A lot of people (myself included!) like to emphasize that branding is more than “just” a logo. The logo is the most obvious part, so that’s what most business owners recognize they need- and many think its just a question of getting a quick logo design done and they’re on their way. Branding is so much more than that however- and includes a lot of intangibles like messaging, tone of voice etc. Because I’m a visual designer, I’m going to focus on what elements make up the visual side of branding. The package deal packs a ton of value! Read on to see what's included and why it gives you so much to work with beyond just a logo.
When I create a brand package for a client, I always include at minimum the following, in the order that I create them (not necessarily the order of importance):
1. Moodboard- this sets the overall vibe or direction and is useful for use in brand photography, the logo development, the website, etc
2. Color palette- While I don’t pull colors directly from the moodboard (I like too have more control over the selection), I do look for general trends that appear from it. Client loves sunny, warm images? Yellow is going to be a feature color. Showing a strong preference for nature and luscious plants? Vibrant green gets included. I provide the hex color values for use on websites, social media etc, and other color values as needed.
Pro tip: Coolors.co is my favorite website/app for picking colors- you can generate new color combinations by simply pressing your space bar.
3. Logo versions: I always create 3 versions- a stacked version, a horizontal version, and a round version. This gives my clients a ton of flexibility for incorporating it into their designs, and it helps keep things interesting. I also save each version in a variety of colors (full color, all black, all white etc) and in different file formats (jpeg, png, svg etc)- the final zipped package ends up being hundreds of files each!
(My secret weapon here is an amazing little Illustrator extension called the Logo Package Express which does the whole exporting process in about 15 minutes).
4. Typography: Although I research this early on, the final selection happens during the logo development. I’ll either use the logo font as the primary brand font, or I’ll select a similar/complimentary one (this represents two different schools of thought, which I talk about in this Instagram post on picking typography for your brand). I’ll then pick a coordinating secondary font to be used for paragraph text, and occasionally a third font option for short subtitles etc.
5. Favicon: This is the tiny icon that goes in the address bar of your website, and IMO an essential part of your brand. Don’t overlook it and use the generic Chrome globe- its details like this that separate professional brands from DIY ones.
6. Brand Board: Finally, I layout out all these elements in a one page reference sheet that I call a brand board. Its a handy thing to print out for quickly seeing what colors and fonts to use, and it makes an attractive design all of its own. 🙂
But you don’t have to stop there! There’s so many more ways to expand the brand package, which I’ll add to my client packages as they need it. Some additional and super-fun options:
1. Branded icons
2. Brand patterns (a fun way to spice up a background section on a website, or use it for packaging materials such as tissue paper, on merchandise, etc)
3. Brand graphics- having 2-3 of these will make your social media templates, your pitch decks, and your flyers so much more interesting
4. Website assets- Not a full website design, but ideas for how to style website buttons, bullet icons for lists, line dividers hero sections, etc. Bonus, these work great for print designs/flyers as well
5. Business card design: For folks who don’t want to look like they got a default template off Vistaprint- a great way to show off your incredible new branding is with a unique and interesting business card design
