In today’s fast-paced digital world, first impressions are more critical than ever. Your brand’s visual identity, from logos to fonts and elements to be used, has to captivate your audience instantly. Not only this, but a branded visual identity must also create recall, facilitate brand trust, and elevate the brand’s perceived value. That’s a lot riding on design cohesiveness! Design Pickle understands this, and we’re here to shed light on one of the essential tools we developed to master this familiar pickle in our creative process: the brand profile.
Brand Recognition Matters
First impressions matter, and we know it! That’s why having a well defined idea of how you want your brand to be perceived is super important. Whether you’re in startup mode or already have an established, well-known brand, articulating the DNA of your brand’s visual identity is a critical step in maintaining consistency and cohesiveness, regardless of what asset or which designer is up next.
Here’s why it matters:
- Branding sets the tone: Your brand’s identity sets the tone for every interaction with your audience. It’s the foundation upon which all communication, design, and messaging are built.
- Brand consistency helps imply stability and maturity: A clear brand vision ensures consistency across all assets used, from your website and social media presence.
- Brand memorability drives recall and loyalty: Brands that are well-defined and aligned with their vision tend to be more memorable and create a lasting impact on their audience, driving recall and repeat purchases, leading to loyalty.
- Brand value drives retention: When your brand consistently delivers on its promises and aligns with its vision, even visually, it builds trust with your customers. A visual identity is like a visual promise of consistency; when it breaks, so does the trust.
Who Benefits from Brand Profiles?
The use cases for Design Pickles Brand Profile tool are endless, but we find that some very specific users reap the most ROI from it:
- Agencies & advertising companies who manage lots of brands
- Media companies who serve lots of brands
- Content companies who serve lots of brands
- Companies going through re-brands
- Companies going through mergers/acquisitions
Your business isn’t static, nor should your brand profile be. Design Pickle recognizes that brands evolve over time, and we encourage our clients to update their profiles as needed. As your business grows and shifts, your visual identity should evolve with it to stay relevant.
So, how do you get started and set your brand and design team up for success with brand profiles with Design Pickle?
Step 1: Share Your Brand’s Visual DNA Recipe
To ensure we create designs that perfectly resonate with your brand, we need a few key ingredients. Start by providing us with high-resolution files of your logos – these are the visual heartbeats of your brand. Next, share the fonts and color palettes that represent your brand’s unique personality. The more examples and source files you add, the better. Think approved iconography, stock photography, titling examples, and anything else you’d ordinarily include in a brand guide or overview for a designer.
Step 2: Attach Native Editable Files and Templates (If Available)
If you have standardized templates or native files that showcase your brand’s style, don’t hesitate to attach them. These valuable resources can help us align our creative process with your brand’s specific requirements. This is especially important if you’re looking to re-brand or scale existing assets quickly.
Pro Tip: Enable sharing for larger file types.
We understand the importance of easy file sharing. You can attach files directly to your brand profile, and we accept files up to 100 MB. Alternatively, you can provide links from a file storage platform like Google Drive or Dropbox. By granting Design Pickle open permission, it helps expedite and prevent delays, ensuring your requests are quickly delivered to your designer(s).
We’ve got a lot of helpful hints for communicating and collaborating with your designers, but there are four main ways to provide additional visual guidance
- Visual Inspiration: By sharing visual inspiration, like a mood board, you provide our designers with a clear understanding of the imagery that captures your audience’s attention. Be sure to explain what you do and don’t like about your inspirational materials so your designer knows exactly what to keep and cut.
- Stock Libraries: Our designers can leverage stock photography to design by tapping into our four extensive stock libraries (Fresh Stock, Adobe, Pixel, and Unsplash) to enrich designs with captivating visuals. Either let your designer source their own stock imagery based on your vision, or select the specific stock images you want them to use and add them to your request yourself.
- Custom Photography: If you have specific photos that you’d like our designers to use consistently, you can include them in your brand guidelines. This way, it becomes a part of your brand’s unique identity and gets seamlessly added to your designs.
- Generative AI Visuals: When you don’t have a supporting image that represents exactly what you have in mind, try prompting Create Assist with text to give your designer a peek inside your mind. Or, upload a supporting image and ask Create Assist to tweak the image (change a color or background for example), as another way to facilitate communicating what you have in mind to your designer. These generated images can be added to your request brief, and/or saved to your brand profile.
Leverage any or all of these tips and steps to better set the stage for a creative partnership that’ll bring your brand to new heights. We’re here to make this journey smooth and enjoyable for you!
Branding Consistency is Critical
When you begin any request with Design Pickle’s platform, you’ll have the option of selecting the Brand Profile that corresponds with your design request.
That’s it! It’s really that simple!
In the world of design, communication is everything. When you fill out your brand profile, you’re providing your designer with a map of your brand’s landscape. This makes it easier for them to follow your vision and create designs that align perfectly with your goals. Embrace the beauty of simple and clear directions.
Are you ready to take advantage of this super simple tool? Now that you’re aware of this strategic approach, you can create a lasting branded impression across all design assets, maintain brand consistency, and build efficient collaboration with our talented designers.
Ready to enhance your brand? Get started with Design Pickle today and unlock the full potential of your visual identity.
