The 5 Most Common Brand Elements
Whether you're a new & growing brand designer or a business owner looking for a creative refresh, it's important to know what to expect during the branding process, and perhaps even more important, what elements are expected to be designed and finalized in a brand identity.
The beauty of being a brand designer is that you can customize your branding packages for each client. While each designer is different in what they choose to include in a brand identity, to give you a solid foundation and starting point, here are the 5 most commonly included elements in a brand identity, and what I consider the absolute essentials:
Logos (including submarks and icons)
Color Palette
Typography
Collateral
Style Guide
Of course, there are nuances within each of these elements, and there will always be extra bits of flare you can add into your branding packages. But as we said before, that's the beauty! You're the designer here. You can pick and choose how you want to build off of these 5 elements. Now let's take a deeper dive into these 5 brand elements to give you an idea of what they consist of.
Logos, Submarks, & Icons
This is a big one and can arguably be split up into 3 different brand elements, but since they all consist of similar visual symbols, I am grouping them together in to one category.
Most brands will have multiple logos that they use for different media types or platforms. There is a primary logo that is used most prominently on all customer touch-points. Alternate logos can be used in addition to the primary logo if the primary logo has already been used OR if the primary logo doesn’t quite fit in the media being used.
This is also where submarks and icons come in to play. Submarks & icons aren't considered logos or replacements for logos, but they play a huge role in the visual symbolic recognition of the brand identity. Submarks are graphic elements that are inspired by the primary logo and can be used more playfully throughout the brand’s identity. Brand icons are brand identifiers that can be used on customer touch-points for more brand recognition, significance, and depth. Icons are most commonly used on social media, profile pictures, highlight cover photos, website page icons, or watermarks. Again, these are additions to the logo, never a replacement.
Color Palette
Colors are crucial for creating a brand identity that speaks to your client’s core values and their ideal customer. Depending on the brand, there might only be one or two colors, or there might be up to four or five colors. Colors are a great way to evoke emotions and feelings that speak directly to the brand’s ideal customer.
Typography
Typography is crucial for a brand identity and plays a major role in creating consistency across all customer touch-points. The typography system you send your client should typically include 2-3 fonts. I usually choose fonts that differ from the primary logo, but still compliment the primary logo. For example, if I use Helvetica in a brand’s primary logo, I will choose a different font to be used for website copy or other text. That way, a logo can stand on its own and doesn't compete with the brand typography.
Typography can also include any custom lettering you made for your client. This is crucial to include, as the client can't access your custom lettering as a font anywhere else but from you!
Collateral
Any additional items that are designed beyond the brand identity are considered collateral. This could be business cards, social media templates, sales or pricing decks, or packaging. This is a great way to go above and beyond in your higher-tiered branding packages.
Style Guide
Any brand identity that you design needs to have a style guide. Think of it as the rule book for the brand. Rather than limiting the client on what they can or can’t use, the style guide is given to empower the client to keep the brand's look and feel consistent across all platforms as the designer intended.
Now you know the 5 essential brand elements to include in your brand identity, but remember, as the designer you are at full liberty to add in what you see fit, like patterns made from brand icons, animated GIF logos, or even web design! Now go have fun designing!
Brand Process Savvy
Now that you have the brand identity elements figured out, let’s get you set up with all of the other elements of designing for clients.
My new course, Brand Process Savvy, will teach you just that!
The course is packed with resources to set you up for success in your branding process so you can spend less time going back and forth with clients on design revisions and spend more time designing brands you and your clients LOVE.
