How to create a strong visual identity

What is a visual identity?

Your visual identity helps to communicate your brand’s personality, values, and promise to the world, reinforcing your brand's overall perception and experience.

It includes visual elements and the processes and standards that ensure consistency in your visual identity across all channels and mediums.

Key elements of a strong visual identity

Several aspects work together to create a cohesive and recognizable look and feel that expresses the brand’s personality and purpose.

• Logo design: Your unique graphic symbol represents your brand and is used on all materials for instant recognition.
• Brand colors: A palette of specific colors that represent your brand and evoke particular emotions and associations. Your colors help you create impactful campaigns that resonate with the audience.
• Typography: The style and appearance of the text in your brand materials, including fonts and typefaces. Typography enhances your brand’s personality and strengthens readability and consistency in all visual communications.
• Photography and imagery: The photos and images that convey your message and aesthetic contribute to a visual narrative that supports your brand’s identity and engages the audience.
• Graphics, illustrations, and icons: These additional visual elements enhance communication to make information more engaging and aligned with the brand’s style and guidelines.

Visual identity vs. brand identity

Essentially, visual identity centers on the visual features that make a brand distinct, while brand identity encompasses a broader range of components that build the overall perception of the brand.

• Visual identity focuses solely on the creation and execution of a brand’s visual aspects.
• Brand identity encompasses the visual identity and non-visual elements, including the brand voice, values, and messaging.

Both visual and brand identities require consistency across all touchpoints and aim to communicate the brand’s personality and promise.

What is a visual identity system and what are its benefits?

A visual identity system is a structured set of guidelines and processes for all the elements of your visual identity. With these directions, teams can consistently apply the fundamentals across all touchpoints.

Enhancing brand recognition

A dependable visual identity enhances brand recognition by building a unified and memorable image for customers. When all visual details, such as logos, colors, and typography, are aligned across platforms, it reinforces your brand’s presence.

Coherence makes it easier for consumers to recognize and remember it, fostering familiarity and trust. Think of Coca-Cola: The iconic red-and-white color scheme and distinctive font have made it one of the most recognizable brands worldwide.

Improving marketing efficiency

Implementing a visual identity system improves marketing efficiency by streamlining the creation and management of brand assets. With clear guidelines, teams spend less time on administrative tasks, such as searching for or approving content, and more time on strategic activities that drive campaigns and content production.

Increasing efficiency makes marketing efforts more focused and cohesive, ultimately enhancing overall productivity. For example, Leonardo Hotels switched to Frontify to manage its branding. By centralizing thousands of templates and assets, the teams save 1,000 hours each year — freeing time for more impactful work.

Building customer loyalty

A consistent visual identity helps build customer loyalty by ensuring that every interaction with the brand feels familiar.

Customers who repeatedly see the same visual elements and consistent messaging develop a stronger connection to the brand. For instance, the experience of visiting any Starbucks, with its recognizable green siren logo and warm color palette, creates a comforting sense of familiarity for customers.

Three visual identity systems to inspire you

Use these three examples for inspiration to build cohesive systems that align with your brand’s goals and values.

TikTok’s Brand Book provides comprehensive guidelines for the brand’s visual elements, including logos, colors, typography, and imagery. It emphasizes maintaining TikTok’s playful and dynamic nature across all applications, ensuring a consistent and engaging user experience.

The IBM Design Language outlines the principles and components that define IBM’s visual identity. Detailed instructions on logo usage, color schemes, typography, and grid systems promote a unified and innovative brand presence across all platforms.

Herman Miller’s Brand Standards provide detailed specifications on the brand’s visual elements to ensure consistency in design and communication. Guidance in logo usage, color palettes, typography, and imagery helps maintain the brand’s sophisticated and modern aesthetic across all touchpoints.

How to create a visual identity system

Establishing a visual identity system requires a strategic process that aligns with your brand’s long-term goals. Execute each step with a clear vision and purpose to maintain consistency and effectiveness across all touchpoints.

Define your brand core

Your brand core encompasses your mission, vision, and values. Here’s how to define your essence and lay the foundation for all your branding efforts:

• Articulate your brand’s purpose: Explain and document what your brand stands for and the impact you want to make in your industry or community. This purpose should resonate with your internal teams and your target audiences.
• Outline your values: Identify the principles that guide your actions and decisions. Reflect on your brand’s essence and illustrate how it shapes your company culture. The more your employees and target audiences share these values, the stronger their connection to your brand.
• Establish a vision statement: Develop a forward-looking statement that encapsulates your long-term aspirations. Your vision should be aspirational, inspiring your team and stakeholders to work toward a common goal.

These non-visual details will help you create and communicate your identity through the visual components you focus on in the next step.

Develop key visual elements

Your visual elements reflect intangible concepts, such as your brand’s purpose and vision. Together, they shape your brand’s perception.

• Start with a concept: Workshop ideas that reflect your brand core. Gather your team for a creative session where you explore different visual styles, themes, and inspirations that express your mission, vision, and values. Use mood boards, sketches, or digital tools to illustrate your ideas.

• Gather inspiration: Look at brands within and outside your industry that communicate their core through visual aspects. Identify what resonates with you and how similar ideas might be adapted to suit your brand. For instance, if your brand emphasizes sustainability, you might draw inspiration from brands that focus on earth tones, natural imagery, or minimalist designs to convey environmental responsibility.

• Collaborate with creatives: Once you have a solid concept, bring it to life by collaborating with a skilled designer or agency. Provide them with clear guidelines and examples of your desired style and visual elements. Discuss the emotions you want your visuals to evoke, their key messages, and how they strengthen your brand’s identity.

• Refine and finalize: Work closely with your designer to change the visual components until they perfectly align with your brand. This process may involve several iterations, so be patient and open to feedback. Ensure that every detail — from your logo to your color palette — resonates with your brand’s essence.

Create guidelines

Brand guidelines outline how to use each visual element to facilitate consistency across all platforms and materials. Here’s what you should include in your guidelines:

• Detail instructions: Provide specific directions on using each visual aspect, including color palettes, typography, logos, and imagery. This guidance helps your team avoid incorrect applications.

• Highlight design style adherence: Emphasize the importance of maintaining your brand’s style in all visual communications. Specify the correct spacing, alignment, and proportion of your assets to maintain a cohesive look and feel.

• Offer practical examples: Include examples and templates that show correct usage and simplify applying the visual identity correctly.

• Focus on accessibility: Make your guidelines easy to access, whether in a digital format or as part of a centralized brand platform. This accessibility will help everyone who creates materials to follow the established instructions.

Once you’ve distributed your guidelines, get feedback from end users to make improvements as needed.

Implement and integrate

The final step in creating a visual identity system is consistently implementing and integrating your visual elements across all channels, content, and teams.

• Update existing materials: Refresh all current brand assets, including your website, social media profiles, marketing collateral, and product packaging. This ensures that your new visual identity is reflected on every platform.

• Educate your employees: Provide training to all teams so all departments understand and apply the visual identity guidelines properly in their daily operations. Workshops or easy-to-access resources will help embed the concepts into the company culture.

• Integrate into future campaigns: Adhere to the new visual identity for all future branding and marketing initiatives. This consistency throughout campaigns reinforces your presence and builds recognition and trust with your audience.

Refine and adapt your visual identity

In a world where brand consistency reigns supreme, your visual identity is the compass that guides every interaction and decision. As brands grow and evolve, aligning all stakeholders under one clear, cohesive message is no longer optional—it's essential.

By investing in tools that manage and enforce your visual identity, you're ensuring that your brand not only resonates but thrives across every touchpoint, keeping your story intact no matter how far it travels.