So you did it! After carefully planning the project into your budget, you decided that this was the year; the time had come to invest in your company’s branding (graphic designers across the globe rejoice!) You spent months going through the entire branding process—you did the workshop, agonized over every single word in the mission statement, and listened to your graphic designer yap about mood boards, pencil sketches, typography, and color theory until the drawings in the presentation finally started to look like a finished product: the logo. 

And now you’re done, right? Artwork approved, invoice paid, and the final files finally arrive in your inbox. You now have a brand new shiny logo you’re ready to unveil!

But wait (a small, panicked voice in the back of your head whispers.) You vaguely remember that designer going on about something in one of your final meetings… something important… some long, boring document that came with your final files. The branding guidelines. 

Yes! (An angelic choir of graphic designers harmonizes in the clouds!) Thank you for remembering! The brand guide will be the manual as you integrate your new branding into marketing materials and beyond. All of those things your creative team yammered on about—logo variations, colors, fonts, and messaging—consistency will be the key to successfully launching and maintaining your new branding. 

Why is Branding Consistency So Important?

Consistency across your marketing efforts is crucial to building recognition and trust with your consumers. Whether you’re a new brand with little to no audience or a consumer favorite with a huge following, your new branding is the visual representation of who you are now. You communicate with your customers across multiple platforms and consistent visuals and messaging are the key to resonating in their minds. 

Imagine a customer sees an ad on Instagram with your new logo and color scheme, but when they check out your website for more information, your homepage hasn’t been updated and looks completely different from the ad. What if they see some beautiful new out-of-home ads with your new fonts and colors, but the marketing email you send them the next day doesn’t visually match and they don’t realize it’s from the same brand? Picture a new customer who just discovered your social feed in all its rebranded glory, but they couldn’t find your product at the grocery store because the packaging wasn’t consistent enough for them to recognize it. 

Key Elements of Consistent Branding

So how do you avoid these scenarios? What should you pay attention to while creating or updating your marketing materials? Consistency is key and the color palette, typography, visual style, and tone/messaging will all play a part in keeping your brand cohesive. 

Let’s take a look at color first. Often the first thing consumers notice, colors evoke emotions and associations that significantly impact how consumers perceive your brand. Graphic designers love the psychology behind color theory and your logo designer will have chosen a specific color palette tailored to fit your brand perfectly. 

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Typography conveys brand personality, and using the right font styles consistently will create a clear visual message and hierarchy in your marketing materials. As with color, various fonts will broadcast different ideas of who your brand is. Serif fonts may suggest tradition, while sans-serif fonts can feel more modern and approachable, and your designer will have recommended certain typefaces and usage guidelines that capture your brand’s chosen traits.

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Visual Style includes imagery, icons, layout, and composition—all together creating a recognizable visual language for your brand. Choice of images (photography vs. illustrations) and iconography can influence your brand’s perception, and similar layouts and compositions across all platforms will create a distinct look and feel. 

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Lastly, your Tone and Messaging should ensure that all verbal communication matches the visual design. A consistent tone of voice and cohesive brand narrative enhance recognition and foster a deeper connection with your audience. Referring back to the brand framework defined at the beginning of your branding project will help outline key phrases, taglines, and values to be consistently communicated across all materials. 

So How Do You Keep All This Straight? 

The brand guide!

Launching new branding and maintaining design and messaging standards is where the brand guide comes in clutch. The creative team that helped you build your branding from the start will inherently know how to keep things consistent moving forward—they did write the rules after all 😉. But when sharing that new logo with your internal team (or if you choose to work with different creatives in the future), this document contains everything anyone needs to know about the brand. 

Wondering which version of your new logo to use on some merch or new packaging? There’s a whole section about proper logo usage and color variations in your brand guide. (The designer may have even added a “do’s and dont’sdon’ts” section that you can refer back to.) Need to know what color values to use in an email vs. a print ad? Check the color palette section of the guide for HEX and CMYK values. Trying to decide what fonts to use in your next social post? Take a look at the typography section for recommended font names, links for where to get them, and examples of how to use them the way the designer intended. Unsure of the copy for your updated website? Refer to your brand framework and make sure the new content aligns with your brand’s mission, vision, and values. 

Prioritizing Consistent Branding

As you launch your new brand into the world, maintaining consistent branding is not just an aesthetic choice, it’s a strategic necessity. As a graphic designer in advertising, I’ve seen firsthand how cohesive branding can elevate a company’s presence and establish lasting connections with its consumers. 

Consistent branding builds recognition amidst a sea of competitors, fosters trust with your customers, and strengthens campaigns while enhancing marketing effectiveness. It can be tempting to think that the hard part is over when you finally have that new logo in your hands, but prioritizing brand consistency will yield long-term benefits beyond a simple logo revamp. 

So you’ve got your new logo, now what? Whether you take your brand guide and run with it, or you want a little more help implementing those guidelines across your marketing materials, Creative Energy can help you build a consistent cult brand that resonates with your audience for years to come.