Branding Tips for Small Business Graphics

The elements of your promotional imagery sends a message about your business. Have you intentionally created that message with your branding? In this article, you’ll discover integral branding elements for your small business and how to best portray your company through the graphics you use.

The Brand Elements to Establish

Brand elements are the visual and auditory cues that make up your brand identity. These include your logo, color palette, typography, brand voice, and any other visual or auditory elements that are associated with your business. The words, colors, and images in all physical and online locations need to be consistently sending the same brand message.

Consistency in these elements is crucial for creating a strong and memorable brand that stands out in a crowded marketplace. When your brand elements are consistent, your audience can easily recognize and remember your business and what you offer, which can lead to increased brand loyalty and sales. Here’s a quick review of the business elements that make up a cohesive brand image.

Business Name and Tagline

The actual words as well as the tone of the words convey your brand identity in various ways. There’s a lot that goes into choosing a business name, for good reason. The name and the short phrase or phrases that will often accompany a business name greatly impact how people connect with you and your goods.

Logo

Your logo is what will be the most recognizable part of your brand. Most logos include a version with the business name, but it’s useful to have a standalone image that represents your business. Your logo should be present on all promotional and transactional materials.

Color Scheme

The colors used for your logo should be the main part of your color scheme used on all physical and digital assets. These colors are incorporated into all your marketing materials, graphics, and images, and even your administrative materials. Your business should live and breathe your brand colors!

Typography

Typography refers to the fonts you use in all business materials you create. You may go outside of your main fonts on some graphics or promotional material to convey a different tone, but overall you want to be consistent with the same fonts so that if people see fonts related to your brand or business, they can recognize that it’s from your company. Having set fonts for your business also makes it easier to create your branding elements.

Tone and Voice

The mood of your brand is delivered through tone and voice. This is also referred to as your brand personality. The tone and voice relate to what your business offers and who your target audience is.

Graphics and Images

All of your other brand elements are combined to be consistently portrayed through your business graphics. This is the biggest piece of your branding that can solidify your brand image and show how you’re unique in your industry.

As one example, when you share images on social media, the style you use to edit them should be consistent and cohesive on all platforms and materials. Your logo should be present, with your brand colors in the logo and represented in the overall image. For graphics with text, your defined font(s) pull together the overall tone and voice that is apparent in the imagery.

Consistency in Your Graphics

Branding is so important to maintain in your graphics, because this is the branding element that is constantly being created again and again for different purposes and platforms. All the other elements are defined once and then used across your business properties.

Maintaining consistency in your graphic elements can be challenging, but it’s essential for creating a strong brand identity. Here are some tips to help you maintain consistency:

Create brand guidelines that outline your graphic elements and how they should be used.
Use templates for your marketing materials to ensure consistency in design.
Train your team on your brand guidelines and the importance of consistency.
Regularly review your brand elements to ensure they are still relevant and effective.
Use a style guide to ensure consistency in typography, color, and messaging and how they are used on graphics.
Monitor your brand across all channels to ensure consistency in messaging and design.
Use a brand management tool to help you manage and maintain consistency in your brand elements.

For more advice on creating business graphics see these articles on our marketing blog:

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