Immediately, we know that it’s the well-known and controversial dating app, Tinder. This little flame is now recognised in over a whopping 190+ countries. So, imagine the potential for your business with next level branding!

What is a Brand Guideline?

Now that we know why we need quality branding, it’s time to think about the guidelines of achieving it. As a web design and branding agency, it’s crucial that we go through a step-by-step process that allows us to establish a brand’s personality. Here are the steps in a little more detail:

THE COMPANY’S ETHOS AND VALUES

If there’s one thing you want to make clear in your branding, it’s your business’s values and ethos. Whether it’s growth (like ours!), to inspire or to teach, making this clear in your branding will inevitably appeal to your ideal audience.

Again, let’s look at Tinder, the world-leading dating app that allows individuals to chat, call and meet all through one single swipe. If we head over to their website, they state “We recognise that we are all human. We take interest in and embrace each other’s individuality.”; a somewhat expected value for a dating app. We automatically feel this sense of romance, provocative nature and celebration through the flame logo and pink/orange hues, as well as the tone of voice found throughout the app.

TONE OF VOICE

This brings us on nicely to the next point, tone of voice. It wouldn’t make sense if we executed calming branding with baby blue tones if the brand was born on the premise of inspiring and exciting its audience. Whether your business is informal, playful or corporate, your branding needs to reflect this.

An example for this one would have to be Innocent Smoothies. This brand’s tone of voice is ridiculously playful, fun and modern, and we can see that through their organic graphic designs and bright colour palettes.

HOW THE COMPANY IS PROFESSIONALLY CONDUCTED

When figuring out how you want your brand to appear, it’s important to think about how your business will operate and where it will fit in within the industry. Every business has a level of standard that they want to uphold, and this can be conceived through the branding when done right.

If we take a look at Volkswagen, their reputation from the beginning is very much different to what it is today. They were conceived by Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany in the 30s and 40s, but now, they’ve set a benchmark for all other car companies on a global scale. Because of this reputation, their tone of voice is confident and straightforward.

On the same lines, if you buy from such car brands as Audi or BMW, you are buying into the brand and so you expect a certain level of service and quality, which is always translated onto their branding. On the other hand, if you pop to Car Supermarket, you are going for convenience and as less of a novelty, therefore the service won’t be as high-end.

HOW THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE IS MAINTAINED IN ACCORDANCE TO THE VALUES

Now that you’ve determined your values, it’s time to think about how your products will uphold them. Volkswagen, again, holds futureproof and sustainable values that allow them to produce industry-leading cars that are economical compared to where they first started with Polos & Golf’s. Because of this, they are able to position themselves at the top, and shout from the rooftops about it too.

VISUAL IDENTITY

Last but not least, we have all of the visual elements. Logos, graphics and colour palette’s; all of these aspects bring the entire brand identity to life. Once all of the above points are set in stone, the visuals reflect the brand’s ethos and values. While this may seem like the major part of branding, it is however only a small aspect.

Take a look at IKEA. Their logo, website design and graphics are all very simple. Their colour palette is also very basic, but it is now a visual identifier for its customers. Some may say this branding is mundane, but nobody takes a second glance as the brand is so much more than what we can initially see. It goes without saying that they clearly don’t have a branding and design agency like us!

Soshell: Branding and Design Agency

The moral of the story is if you have a good branding, but a bad product or poor customer service, that strong brand can rapidly crumble and an overhaul will be needed. Our graphic designer, Steve, comments “Let’s look at Volkswagen, the brand that instantly jumps to my mind when we speak about branding. Dieselgate ruined their brand, trust was lost and from that, they gained a reputation of cheating emission tests and killing the planet – not good at all. They recognised all of this, steered the company into more EVs, focused on carbon neutral production methods, and of course, updated their visual identity to reflect the cleaner future.” 

If you’re on the lookout for a branding and design agency that can give your start-up the right branding, we’re your people. We believe in giving businesses the best chances at dominating their industry and that starts at the branding. Get in touch with our branding design agency in London today for more information.

you may also like…