Brands: Building Blocks Not Limitations

Are you a rebel without a cause? Do you hate following the rules? Then you might also struggle to stay on brand with your business.  Font and color usage can be especially challenging in maintaining brand consistency. If you’re feeling limited, you may be tempted to experiment or switch it up, but diverting from brand standards should only be done intentionally and carefully.

Personally, I’m a rule follower, so I struggle to relate a little to the off-brand separatists. I love having well documented guidelines to use as the building blocks of my designs. I’m of the belief that when you start seeing your brand as limiting, it’s time to revisit. Ask yourself why your brand isn’t working. What elements are causing you to shift? Does your brand need a little facelift, or a complete overhaul? 

Brand guidelines don’t have to be scary or seen as rigid law. It can be fun to expand or stretch your brand to new areas. Updated layouts, templates, type, an on-brand pattern, or one new element can really switch up your visual identity.  

Or maybe an element of your brand is feeling less effective. Perhaps your teams are using a different font. Ask them why. Is your brand font hard to read, not accessible, or missing important characters for language support? 

One of the main benefits of staying on brand is the instilled trust the consistency creates with your customers. Sharing recognizable content that connects the viewer to your brand only strengthens that relationship. 

The word “rebrand” is often jarring and panic inducing. Your brand identity is tied up in so much of your business and it can be a HUGE cost and time investment to consider shifting or starting over. Don’t fret! There are proactive steps you can take to switch up your brand before creating a whole new identity. We love to do a refresh or expansion before going nuclear and suggesting a full new identity. 

Audit your brand

Are you even following brand guidelines? If you don’t have brand guidelines, it might be time to document those standards and unify your visual identity. With guidelines, anyone that touches brand elements can do so in a way that is cohesive and time-saving. These documents help create efficiencies in your business in addition to the consistency. 

Do the fonts, colors, and elements of your brand still align? Are they accessible, readable, and easily applied to multiple applications? Do vendors struggle to have your logo printed because it's too detailed or an incorrect file type? It might be time to revisit or rework these items with a professional.

Each element of your brand should be intentional and support your holistic business goals. 

Refresh your templates

Are you using the same tired template? Switch it up with new, on-brand designs. Try inverting your colors. If your designs are usually light, pull out your darker brand colors and consider a dark mode switch. 

Create more variety with a brand pattern

Patterns are so underrated. You can have multiple patterns that blend with your brand and create variety in the applications. Whether you’re using geometric shapes and pictures to add some pizzazz to dry information or breaking up content sections with visuals, patterns are engaging eye-candy that can make your content pop.

Refresh your photography

We see you out here using the same photography on all of your marketing materials for the last 5+ years. If your photography wasn’t taken this decade, new photos are a great way to give your brand a fresh look. Incorporate tones and shades from your brand colors to really make a statement.

Consider a secondary mark

Often businesses only use one lock up of their logo across various materials. It can be helpful to create a main, vertical, horizontal, stacked, and favicon version of your logo. Your logo needs to work for you, not hinder your workflow. Not all businesses need all of these varieties, but if you’re struggling with your logo, a new lock up could be the solution. Secondary marks can also be a fun way to take an element of your logo and separate it into a stamp, emblem, mascot, or other secondary, complementary mark. It can even be as simple as using a version of your logo without the tag line for variety.

Incorporate unique icons

Custom icons can showcase and create recognition for individual services or different aspects of your brand. 

There are many ways to get creative with your brand without throwing out what you’ve already established. Brands built on strong foundations and guidelines can grow and flourish into complex and unique systems that support your particular and individual business. 

Still unsure of where to start? Consider a brand consultation with us to reinforce your brand identity.