AND WHAT IT CANNOT?

Of the five senses, the sense of sight is by far the one we rely on the most to perceive and interact with our environment. And not surprisingly, it has the biggest impact on brand perception.

We know this instinctively, but it can also be observed objectively in the number of neuronal connections we form and the comparative real estate allocated in the brain to each of the senses.

More than 50% of the cortex, the surface of the brain, is devoted to processing visual information.

Studies actually show that we are on an evolutionary path that emphasizes sight at the expense of the other senses. It might be a case of “use it or lose it”. Starting with the invention of writing, to the many screens we now surround ourselves with, the tools we use have in turn altered the way we take in information and nudged us to increasingly rely on visual processing. In our own lifetime, we replaced phone calls with messages and emails, shifting from purely auditory channels of communication to visual ones.

Visual perception can be broken down into three elementary functions: detection of contrast, color, and movement.

DIFFERENTIATE: Stand Out From the Clutter

Back in the savannah, anything that would stand out in any way would grab our attention, signaling either an opportunity or a threat: sometimes it would be fruit, sometimes it would be a poisonous frog. Identifying and responding to contrast is an essential survival skill that is deeply embedded in our brains.

Looking through the branding lens, contrast is DIFFERENTIATION. One of the main roles of visual design is to enlist this inherent mechanism that constantly scans the environment for contrast, and aims to create differentiation.

In practical terms, the goal of visual design in branding is to make the product stand out in the clutter, whether it is competing for attention on the shelf, or as a website amongst many others.

IDENTIFY: Design a Unique Brand Identity

If the first step is to be noticed, the second one is to be recognized. Brand Identity is the part of branding concerned with the design of visual elements such as the logo, font, and imagery, and their application on digital assets, packaging, and collateral.

Together with the brand voice, brand values, and positioning, Brand Identity aims to identify and distinguish the brand in the consumers’ minds.

Color

Looking at the building blocks of brand identity, we can easily see how color plays a central role. It’s an important and sometimes misunderstood role, that I will discuss at length in a separate post.

A defined color palette is the starting point of your brand identity design. The color hue, saturation, and brightness each carry a certain unspoken message about your brand values, positioning, and target audience. Color can make a brand look youthful or professional, accessible or luxurious, and anything in between.

Font

There are an infinite number of fonts that you can choose, but luckily they can be grouped into six categories, each with its specific traits: serif, sans-serif, slab serif, script, handwritten and decorative.

Slender serif fonts, like the infamous Times New Roman look more elegant and traditional, with the sans serif fonts covering the other side of the spectrum, with a more modern style.

Every brand should have a combination of two complementary fonts which, like a good wine pairing, can help emphasize each other and support give more flexibility when designing the brand assets.

Imagery

Photography, illustrations, graphics, and videos, all come together to tell the brand story. While photography is key to showing the product and how it is used in context, many brands have created their illustration style, like Headspace and its colorful meditating minions.

*Example of the Headspace illustration style from headspace.com*

Or an entire industry can jump on one predominant trend. You’ve probably come across the flat, minimal illustrations with brightly colored characters, with small heads and disproportionately large limbs. The style named Alegria - Spanish for joy - has initially been adopted by Facebook in 2017 and has been expanding ever since to what seems like every tech and corporate illustration. So full of joy, positivity, and connectedness it aims to represent a simpler world, working hard to counterbalance or even cover the powerful and often insidious effects companies like Facebook and Google have in our lives.

*Alegria style llustration via buck.co, the creators of the Facebook illustration ecosystem*

Consistency Is Key

Our brains are essentially lazy, it takes many shortcuts to preserve energy. While processing new information, it relies a great deal on the things we think we know. We essentially assemble our reality from bits of information and memory, which seem complete and coherent. It is estimated that visual perception is only 20% input through the eyes and the rest of 80% is memory(!!).

Visual perception is only 20% input through the eyes and the rest of 80% is memory

We rely heavily on prior knowledge and context to process visual information and even alter it. In other words, sensory information isn't so much transmitted to the brain but rather comes from it. So much for seeing is believing!

That’s why consistency is key. To be recognizable, to stand out, we need to make it easy for our target audience to process new information and associate it with our brand. Every element of visual identity needs to connect seamlessly and look like it belongs.

Along the same line, less is more: less color is better than more, fewer fonts are better, and generally, one visual style is strongly encouraged. By choosing and committing to a style (the blend of all the elements mentioned so far) we reduce the clutter and reinforce the message and brand values. We use form to reinforce content, not compete or overshadow it.

So what can visual design do for your brand?

Let’s start with what it can’t do. Unlike what you might have read or heard, brand identity will likely not make an emotional impression on your clients. Some research shows that visual cues are responsible for emotional categorization, essentially helping us understand and process the emotions displayed in front of us. But it is still one step away from triggering emotion. All by itself, it won’t bring tears to your client's eyes, and they won’t get a sudden urge to buy your product. There are other, more efficient ways to elicit emotion, through sound or smell.

Visual cues address the rational rather than the emotional part of your brain. Therefore, the main function of visual design is to inform. This happens in a multi-layered way, starting with the most obvious - to let you know that you’re looking at a box of chocolate and not a pack of pasta for example. To the more subtle, but no less important role to inform about the abstract elements of the company like the brand values and positioning.