A brand - not just a name but an identity, a face, a feeling. The process of making a brand out of a company is what brand marketers do and they give detailed attention to branding design and strategies because they understand the need and benefits of branding for a company to follow and adapt to prosper not just as a company but as a brand.

There are fonts, graphics, stories, themes & colours that constitute together to make a brand recognisable, ultimately provides a name to maintain an image of. But how do a brand really attains it, there needs to be a blueprint, an actionable guide, a plan of strategies to follow and implement. There are so many little details that people miss out on, that even brand marketers ignore but these small details and obvious things are what makes the difference to your brand.

Here are 10 rules for effective branding design which will serve as an actional guide to you -

Research

First things first,

You will definitely create a brand design but do you have any idea what your competitors are up to?

How will you create something that is never been done before?

What if your competitor is planning with a relatively same idea as yours?

To avoid such mishaps you need to perform detailed research of your competitor's idea of branding design. The research will not only help you be good with your ideas but definitely will open you up to many different perspectives you haven't really thought of.

Cater Everything

Do not limit yourself to one medium but cater it to every medium of promotion whether it is for Facebook Ads, Instagram stories or hardcopy advertisings.

Now while doing it, always make sure that your branding design is viable to all of these. It is more than important to be present in all the mediums promoting yourself with the right branding design & strategies.

If you are creating an Instagram story -  remember that it will be visible for only a few seconds,  so everything that you need your potential customer to read must be taken into account parallel with the colour, text, design and logo allocation.

Keep It Simple

Its the simplicity that makes the difference, a subtle design, a good font, the correct use of a light colour. All these are what makes your branding design stand out from the crowd.

Do not try to overfill your design with unnecessary texts, multiple colours and over the top graphics. All of these only makes the customers doubt your credibility and value as a brand.

Simple is what sells.

Always keep this in your mind. If you will allow too much information in your brand design people will ignore it and will not have the urge to know more about you. Its better to get in touch with a good brand identity and designing company in Mumbai  to get a better idea of what makes people turn their heads and look twice to a brand, what is trending in the market right now and what are the measures that can be taken for a good branding design.

Remember Your Audience

Your target audience, you are doing this for them only. If you can't make an impact on them what’s the use of such a good branding design. No brand can say that it caters to each and everyone in this world.

Every brand has its limits and has its own customers and a potential crowd. Never forget that they are the ones you need to make happy.

If your brand is for kids, your branding design should replicate it; if it is for old men & women, then you must design it that way. Your audience must feel attached to your branding design; design is not something that is just there for the sake of it, it actually creates an identity in the minds of customers and lives long in there.

Differentiate

There are thousands of brands in the market, before implementing any strategy ask yourself what is it that you are doing or will do that will make you stand out from them.

Though many brands try to take inspiration from their competitors I would not advise you to do that because in the process many brands often cross the line of plagiarism.

Brainstorm - write every single piece of idea on a paper, no matter how small it is or how stupid it may sound. Great ideas often come from the smallest briefs.

It is your brand and it has every right to be perfect and innovative.

Convey

Is your branding design conveying the right message? Does it really elaborate and clarify your vision and goals regarding the brand.

Putting the content into context is what needs to be done.

You'll be surprised as to how many brands often replicate their ideology and applications just by a good branding design and sets an example for others.

If you are unable to convey the right message to your customers it ironically means that you are misleading them and confusing them, which is not at all acceptable from a brand's goodwill point of view.

Keep It Together

There should be cohesiveness in your brand design keeping the core idea intact.

Every merchandise, service, offer, promotional activity, post & product should propagate the same story.

They all shouldn't be the same but serve as a piece of the puzzle to collide and bring in the right image that you as a brand want to portray.

It not only serves as a good quality of branding but showcases the variety of branding forms and ideas you have.

- Fonts

- Colour combination

- Theme

- Brand Shoot

All these together create a branding design that will work just fine for you but each aspect of it is critical and has its own importance.

Establish Clarity

There should always be a set of dos and don’ts that you must be clear about, what is applicable and what is something that should never be practiced.

If you are not clear about the guidelines regarding branding design the work and the creative are always going to get passed among in house employees for more and more alterations.

Maintaining a clarity not only helps you but defines your brand for you but for your clients as well. They should work with you.

The mission goal, the slogan, core values, the usage of logo, styling, fonts and of course the acceptable & non-acceptable manipulations.

Everything must be crystal clear.

Catch The Eye

You are not designing just to look good, you are designing and branding yourself to come into attention. To be an attention seeker is the first thing a brand should be, Whatever you do, you must leave your mark behind for your customers to follow and come to you.

Every branding design must have a theme to follow, a purpose and that attention seeking factor is what makes sure users find it compelling and worth their time.

With a fast-paced market, brands get to have a very small window to grab attention. In an attention span that little, there will always be competition among brands for who utilizes it better and competition always gives birth to innovation & creativity.

Adding a design element to your posts & promotions will always make the difference.

Change With Time

Rebranding is the change every brand seeks in a regular interval of time. Do not be afraid to make strong changes in your branding design and strategies. It is also one of the unsaid industry recommendations to change and rebrand yourself in every 5 years.

The brands that do not evolve with time become history. That's enough said.

If you really want your products & services to be recognized as a brand, these 10 rules will definitely help you create an effective branding design.