The Brand Board can be defined as a crucial and at-a-glance document that showcases all your brand elements such as logo, typography, color palette, and tagline among other important details.
It is a neat and well-planned document highlighting all the visual elements of the brand in an aesthetic and appealing manner. It is one of the best ways to convey the brand’s attributes, values, personality, and characteristics in one glance and glimpse.
What to includ in the Brand Board :
1) Main Logo
It is quite mandatory to include the main logo of the brand in the Brand Board as it is the logo of the brand that has been registered in the minds and psychology of the consumers, vendors, investor community, design agencies, industry peers, and the market as a whole. It should be visible in a clear and crisp manner.
2) Variations of the logo
The main logo is the significant element of the brand but the Brand Board should also have the varied variations of the logo mainly in the designated shapes and sizes as per the corporate and brand guidelines.
The logo of the brand needs to be incorporated on the dark backgrounds, light backgrounds, coffee table books, leaflets, brochures, hoardings, social media and other marketing and promotional materials. The design elements and aesthetics of the above-mentioned marketing channels are not necessarily consistent and hence, for the clear visibility and evidence of the brand logo, the variations are necessary.
3) Tagline
The tagline of the brand is basically the slogan that defines the core values and objectives of the brand in the maximum five to seven words. It works as an important part of the Brand Board as the tagline is usually an integral part of the brand logo.
4) Mascot
The mascot is the design element that is the part of the logo giving it a required edge and an enticing factor. Many a time in various promotional materials, the designers play with the mascot to formulate the entire theme and style. It is like the monogram or initials of the brand name that can be used as a watermark or as a subdued design element.
5) Main color palette
The next imperative element that needs to find a place on the Brand Board is the main color palette that is specific and unique to the brand and all the collaterals such as investor presentations, corporate brochures, product brochures, and other promotional materials are planned and designed around the hues of the main color palette. The luxury brands have the color palette of strong and dominant shades such as black, gold, purple, maroon, or Marsala.
6) Supporting color palette
There are needs to be an integration of the supporting color palette on the Brand Board as whilst designing the marketing collaterals specifically the brochures and important presentations, the designers need the melange of colors of the same family and the related ones so that the final artwork has a creative streak and is attractive to one’s eye.
7) Fonts
The fonts are also known as the typeface or the typography of the brand and work as an essential part of the Brand Board as fonts are selected as per the logo creative, nature of the business, types of products offered, and the design aesthetics.
8) Design Patterns
Every brand has its own set of design patterns that can range from the solid color borders, polka dots, vintage prints and elements, curved edges, and more depending on the nature of the business and products offered to the target market.
Your own Brand Board... "Just do it! "
1) Create the visual characteristics of the brand
The first step to build the Brand Board involves creating and defining the visual characteristics of the brand such as color palette, typography, main logo and its variations, patterns and textures to be used for the creative artworks along with the imagery. The imagery can range from downloading the stock images from the various websites complementing the nature of the products and business or getting an actual photo shoot done of the products and the brand ambassadors if hired using the products of the brand.
2) Design the color palette of the brand
Next in the line is planning and designing the color palette of the brand that suits the nature and objective of the brand along with the assortment and types of products offered to the target market. Like a travel company will have a color palette of fresh hues such as blue and green whilst the fashion brand that has women as the dominant target audience will have the color palette such as pink, yellow, gradient shades and other fun and colorful hues.
3) Work the fonts and typeface
The next on the steps to build the Brand Board is working on the main fonts, supporting fonts, and the typeface that involves using the selected font in the upper case, lower case, italics, or bold suiting the nature and type of the products offered. The font size needs to be selected as per the type and size of creative artworks such as brochures, hoardings, social media posts, and television commercials amongst others.
4) Work on the textures and patterns
Every brand has a specific set of patterns that aptly complement its nature, target audience, and type of products offered. The fashion apparel brand will have trendy and bold patterns whilst a jewelry brand will have the patterns and textures that will suit the intricate carvings and designs of its jewelry products.
5) Create a digital and physical Brand Board
It is vital for the branding and marketing team to create the physical Brand Board that will be displayed at the office and can be easily shown to the various vendors; design agencies, media agencies, and advertising agencies amongst others making them understand the brand values, attributes, and other crucial elements. The digital version of the Brand Board can be circulated to the agencies and vendors on emails serving the similar purpose as of the physical Brand Board.
Sources: PHMC GPE LLC - Marketing91 - Coffee Break - HO1.us
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