If you consider any iconic brand’s logo, the chances are that you will reflect upon the classic designs that have become synonymous with the product in consumers’ minds. The power of graphical imagery to forge long-term associations within our consciousness is a tried-and-tested technique for enhancing brand awareness, beloved by all savvy marketing professionals.
Firms such as Coca Cola, McDonald’s. Apple, Disney and Google recognise, and capitalise, upon the benefits achieved by a coherent and iconic logo that is inextricably bound to their products.
While visual elements are integral to strong, positive brand images and customer recognition, more and more firms are realising that it is not enough to rely upon a single graphic to cement their brand; instead, it is more effective to develop a form of visual linguistics – ‘brand vocabulary’ – to reaffirm the core message and increase the strength of the logo used to represent it.
What exactly is a visual vocabulary?
The visual vocabulary is essentially the group or collection of design elements that work simultaneously with your principal logo to enhance your brand identity. The lexicon for this is formed by maintaining a consistent font for all texts, strong repeated colour schemes, familiar backgrounds, conventional layouts for all marketing material, complementary photography and images, and the tone of your marketing messages. Together, these assist your primary logo to create a strong, instantly recognisable and trusted ‘vocabulary’ that breaks down unfamiliarity and supports ongoing customer loyalty and retention.
What are the benefits of a consistent brand vocabulary?
Owning and reinforcing a consistent brand vocabulary, perhaps with the help of a resource specialist such as http://www.lightbulbinnovation.com/, is a powerful tool for any brand innovation agency in the battle to be recognised and selected above your competitors.
The vocabulary furthers the work performed by your logo, providing additional visual statements and graphical reinforcement for your marketing. It supports your communications by presenting familiar and trusted designs and styles to your customers through a language that is much more quickly recognised and acknowledged by the human brain than your written or spoken word.
As a result, the most effective brand identities are forged not from one single logo but from the suite of graphical resources and overall style that support this icon, creating a coherent, recognised and trusted graphical identity.