4 Steps to a Signature Brand Identity Through Color and Design

Brands with a memorable identity can sell clients on value, innovation, style and authority – all without saying a word.

Strong brands don’t have to sell clients. With top of mind brand awareness already established, they just need to be there when they need them. What business owner doesn’t dream about establishing the same kind of universal brand recognition of icons like Coca Cola®, Starbucks®, Macys® and the like?

Strong brands aren’t just consistent when it comes to branding, they are interesting and memorable, too. And that goes for their use of brand identity design elements as complex as a series of logo images and words, or as simple as coming up with a color that the brand can “own” because clients come to connect it with brand perceptions.

I’ve written before about a simple truth, we all have a favorite color.  And our color preferences bleed over into business decisions, including decisions about color choices for brand identity and interior design. On the one hand, since our reactions to and preferences for certain colors and hues is subjective, there are no wrong answers. On the other hand, given that our businesses serve clients that all come with their own preferences, and sometimes cultural perceptions about colors, there might be.  The Psychology of Color infographic published previously talks about color and cultural significance, and it’s worth a quick review if you are working on updating or defining the brand identity of your business.

4 Visual Brand Identity Signatures in Color and Interior Design

1. Signature Color
2. Reinforced Brand Icons
3. Intentional Brand Atmosphere
4. Well-Aligned Brand Values

Signature Brand Colors

Can color really strengthen a company’s branding efforts? You bet it can. My guess is that many consumers could pick out Starbucks’ signature green, Coca Cola’s rich red, or UPS’s working brown out of a line-up nine times out of ten. In fact, 85% of consumers said that color was a primary influencing factor in a purchasing decision, and color increases brand recognition for eight out of ten people. (From Say Hello to the Consumer Trend Colors for Spring 2015 [Infographic] via dbsquaredinc.)

Brand Icons and Images

Just like color, the images and icons that customers come to associate with a brand strengthen perceptions consciously and subconsciously. Disney’s Cinderella Castle instantly brings the brand to mind, from their movies to their theme park experiences. Depending on styling, you might think of either the Boston Celtics or General Mills’ Lucky Charms cereal any time you see a leprechaun, even though it has nothing to do with either basketball or cereal. Brands that discover and adopt signature imagery need to weave it into their brand imagery; not just in print, but in exterior and interior signage, furnishings, supplies, and other interior design and architectural elements. If you will forgive the pun, it needs to become an inseparable part of the fabric of their design and decor.

Brand Atmosphere

When working with clients on brand identity, I often ask them to describe their brand as if it were a person. Sometimes the way they describe their brand as part of the exercise is not the way they want customers to perceive their brand. In that case, we talk about different ways that they can change the way their brand is presented, so that customers will perceive their brands more favorably. Specifically, we talk about changes they can make that will change the attitude and atmosphere their brand projects.

Interior design can have an incredible impact in this area. In fact, the atmosphere and attitude established through non-verbal design choices has the power to make or break the brand identity of an organization. From metal and concrete that characterizes industrial design, to sterile, sparse color and fixtures that imply the ultra-modern, to playful patterns needed for child-friendly and educational environments, and earthy, natural colors, botanicals, and other organics that help to soothe and calm in health care settings, design choices play a huge role in creating atmosphere and setting customer expectations.

Brand Values

The colors, imagery and materials you choose to set customer expectations and atmosphere in your business, on your website, and in all of your marketing collateral can also communicate your brand’s values. Certain colors and images speak to sustainability. Others imply luxury and opulence, or trustworthiness and transparency, or fun and freedom.  Your visual brand identity can tell prospects and customers what you believe in, support, value and promote, without saying a word (or writing one).

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My 2015 Small Business Marketing Calendar is available on amazon.com — in print or digital format. It is absolutely packed with marketing inspiration and a working content marketing plan you can use to attract – engage – retain and motivate your customers in the coming year.