Building a Brand Through Exceptional Graphic Design

A good brand name has many facets in its arsenal: aspects which make up our perception of that brand—we feel a certain way when we hear the brand name, think a certain thought when that brand comes to mind and act a certain way when presented with an option to become an advocate for that brand. In short, branding is one of the most powerful tools in the world of advertising.   But which component of your brand should you focus on most when it comes to laying a solid foundation for the future maturity of your reputation among customers and within the industry? Is there even a singular aspect that can give you a head start?   The answer lies in graphic design . Graphic design can invariably be considered one of the core facets of a brand and everything that comes with it. A brand with the right graphic design elements is a brand that’s going to spark all of the unconscious responses that you want it to.   A picture is worth a thousand words   It’s one of the oldest clichés in the business: “a picture is worth a thousand words.” But, just because it’s a little overused at this point doesn’t make it any less truthful in the world of branding. The bottom line is this: your visual representation of your brand is going to create the biggest impression on your customers. We live in a world of advertising where people tend to be dissuaded by words and captivated by pictures, which means getting your visuals down is paramount from the beginning. Starting with a solid visual foundation prevents future issues such as inconsistency in branding, alterations to visual materials that may confuse customers or even rebranding, which can cost valuable market share in lost reputation.   Every image that’s disseminated by your brand—whether it’s a logo, magazine ad, website banner or television commercial—makes a mark on the audience who sees and digests it. If each of your images truly speaks volumes about your business, you’ll communicate far more about your brand than you might realize, creating advocates and sparking interest with more precision than you may have thought possible.   What defines good graphic design?   Graphic design is one of those core creative skills that takes a true artist’s eye to navigate: meaning not just anyone can be a graphic designer and not just any graphic designer can produce the high quality work that you need to build your brand. So, how do you separate the good from the bad from the ugly?   Good graphic design starts with the right designer, first and foremost. A good designer will be able to work with your vision, present you with different variations of your vision as it applies to materials and can even help advise you on how to streamline, refine and improve your visuals. From there, it’s as easy as revising and improving until you have your brand’s imagery.   What distinguishes great graphic design work from mediocre or poor graphic design work is the level of skill and dedication that goes into it. You’re certain to get better results from a consultation meeting with a skilled graphic designer, than you are from tossing a couple of bucks at a friend of a friend to do the same job!   Finally, one last thing that all good graphic design incorporates is authenticity. Remember, your brand’s visuals are going to speak volumes about your brand and everything that’s associated with it: it’s best to make sure that you’re projecting uniqueness when that happens. Create original works, work with images that are different from everything else in your industry and put together materials that are distinguishable as your brand’s.   Going all in for graphic design   Whether your brand is basically nonexistent or booming into something more and more respectable each day, graphic design remains a core element of your growth—and a main element at that! Make sure that you’re putting the proper resources and effort into bolstering your brand with exceptional graphical materials and you’ll reap the benefits of your labors quickly and sustainably.   Remember, a brand is made up of many facets: make sure that people are thinking, feeling and acting a certain way about your brand by delivering these instructions to them through superior imagery and branded design.