makes a visual impact. (Consider Apple:
The logo is so memorable they only include the logo—
not their name—on their products.)
○ Scalable and flexible: It can grow and evolve with
the brand.
○ Cohesive: Each piece complements the brand identity.
○ Easy to apply: It’s intuitive and clear for designers to
use.
If any of these elements are missing, it will be challenging for your

brand team to do their job well.
Step 3: Do Your Research
When you begin a branding project, you want to approach each phase
from a philosophical and highly critical standpoint—inspect, poke, and
prod until you get to the core of your brand. Only once you have that
intimate knowledge can you translate it into a visual language.
That means doing a fair amount of research before diving into design.
Yes, this is hands-down the most laborious stage. But it is crucial to
build the foundation upon which your visual language will stand. Here,
your goal is to gather as much information as you can about who
you’re trying to communicate with, who your competition is, and where
your brand currently stands.
First, Create Personas
Your brand identity is the “face” that interacts with the entire world.
Whatever you create should accurately communicate who you are.
However, one common misconception is that a brand identity is
exclusively informed by what your brand wants to present. This isn’t
entirely true. It’s also informed by what your brand’s customers want to
engage with, or are accustomed to interacting with. If your identity
doesn’t resonate with them, it won’t be effective.
This doesn’t necessarily mean your brand’s customers will choose your
logo color; it means that you will make more effective design choices
once you understand their needs, wants, and values. To understand
who you’re trying to reach, try this easy exercise to create personas
that represent your different target segments. These personas identify
both demographic and psychographic information that gives you
insight into who these people are and what drives them.
Beyond your primary audience (customers), you also want to consider

how secondary or tertiary groups might perceive your brand (e.g.,
other brands or potential employees). This information can also
influence your design decisions.
Then , Identify Your Competition
Building a brand identity is all about differentiation: making your brand

visible, relevant, and unique. However, without a firm understanding of
your competitive landscape, it’s easy to blend in. Thus, it’s crucial to
understand not just who your competition is but how your brand
compares, in perception and presentation.
To get a snapshot of the competition, do a thorough competitive

analysis. If you haven’t done one before, here’s a guide to do it. You
can also make a copy of this template to help you document
everything.
As you move through the process, pay special attention to how your
competitors present themselves in terms of common visual elements,
trends, industry-specific visual themes, brand personalities, etc.
For example, we once did competitive research for a brand and found
that all of their competitors used the exact same four colors. This isn’t
uncommon, as many industries tend to gravitate toward the same
visual elements (think Netflix and YouTube’s red color), but it revealed a
great opportunity to differentiate.
One notable example of this: In 2011, video platform Twitch made a

splash with their all-purple branding at a time when their competitors
used bold greens and reds. The color instantly became a hallmark of
their brand. (BTW, the company was so successful it sold to Amazon
for a cool $1 billion in 2014.)
Finally, Take a Look at Your Existing Brand
Whether you’re building your brand identity entirely from scratch or

updating a stale identity, you still need a full assessment of:
○ The current state of your brand’s identity

○ How that brand identity might be crafted or tweaked
to align with your goals going forward
The goal is to understand how your brand is perceived, both internally
and externally. Getting an honest and accurate reflection is the only

way to understand how and where you’re succeeding or how you need
to course correct.
This stage requires a fair amount of research, including conversations

and surveys with:
○ Employees
○ Higher-ups
○ Customers
For your internal team, you should distribute a brand audit survey.
(Here’s how to do one, along with the questions to include.) This survey
is a deep dive into every aspect of your brand, from your values and
personality to logo and positioning. Again, this is why having a fleshed
out brand strategy is so important.
Example: These brand audit survey responses provided valuable insight

for our designers.
This research helps us view the brand from every angle, including our
own outsider perceptions.
Once you’ve completed your brand audit survey, you can use that info
to inform your creative brief. Things to include in your brief:
○ Title
○ Overview
○ Objective/focus
○ Why are you rebranding?
○ Budget
○ Deadline
○ Audience
○ Who they are, how this may have
changed over the years
○ Current customers, ideal new customers
○ Brand perception
○ Brand goal
○ Primary message
○ Value proposition
○ Tone/voice/personality
○ Success metrics
○ Competitors
○ Important insights from past experiences
○ Relevant references or inspiration
Once you have a comprehensive and intimate understanding of your

brand, it’s time to move into design.
Step 4: Build Your Identity
By this time, you have a ton of information to help inform ideation,

between your competitive analysis, customer feedback, brand audit
survey, and brief. At this stage, you want to take that text-based
information and translate it into visual concepts. Luckily, the information

you have is often steeped in emotional language about your brand’s
personality, goals, and values. Now the challenge is to figure out how
to communicate and enhance those sentiments through visuals.
You can tackle this by assembling your team to brainstorm word

clouds. The focus is not to free associate words into other words. The
goal is to bring those words to life. The associations may be abstract,
but it is important to get everything out. For example:
FAST > SWIFT
FAST > CHEETAH > LIGHTNING BOLT > ZEUS
You’ll then select specific elements that elicit the strongest emotional
response, trigger additional imagery, and help you build a visual
playground to go nuts in.
Example: Our team at work for the ESPEN (Expanded Special Project
For Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases) brand identity, a Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation project. .
Logo
A brand identity is an intricate design system. Each element influences

the other, but it starts with your logo. You can go old-school here and
bust out the pencils to free-sketch. As you go through iterations, flesh
out logo mark, core shapes, and complementary imagery—all in black
< B AC K
and white. As you receive feedback and iterate, you want to make sure
that the core imagery is powerful enough to deliver the message on its
own, without the enhancement of color. For more tips on logo design,
check out our guide to designing a logo you love.
Example: Here you can see many iterations of our logo for UCI
Applied Innovation, from the most basic black-and-white sketch to fully
rendered images.
And the final result:
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Colors
Once you have solid visual imagery, you can explore color. Certainly,
emotion plays a huge role in color choice. This is also, as previously
mentioned, a good chance to differentiate.
A good color palette is clean and flexible, supplying designers enough

choices to be creative but not enough to overwhelm. This includes:
○ 1 main color
○ 2 primary colors
○ 3-5 complementary colors
○ 2 accent colors
For more on building a powerful visual identity (including what research

says about color use), see our best science-based tips to build an
unforgettable brand identity.
Example: Color palettes from the Visage brand identity.
Typography
Every stage has its own unique challenges, but typography can be
tricky in a visual language. Brands often follow trends (serif vs. non-
serif) that are hot for a second but can quickly become dated or
appear unoriginal. Remember, that your brand identity is a cohesive
language.
Therefore, typography should be informed by the shapes of your logo.

You’d think it’s a simple choice, but typography is just as emotional as
anything else. It needs to communicate the brand persona
effectively. Limit the number of font families to 2-3. This generally
includes a primary brand typeface, then secondary typeface(s) for
specific purposes based on where it will be used, such as a body copy
typeface, UI typeface, etc.
For a deeper dive into choosing typography (including whether or not

to license fonts), see our guide to choosing the best typography for
your brand.
Example: Typography guidelines from the Visage brand identity.
Design System
This is often a weak point in visual languages. Brands think that

because they have their logo, color, and fonts they can slap them
together any which way. Since brand identity is all about introducing
yourself to people, it’s important to make it an enjoyable experience. In
information design, that means providing a truly consistent and
cohesive presentation.
The goal is to design an intuitive hierarchy and layout that makes it

easy to navigate visual communication. Consider the proper order of
content, including headers, subheaders, body copy, images, blurbs, etc.
Example: Hierarchy guidelines from the Avalere Health brand identity.
Photography
Consider the type of imagery you’ll use, as well as the visual

treatments. Include guidance on filters, treatments, sizing, etc.
Example: Photo guidelines from the Visage brand identity.
Illustration
When it comes to illustration, you need a cohesive and uniform

language. Don’t over-illustrate or use clashing styles. Instead, think of
how your illustration will be used in conjunction with other visual
elements.
Example: Illustrations from the Civ.works brand identity.
Iconography
Good iconography is influenced not just by the creative visual

language but by the applications for the work. It depends on what
your product or service is, the industry, and the medium (e.g., web-only
vs. UI vs. sales brochures).
Example: Iconography guidelines from the Avalere Health brand

identity.
Data Visualization
Data should be designed for clarity and comprehension, in addition to

aesthetic appeal. Thus, it’s important to design visualizations that
adhere to data visualization best practices. If you aren’t familiar with
this area, check out this comprehensive guide to designing the most
common charts and graphs.
Additional Elements
Again, your brand may have unique communication needs, depending

on your industry, content, etc. Make sure that your design:
○ Interactive elements
○ Motion graphics
○ Video
○ Web design
For more, check out our checklist of everything to include in your visual
identity, featuring additional tips for designing each element.
Step 5: Build Your Brand Style Guide
The only thing more heartbreaking than a poorly designed brand

identity is a beautifully designed identity that is never used or used
incorrectly. A brand style guide is the savior here—if it’s crafted the
right way.
Include clear, easy-to-follow guidelines for every part of the brand

identity, including examples and use-cases. Also include practical detail,
denoting as much information as needed to help your designer
replicate the brand identity successfully. For more direction, follow our
guide to creating a brand style guide people will actually use.
Once completed, make sure guidelines are distributed to the team,

stored in an easy-to-access place, and regularly updated.
Example: The Avalere Health style guide.
Keep Your Brand Identity Strong
Designing a successful brand identity takes a lot of work and

collaboration. To keep your team on the same page and empower
them to do the best job possible, make sure they are:
○ Educated: Find out what brand identity mistakes to

avoid at every stage.
○ Inspired: Check out these 15 examples of brands with
an awesome visual identity.
○ Equipped: Bookmark these 75 tips, tools, and
resources to help your team create a great brand
identity.
And if you’re feeling overwhelmed or don’t have the resources to take

on the project yourself, we’d love to chat about how to help you
through the struggle.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get the best content marketing
tips, tools, and resources.
Email address Hell yeah.
Comments
Add Comment
COMMENTS (59)
Chante'nevi Smith
Invaluable info!! Just at the perfect time. Thanks so much!
Reply
Katy French
Thanks so much! We hope it helps.
Reply
Osorio
great post – very informative – Thanks for Sharing – it was a great help how you broke
each section down … Thanks again
Reply
Katy French
Glad to help! Best of luck on your own branding.
Reply
Stephany ben
Great post! Developing a strong brand strategy enables you to identify and refine your
core client profiles, then target marketing to the appropriate niche markets. Knowing
your target markets also allows you to hone key messaging that strikes a cord with
their specific needs. When we talk about ‘brand’ we aren’t just talking about your
logo. Your brand is the sum of all your business represents. It’s your logo, tagline,
photography, font, colours, language, and your business’s general vibe. It’s how your
business as a whole is presented to your target market. At Chilli, we are incredibly
invested in building our client’s brands, as this is the ONLY single asset that will carry
it’s worth across platforms and tactics.
Reply
Katy French
Well said, Stephany.
Reply
Donny
What a quality article! Thanks for sharing.
Reply
Katy French
Thanks, Donny. Hope it helps!
Reply
Herries
Great and complete discussion. It guides a good design direction for many new
brands.
Reply
Katy French
Thanks, Herries!
Reply
Marlene
A very informative read.

Thanks a lot Nate
Reply
Katy French
Thanks, Marlene. Hope it helps.
Reply
MARY MAGDALENE
Katy French!!!
This is so perfect. Thanks a lot.
Reply
Katy French
So happy to hear that!
Reply
Sarah
Thank you for this! Such a great place for me to start with my small business.
Reply
Katy French
So happy to hear that, Sarah! Best of luck.
Reply
Creative logo
I truly love this article for the direct yet supportive guide on visual character! Very
straightforward however brimming with astonishing and valuable data. Much obliged!
Feel free to visit here:
Creative Logo Design
Reply
Katy French
Happy to help!
Reply
Simisola Omotoso
This was very detailed and informational. Now, I couldn’t wait to get started on this.
Reply
Katy French
Good luck on it!
Reply
joshua ibemgbo
What an intriguing read. Amazing content for a Graphic designer looking to initiate a
brand identity. Thank you
Reply
Katy French
Thanks so much, Joshua. We do our best
Reply
Deepa Joshi
Thank you so much for this, simple and concise.
Deepa Joshi
Reply
Katy French
Thanks, Deepa! Glad it brings some clarity.
Reply
william
Well done.
What a great read – thanks for making it clear and simple and powerful. I’ve had to try
and explain this so many times and this article has been a huge relief and will also
serve as a great tool for other.
Thanks!
Reply
Katy French
Thanks, William! The same goes for us. (Hence, we decided to get it out there
once and for all.)
Reply
bRUNA
I really appreciate every article on this web page. It helps a lot and it’s written in the
language that anyone can understand. Thanks for your effort and time.
Reply
John
Great post – very useful!!
It rare to find useful articles of such worth.
P.S I have noticed a spelling error within the first paragraph of the Typography section.
Should it be ‘your brand identity…’ instead of ‘you brand identity…’? Sorry. It’s the
designer in me.
Reply
Katy French
Thanks, John! (Typo fixed — we appreciate it.)
Reply
I genuinely love this article for the straightforward but helpful guide on visual identity!
Quite simple but full of amazing and useful information. Thanks!
Reply
Katy French
That’s great to hear. Best of luck on your visual identity.
Reply
benjamín conde
Amazing article! (also the blog aesthetics are perfect)
Reply
Katy French
Thanks so much, Benjamin!
Reply
Kay
Hello Nate & Column5 folks, I represent a tiny (but impactful !!!) Aussie NFP and we
are working with some special young people to create a social food enterprise. We are
starting with purpose and brand development (as you do). This content is so amazing,
I was hoping to gain permission to use it (with due accreditation of course), for
educational purposes only. You can check us out @BigFeedAU on Twitter & Insty to
see how we roll. Our mothership charity is http://www.childrensfoodeducation.org.au,
looking forward to your thoughts.
Reply
Katy French
Hi Kay, Thanks for reaching out. We’ll be in touch.
Reply
Simeon Taiwo
This is a great content. I’ve learned so much. Thanks a great deal for sharing.
Reply
Katy French
Thanks, Simeon. Hope it helps!
Reply
anNa
What an ass! To use someone else’s blog to sell your company services. Great job on
your article, by the way. I always knew there was a lot to branding (much more than I’d
care to do), but you guys mad so many of the parts easy to comprehend. Thank you
for the step-by-step. And, I’ve bookmarked you guys. I can’t wait to work with you.
Reply
Katy French
Thanks, Anna. We’d love to chat!
Reply
chris daniells
Great blog. However, I’d like to mention that once your brand identity has been
created, you should always analyze and refine the brand identity accordingly. Track,
target and test new strategies and tactics to know what works best. At Om
Infosolutions, we have a number of clients that have approached us for revamping
their brand identity, which has proven to work really well then.
Reply
Katy French
Absolutely! Thanks for the reminder.
Reply
Tasha
This is a great, very comprehensive and perfect in volume piece of content. Not to
mention it’s providing so much value with only the lightest of implications of selling
the service. Loved it!
Reply
Katy French
Thanks, Tasha. We’re just trying help people build better brands and great
content.
Reply
Wes williams
Very thorough and clear summation.
All I would add is to consider size and simplicity in logo design. A company logo may
be used in ways you can foresee — signs in offices and on letterhead are a given, but
they may also be printed on small give-away items at conventions or as a tiny icon
next to a browser’s URL. The larger or more complicated a logo, the worse it can look
in those situations.
Reply
Katy French
Yes, Wes! Such a great thing to keep in mind.
Reply
effangwa
very resourceful
Reply
Katy French
Glad to help!
Reply
helen Arias
Comprehensive and easy to follow.
Reply
Aayam Agency
Very useful guide to create a power brand identity. Fantastic and informative article. I
appreciate it.
Reply
Chris
is there a way to choose a good color palette? i always find myself stuck when picking
color combinations
Reply
Nate Butler
It’s always good to consider what message you are trying to convey visually, but
if you ever want to chat, we’re here to help.
Reply
Kelly
the images for each step are super helpful. i work visually so they’re always
appreciated
Reply
Nate Butler
Glad to hear you found them helpful!
Reply
Joe
there’s so many things to consider that I’ve never even thought about. there’s a lot I
guess I still need to learn
Reply
Nate Butler
If you need help, we’re always here to chat.
Reply
Tina
thank you for always putting together fantastic guides. they’re invaluable to me
Reply
Nate Butler
Happy to hear that they are useful to you!
Reply
Jeff
this is a great article. i’ll be using this in the future as a quick guide
Reply
Nate Butler
Thanks, Jeff!
Reply
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How to Create a Powerful Brand Identity (A Step-by-Step Guide) 27/03/2020 14)23

How to Create a Powerful Brand

What is a brand identity? Is it your logo? Your color palette? Your

Branding pro Marty Neumeier defines a brand identity as “the outward

includes how it sounds, tastes, feels, and even smells.)

Ultimately, a brand identity is a way to communicate with the world,

Some brands have elevated brand identity to an art (think Apple,

How to Build a Brand Identity

If your brand is in its early stages or preparing to rebrand and not

Step 1: Complete Your Brand Strategy

To set yourself up for success, it’s important to complete your strategy

Once you’ve documented your brand strategy—and gotten sign-oﬀ from

Step 2: Understand What a Brand Identity Is and What

○ Distinct: It stands out among competitors and catches

If any of these elements are missing, it will be challenging for your

Step 3: Do Your Research

First, Create Personas

Beyond your primary audience (customers), you also want to consider

Then , Identify Your Competition

Building a brand identity is all about diﬀerentiation: making your brand

To get a snapshot of the competition, do a thorough competitive

One notable example of this: In 2011, video platform Twitch made a

Finally, Take a Look at Your Existing Brand

Whether you’re building your brand identity entirely from scratch or

○ The current state of your brand’s identity

The goal is to understand how your brand is perceived, both internally

and externally. Getting an honest and accurate reflection is the only

This stage requires a fair amount of research, including conversations

Example: These brand audit survey responses provided valuable insight

Once you have a comprehensive and intimate understanding of your

Step 4: Build Your Identity

By this time, you have a ton of information to help inform ideation,

information and translate it into visual concepts. Luckily, the information

You can tackle this by assembling your team to brainstorm word

FAST > SWIFT

FAST > CHEETAH > LIGHTNING BOLT > ZEUS

A brand identity is an intricate design system. Each element influences

And the final result:

A good color palette is clean and flexible, supplying designers enough

For more on building a powerful visual identity (including what research

Example: Color palettes from the Visage brand identity.

Therefore, typography should be informed by the shapes of your logo.

For a deeper dive into choosing typography (including whether or not

Example: Typography guidelines from the Visage brand identity.

This is often a weak point in visual languages. Brands think that

The goal is to design an intuitive hierarchy and layout that makes it

Example: Hierarchy guidelines from the Avalere Health brand identity.

Consider the type of imagery you’ll use, as well as the visual

Example: Photo guidelines from the Visage brand identity.

When it comes to illustration, you need a cohesive and uniform

Example: Illustrations from the Civ.works brand identity.

Good iconography is influenced not just by the creative visual

Example: Iconography guidelines from the Avalere Health brand

Data should be designed for clarity and comprehension, in addition to

Again, your brand may have unique communication needs, depending

Step 5: Build Your Brand Style Guide

The only thing more heartbreaking than a poorly designed brand

Include clear, easy-to-follow guidelines for every part of the brand

Once completed, make sure guidelines are distributed to the team,

Example: The Avalere Health style guide.

Keep Your Brand Identity Strong

Designing a successful brand identity takes a lot of work and

them to do the best job possible, make sure they are: