How to Create A Powerful Brand Identity For Your Small Business Part Two

Know Who You Are

Before you know what tangible elements you want to make up your brand identity, you need to know who you are as a brand. 

Who you are as a brand is made up of a few key elements: 

• Your mission (what’s your “why?”) 
• Your values (what beliefs drive your company?) 
• Your brand personality (if your brand was a person, what kind of personality would they have?) 
• Your unique positioning (how do you differentiate yourself from the competition?) 
• Your brand voice (if your brand was a person, how would it communicate?) 

These elements are what define your brand, and before you start building your brand identity, it’s important you have a clear understanding of each.

Design: The Foundation Of Your Brand Identity 

Just like your Adidas built the brand identity of your middle-school-star-athlete persona, your design is what will build the brand identity of your company. 

Your corporate design assets are the tangible elements that will determine how your brand is perceived. Things like your logo, your packaging, your web design, your social media graphics, your business cards and the uniforms your employees wear. 

Developing Your Brand Design

Before you start creating your design assets, you need to start from the ground up and lock in the basics of your design structure: the building blocks of your brand identity.

The building blocks you’ll want to determine before you create your design assets include: 

Typography: Refers to the font (or type) you choose for your branding materials. It’s particularly important to choose logo fonts and brand fonts wisely. There are four major types of typography: 

Color Palette: Next up is color. People have psychological ties to different colors, and using branding colors and logo design colors strategically can have a serious impact on how your brand is perceived by your audience.