What’s the difference between a brand and a visual identity?
I’m guilty of sometimes using the term “brand” to describe the visuals that reflect the business–the logo, fonts, colors, etc. This isn’t exactly incorrect, but I realized that this could get confusing. So I’m highlighting here what a brand actually is, and what a visual identity is.
One of the best analogies I’ve seen is the iceberg: a small portion of it is visible above water, but the majority of it is submerged and invisible below the surface. Your visual identity and your brand are similar to the iceberg–you and your audience see a small part of the brand (the visual identity), but the majority of what your brand is about isn’t actually visible.
Make sense?
So this is what your brand consists of:
Purpose, Vision, Mission: the essential reasons why your company exists, what it aims to achieve, and how it will do that
Beliefs and Values: what your company holds true to its core
Culture: how your company behaves in accordance with your values and beliefs
Voice and Tone: how your company communicates and the kinds of words it uses
Benefits and Features: what your product or service does for your customers and how it benefits them
Personality: the kind of person the company would be if it were human; defining this helps make the business more relatable
And this is what your visual identity consists of:
Logo
Fonts
Colors
Graphic System
Image treatments
Any other visual elements
Essentially, your visual identity is an expression of your brand. I believe that it’s essential for a business to figure out and clearly define all those parts of their brand before figuring out their logo, fonts, colors, etc. So when I take on a branding project with a client, we start with a session to nail all those brand details down first, and then I dive into figuring out what the visuals look like based on those details. And for a new company, it may take more than one session to hash it out–but that’s ok! Having that kind of clarity about your business makes it so much easier to make all kinds of decisions, from what to say in advertising to whether to branch out a new product line.
If you have questions about defining your brand, or need help getting that clarity, let me know! I’d love to help.
