5 Brand Design Rules To Never Break (And How To Take Action)
Have you ever wondered what’s inside a designer’s mind when they create a brand identity?
I definitely have. I mean, obviously I know what’s going on in my own brain (sometimes… jk).
But I’ve wondered about other designers, what their process and rules are, and how they go about designing brands for companies.
The job of a brand designer in particular is both to be creative and perceptive. We have to be analytical and innovative. We have to hold to facts, but still be imaginative.
Being a brand designer means to sometimes quite literally drag out of our clients what they want for their brand.
Most of the time, they don’t know, or if they do, they don’t really know how to communicate it well (hence the digging for information).
Before pencil is ever put to paper, it’s all about asking the right open-ended questions, learning, and doing research.
There is a TON of ideation – even if the client never sees those first scribbles.
The best and most true piece of advice I think I’ve ever heard is this: Designers have to sometimes give the people what they think they want, in order to learn what they actually want.
I don’t remember if I read that somewhere or a professor in one of my design classes in college told me that, but I heard it early on in my career, and it’s always stuck with me. And it had always rung true.
On top of that, design is so subjective, and everyone has their own style.
From the designer you hire, to your individual preferences as a business owner, to what your audience may or may not like, there are a lot of factors that go into designing a brand that resonates AND stands the test of time.
A brand designer has to have a pulse on all of these things.
Which is why the process of designing a brand identity can and should take both time and effort.
If it’s a rush job, or a job completed without all of the information (like conducting what I call a Brand Interview)… it’s really not going to be worth much in the end.
So that’s where brand rules really come in handy.
There are certain things that need to be in place in order to make a brand identity design even better – in my opinion. And keep in mind, because design is subjective, these are meant to be more broad and approachable, and less about aesthetics or nitty gritty details.
Here today I’m going over: color + typography, elements that add something unique to your brand, white space, and your style guide
(If you’ve been around my content a while, you’re probably not surprised that your style guide is on the list.)
And of course, I can’t let you continue without mentioning this post’s freebie resource: The Brand Habits Stack. A handy little document that, if followed, will get you on track and set your brand up for future success! -> Get it here <-.
5 Brand Design Rules I Never Break
When I was thinking about how I design brands, I can pretty much round it out to 5 tried and true rules that I live by. I always seem to come back to these, because they haven’t led me astray yet.
So if you’re wanting to get started on your own brand, or at the least, learn about a framework of how I think it should be designed, this is a pretty good place to start.
Rule #1: Color Coordination
The basic rule is that your colors need to pair well together. Color theory plays a huge role in the design of a brand. Besides tints, hues and shades, there are warm, cool, bright colors… There’s complementary, primary, triadic…
Then, there’s what you like.
What your audience might be drawn to.
What portrays your brand voice well.
What represents your products/services the best.
This is not to overwhelm you, but to help you peek behind the curtain of the intentionality behind color in brand design.
That being said, let’s take it back a bit:
Do a simple google search for “color theory” and your world will be opened up – probably more than you want it to be. But through that simple search you’ll learn just a touch of what it means to have colors that coordinate in your brand.
After learning a bit, you can use this AMAZING tool called Coolors.co (not an affiliate, just really love this tool).
Coolors.co will help you pick colors that actually go well and coordinate together. It’s super easy to use, and it’s one of the first things I recommend when clients are trying to pick and refine their brand colors.
Rule #2: Fonts That Jive
Brand rule number two is to always use typography that pairs like coffee + honey (if that’s not your thing, think ice cream + cone, or peanut butter + jelly).
Did you know fonts have their own anatomy? I learned about typography way back in my college years, and it was one of my favorite classes I ever took. Call me a nerd!
But, you don’t have to be a nerd to know what fonts look great together. It’s all a matter of learning about the different types, and then playing around.
I think a great rule of thumb, specifically for brand fonts, is to stick with 3 different types for your brand.
For my clients, I lean towards choosing one sans serif font, one serif font, and one script font to complete a brand suite.
Not that you can’t have more (or less), but this gives you great bandwidth and versatility while still sticking to your style guidelines.
For instance, you first will naturally think about how these fonts will look within your logo. But then, you’ll also want to think about their future use. In order to have a well-rounded brand suite, you’ll be making a plethora of different items, from digital to print.
You’ll need to think about your fonts in-use for headings, body copy, call-outs, on the web, in templates, and more.
If you want to learn more about the different types of typography and how they might go together best, open up another tab for one of my most popular posts: 5 Easy Steps To Pick Your Brand Fonts
Rule #3: Unique Elements
Brand design rule #3 is all about unique elements.
What could make the brand stand out either through adding custom elements (think an icon or graphic element), customizing the typography in a unique way, or some other element unique to only your brand?
Iconic ones that come to mind are the golden arches of McDonalds, or Starbucks’ green siren, or, of course, the Nike swoosh.
These are all unique elements to those brands, that don’t need an introduction or a name (typography) next to them for most to know what they are. Of course these are classic, long-time household names, so don’t feel like your brand needs to live up to that right off the bat. Even those logos went through their own iterations and evolved.
You could have a simple, unique element added to your typography and overall logo, something like the following:
(Depending on what you’re going for, the line between “Arapaho” and “Road” is enough – but the olive branch adds another layer, making it uniquely recognizable.)
Rule #4: White Space
White space!!! Do I need to say more? I’m pretty passionate about spacing and white space… probably almost to a fault. What can I say, I really love clean lines and, well, space.
In design, white space does not literally mean to “see white” in a graphic or logo. It’s a term that’s used to describe adequate spacing between elements.
You don’t want things put together too tightly, or too loosely.
(I think I’m a total nerd when it comes to spacing…)
White space ‘guidelines’ can vary depending on the design and the designer, so it’s not something that can be easily explained. Sometimes, you just need to see it with your own eyes. Here are a few examples of my version of good white space, versus not-so-good white space:
Some might think white space makes a logo look “boring” or “meh”.
White space certainly doesn’t mean boring.
Rather, it means…
Intention.
Attention to detail.
Someone thought about the end result, and purposefully built in space to let it breathe.
The main idea is that the entirety of a graphic or image does not need to be ‘filled’ in order for it to be great or complete.
And it’s kind of my favorite thing to try to accomplish, that balance between great design that gets the point across and reaches your audience, and the space it needs to let it breathe.
Rule #5: Style Guide = Jumping Point
The last rule I live by is… following your brand style guide! This should not surprise you if you’ve been around my posts for any amount of time.
The style guide is like the whipped frosting of brand design. It’s not a ‘cake’ (brand) without it.
It’s needed for your brand to be cohesive and consistent, and stay that way – long after your brand designer is gone.
This one is simple: Create the brand + then style guide + then let other elements follow (like photography, etc.)
Use your style guide to tailor everything about your brand towards. This is your brand’s starting point, and landing pad.
(if you don’t have one, make one – my toolkit will show you how)
Take Action
If you’re a new brand, or needing to refresh your brand, here are a few things you can start thinking about today, without ever contacting a designer.
Audience, audience, audience:
Think about your main squeeze. Who are they? What do they like? If they had a favorite ice cream, what would it be? What is their favorite place to visit? What does a normal day look like to them?
It’s definitely NOT silly to answer these questions to help you define your audience. Start a blank document and write these things down. Get a glimpse of what your ideal customer/client might like to see in your brand design. Of course, your brand should be something you love! Just keep your audience in mind, too.
Use your brand voice as a guide:
Start defining your brand voice and tone now, even if you don’t have a brand identity created (and especially if you do).
You’ll probably go through a few iterations of this before you really hit your stride, so don’t worry about it being perfect at first. After a while, you won’t really need to tweak your voice unless you’re doing some major brand overhaul.
Part of that initial Brand Interview should be questions surrounding your brand voice: Is it fun & flirty, laid back and moody, etc. This really helps to start the design off on the right foot.
Keep It Simple
There are some tried and true branding rules to be followed… And then there are some rules that are so very objective and are likely going to be broken in one way or another.
Because design is so subjective, it’s easy to think that you can do what you want.
However, I would say to keep it simple, and follow these 5 rules to get started.
Want to dive in more?
You might be interested in this advice for branding your biz or what a style guide vs brand guide is in my book.
PPS: The B.Y.B. Toolkit can help you learn more about style guides, the branding process, and all you need to start building your brand before you have a logo (no designer or design experience required).
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