First of all what do I mean by creating a brand identity with intention? Well, think about cotton candy. It’s pink fluffy photogenic and sweet. That aesthetically gorgeous cotton candy you see at fairs may seem appealing and fun. BUT... it’s pure sugar, it has no substance, and you aren’t going to want to keep having it every single day.

It’s the same with branding. You don’t want a brand identity that is pure sugar. All aesthetically pleasing but with no intention or substance behind it.

Your brand visuals need to be purposeful if you want them to be effective and actually play a part in helping your business grow and attract the right people.

1. Branding is a business strategy.

You might think branding is just designing a logo, choosing some fonts and colours and you are good to go. But branding is actually a marketing strategy. It’s designed to help attract the right people, elicit an emotional response and inspire action. And then connect with the people who come into contact with your brand and convert them into buyers. Intentional purposeful branding is about choosing  brand elements that will help do those things.

This includes things like:

• Choosing colours that evoke the right emotions in your audience, so they feel the way you want them to feel.

• Using colours in a way to encourage the actions you want people to take, such as choosing a colour for a buy now button that will encourage a click, or a sale sign that signals urgency.

• Choosing fonts that position your brand, so it attracts the right level of customer and aligns with your pricing.

• Or using line and shape to give your brand the right energy and appeal to a certain audience and send a signal about the type of brand you are.

People will make their first initial judgement of a brand based on visuals, as we are able to process visuals first, and so it’s integral part of making the right first impression as well as encouraging action.

2. You want to Evoke Emotions in your Audience.

As I mentioned your brand elements can be used to evoke emotions in your audience. Your visual branding helps to build the feeling and vibe of your brand and it evokes emotions. Emotions are very powerful because they create connection. When we share emotions with others it increases the bond. So if you can create an emotional response and your audience begin to associate certain emotions with your brand it creates a deeper connection with them.

For example a brand with bright colours, fun patterns and playful fonts will evoke emotions of joy and happiness. It will bring a smile and people will associate it with feeling positive, happy, light and playful.

Or a brand with soft muted tones, simple fonts and images of nature will feel calming, grounding and peaceful.

So when you consider what you sell and how you want to market it, ask yourself. What emotions do you want people to associate with it? Your visual branding needs to create those emotions.

If you don’t choose brand elements based on the emotions they will create then there will either be disconnect between your branding and the product. Or you won't create a strong enough response in people and they will just feel indifferent.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

3. Perception and Positioning have a big Impact on your Business.

The way a person perceives your brand makes a big difference.   Intentional branding can position your brand in the marketplace, which affects the way people perceive it. Do you want to be seen as a high end luxury brand? Or a low cost fun accessible brand? Do you want to be seen as youthful fashionable brand? Or the sophisticated mature brand? This is all done through branding. The exact same product can be branded two different ways and be perceived in the eyes of the customer completely differently.

Consider how you want your brand to be perceived and positioned and the people you want to attract. Then use intentional brand visuals to create that perception.

4. It keeps you Consistent and Creates Confidence

When you create your brand visuals with intention rather than just following trends or basing it purely on personal taste or what happens to inspire you at the time, you actually stick with it. Basing your brand visuals on the wrong things means it will never feel quite right and so you will keep being tempted to change and tweak things.

A few trend will come along, you will come across something that inspires you and you will be making changes again. You will always doubt your branding and it will be harder to feel confident and show up as your best self because your branding is pulling you down and you may even feel a bit ashamed of it.

Intentional branding, means you have a reason for choosing all the elements and style and that will give you confidence in your branding. Knowing that it is attracting the right people, and actually playing a part in helping your business grow and allowing your work to shine.

5. It Builds a Memorable and Recognisable Identity.

When you have taken the time to create an intentional visual identity for your brand, that evokes emotions, tells a story and speaks to your ideal audience, it begins to become highly recognisable and memorable. Your brand becomes a personality that people can quickly identify, and it feels familiar and trustworthy.

The more people are exposed to your branding, they will begin to spot it more easily and straight away recognise when something comes from you. It stands out to them and it feels familiar. And as you build that familiarity you also build trust. Trust is so important because it makes people more willing to spend money on your products and services and recommend you to others. It means people will be more willing to listen to what you have to say and share and really invest time and money into your brand.

It creates a deeper connection with your audience because they will feel more a part of your community And make bring your brand into their own identity. E.g "I’m an Apple girl" or "I’m always wearing Levi's". Your brand becomes part of who they are.

‍

Want to create a more meaningful deeper brand?

Grab the free PDF ‘The 4 Step Process to go from Vision to Visuals'