Brand identity
Visual branding is not decoration; it is strategy. Your logo, colour and typeface determine how customers recognise and trust you. Discover why poor visual design makes you generic and how to approach it strategically.
Your logo, colour and typeface are not decoration; they are strategic choices that must support your brand message. Poor visual branding makes you generic. Good visual branding makes you unforgettable.
That colour you chose for your brand? That probably wasn't strategy. It was a feeling, a preference or worse still; someone said that suits your brand well and Bob's your uncle. Many entrepreneurs see visual design as the icing on the cake. Nice to look at, but completely the wrong way of thinking.
Visual branding is a strategic weapon. It determines how customers recognise you, remember you and above all: trust you. Let's put right what so often goes wrong here.
Most startups begin here: they hire a designer who creates something beautiful, and done. The mistake lies in what comes before. There is no strategy. There is no thinking about who you are, what you project and how you should translate that visually.
The Tropicana rebranding was one big failure
Tropicana removed their iconic orange from the packaging. Customers no longer recognised the carton and left it on the shelf. This cost PepsiCo an estimated 50 million dollars. PepsiCo hastily reversed the design.
The lesson? You cannot simply replace your brand identity with something more modern without strategy. Design without brand insight leads to disaster.
Here it is: your visual identity must translate your brand strategy into something people see and feel. Nothing more, nothing less.
You have:
→ A brand strategy (who are you, what is your goal, which values?)
→ A tone of voice (how do you speak to your customers)
→ A visual identity (what do you look like)
All three must be in sync with each other. If your brand is unconventional, creative and young, but your logo looks like a 60-plus law firm; then you have a problem.
If your brand story is about sustainability and impact, but your colours say cheap mass product; well you get the principle.
Visual design is therefore not something you delegate to a designer. That is something that emerges from your strategic choices. The designer helps with the translation, not with the determination.
Your logo says in one second who you are. But many entrepreneurs choose a logo because it is beautiful. Wrong approach. The approach must be: does this logo say something about what you do and who you are?
I see companies with distinctive brands (innovative, human, creative) who choose generic geometric shapes. Or companies that radiate stability and reliability, who choose messy and playful. Mismatch.
A stronger logo works in many formats, looks good on a website AND on a small business card, and says something about what you do.
The classic Yahoo logo.
Yahoo and MySpace waited years before they adapted their brand. When they finally took action (Yahoo in 2013, MySpace in 2010), they tried to solve their problems with just a new logo.
It didn't work. Yahoo was acquired in 2017 by Verizon for 4.5 billion (whilst Google was worth 120 billion). MySpace lost users massively to Facebook.
The lesson? You cannot solve problems with a logo strategy that run much deeper. And if you wait too long with repositioning, even the best design comes too late.
Here many entrepreneurs really go wrong. They choose a colour because they find it beautiful, not because that colour means something.
Blue feels trustworthy and professional. Red radiates energy and urgency. Green says sustainability. Yellow is optimistic and friendly. Purple is luxury and creativity. This is no coincidence; this is human psychology.
White, red and blue: these were for years the only three colours that Aquafresh used.
Aquafresh had for years three colours on the tube: white (clean teeth), blue (fresh breath) and red (healthy gums). When they went to completely white? 74% of users found the original toothpaste worked better. Same formula. Different packaging.
Colour is not just decoration; it communicates function. Remove those colours, and you remove the promise.
If you are an agency that sells creativity, and your entire branding is beige and grey; then you raise a few questions. If you are a financial adviser and your entire colour palette is neon pink and bright green; then your customers are probably going to have doubts.
Choose your colours based on: what do your customers feel? What supports your brand personality? What distinguishes you from competitors?
Your typeface determines the atmosphere. Ornate, classic typefaces give something old and elegant. A clean, geometric typeface feels modern and business-like. Handwritten typefaces feel personal and warm.
Actually two different fonts are enough for a brand. Plus possibly an extra font for social media for example.
The mistake entrepreneurs make; they choose more than three typefaces because variety is beautiful. Result; chaos. Your brand feels unprofessional and messy.
Choose your typefaces consciously. One for headings (can be somewhat more characterful), one for body text (must be very readable). That is usually enough.
Strategy first, then the design. This is the golden rule.
In the training Build an Irresistible Brand I coach the participants heavily on strategy (strategy first). That is your best starting point.
Define your brand strategy. Who are you, what is your goal, which values drive you?
Determine your personality. Are you serious or playful, classic or modern, minimalist or lavish?
Work with a designer who understands your strategy. Not a designer who says leave it to me. But a designer who asks questions and translates your strategic choices.
Ensure that your logo, colour and typography all tell the same story.
Remain consistent. This is not a one-off choice; this determines how your customers see you, year in year out.
Clients like BenefitStudio and ClubJoy go through exactly this process: strategy first, then design. With visual branding that says something.
Beautiful design wins awards. Strategic design wins customers.
Beautiful design can be arbitrary. Strategic design is purposeful. Beautiful design adapts to the trends of this moment. Strategic design remains relevant, because it is based on something deeper than trend.
Your competitors probably also have a beautiful logo. But are they doing it strategically? Probably not.
This is your chance to enter differently than 90 per cent of your competitors. Not because you are more beautiful, but because you are more deliberate.
Your visual identity is not decoration. It is not something you add on once your website is already finished. It is the language with which you speak your brand before you say anything at all.
Treat it as strategy, not as beauty. Work on it before you start communicating. Ensure it remains consistent. And above all; ensure it actually says something.
Your brand deserves better than arbitrarily beautiful colours and arbitrarily beautiful shapes. Visual branding is only one pillar of a strong brand identity. Want to know more about how you build a complete brand identity? Discover here how you go from zero to one.
Written by
Peter van der SteegePeter van der Steege is a brand strategist, designer and AI director. He builds brands for entrepreneurs and writes about what makes brands strong, from strategy to the role of AI and humanity. He lives and works in Groningen.
