If you’re looking to grow your business and establish a credible brand, you’ll definitely want to take a look at this recap of our Lunch & Learn session on visual branding. The way your business presents itself in your marketplace matters. A strong visual brand is often the difference between consumers being able to recognise (and recall!) your business, or simply fading into the background as one of many options in your industry.
In this webinar, Jon is joined by our Head of Creative, Sam, as they chat about the importance of a strong visual identity, how to intentionally craft one for your business, when your brand might need a refresh, and how to execute this effectively. Sam also shares some insider insights into our own recent brand refresh! Check out the replay below.
At Five by Five, we’re all about helping you share your magic through great looking, high performing websites. Whether you’re a new business in need of a wow-worthy digital launch, or an established business looking to refresh and replace your old site, we have the know-how and dedication to make it happen. Contact us today to get started.
Why visual identity matters for your business
Your business’s visual identity (or appearance) is one part of your overall brand strategy, encompassing your logo, colour palette, font choice and typography, image style, graphics and brand icons, etc. It’s how your business shows up in the world so that it resonates with your target audience.
A well-crafted visual identity helps to:
- Make your brand easily recognisable
- Appear more professional and reliable
- Convey your brand’s values and promises without words
- Distinguish your brand from its competitors
- Enhance consumer recall and recognition (which directly influences purchase decisions!)
Jon highlights that colour alone improves brand recognition by 80%, and that presenting your brand in a consistent and uniform way increases brand visibility by as much as 3.5x, and can boost revenue by up to 23%! Those are some pretty mind-blowing stats – it really goes to show just how important the visual element of your brand strategy really is.
Why your brand's visual identity is so important
How to know when your brand needs a refresh
A practical example of the importance of visual Identity
To bring this concept to life, Jon and Sam look at a practical example of how a misaligned visual identity impacts other marketing and operational touch points in your business.
As we started redesigning the website for one of our wonderful long-term clients, Australian Outback Marathon, the initial design drafts didn’t seem to quite resonate with them. It wasn’t until we took a big step back to look at whether their existing visual branding was still aligned with their business’s direction that we collectively saw it no longer represented their business.
The reevaluation led to a simplification and modernisation of their visual branding, which we communicated in a detailed brand style guide. This guide ensures that any external party can represent the brand accurately, maintaining consistency across all forms of media. And now that we’re clear on their refreshed visual identity, and have made sure this is aligned with their business goals and direction, we’re on our way to an awesome website redesign too!
Building and maintaining your visual identity
A strong visual identity is formed by several elements, each contributing to the overall perception of your brand. These include:
Logo: This is the central, visual element that represents your company. A good logo communicates the essence of the brand and is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic, and simple.
Colour palette: Colours can evoke emotions and influence the perception that consumers have of your brand – so much so that they can even drive purchase decisions. It’s important to choose a colour palette that represents the look and feel you want your brand to communicate (eg. if your brand is youthful and energetic, you might choose brighter colours like yellow to symbolise happiness and joy).
Typography: The choice of fonts and how they are used within the brand materials, including headings, body text, and callouts, help establish the character of the brand. Consistency in typography ensures that the brand is easily recognisable and helps to strengthen the overall brand identity.
Imagery: This encompasses the use of photos, illustrations, and any other visual content that supports the brand identity. Consistent imagery helps to create a cohesive brand voice and personality.
Iconography: Icons can be used to communicate quickly with your audience. They should be simple, clear, and aligned with the brand’s overall style.
To maintain your brand identity, Sam recommends creating detailed branding guidelines. Compile all of the elements listed above – your logo and its variations, brand colours, fonts, layout requirements, icons and photo/video style – into one place.
Having a centralised document that outlines how your brand should be communicated is a great resource for you to refer to to ensure you are presenting your brand in an accurate and cohesive manner. You can also share this internally with your team, and to freelancers or external agencies that are working on various aspects of your business, to preserve the integrity of your brand.
Why refresh your brand?
A brand refresh might be necessary for several reasons. One of the most common is simply recognising your brand has an outdated look and no longer align with how you as a business want to show up in the world.
Other triggers for a brand refresh can include changes in your target audience, shifts in your business strategy, or simply the need to stay current and competitive in a fast-evolving market. Refreshing your brand allows you to maintain relevance and continue resonating with your audience without losing the core identity they know and trust.
We talk more about the difference between a rebrand and brand refresh, and how to know which one is right for your business, in this in-depth article.
Executing a brand refresh
Here are Sam’s top tips for effectively executing a visual refresh for your business:
Understand your why: Figure out why you want to refresh your brand—whether it's outdated, needs to attract new customers, or align with changes in your business.
Research and learn: Study your audience, competitors, and industry trends to inform your rebranding decisions.
Get creative: Work with designers to create new brand assets that reflect your strategy and resonate with your audience.
Rollout plan: Plan how and when you'll introduce your refreshed brand across all platforms and materials.
Launch and promote: Launch your refreshed brand with a marketing campaign to generate excitement and awareness.
Download your FREE branding guidelines template
Remember, your visual identity is not just about aesthetics; it’s a powerful strategic tool that, when crafted with intention, will elevate your brand and drive business growth.
To help you get started, we’ve created template for you to define your visual identity and consolidate your branding elements into one centralised document. Download your free template, then simply add your logo, brand colours and brand fonts, and distribute to your team!
