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In the world of business, ensuring a recognizable and consistent brand is paramount. What is the cornerstone of achieving this? Enter the ‘brand board’. A brand board isn’t just a fancy term tossed around by designers; it’s an indispensable blueprint that encapsulates your brand’s visual identity.
From the primary logo to social media graphics, a brand board ensures that every piece of marketing material you produce adheres to a single, cohesive style. This tool doesn’t merely serve aesthetics; it’s integral to shaping perceptions, establishing trust, and driving recognition.
A brand board is an essential tool for businesses and designers alike. At its core, it’s a visual representation of your brand’s visual identity. This one-page document provides a cohesive overview of the brand elements that form the foundation of all your marketing materials.
The purpose of a brand board is to serve as a visual guide that encapsulates a brand’s identity in a clear and cohesive manner. It acts as a reference point for businesses, designers, and marketers, ensuring that the brand’s image remains consistent across various platforms and marketing materials.
By consolidating key visual elements such as logos, color palettes, typography, and other design assets, a brand board provides a snapshot of how the brand should be represented visually. This not only maintains brand consistency but also enhances recognition and trustworthiness among consumers.
Whether launching a new campaign, designing a website, or creating social media content, referring to the brand board ensures that every piece of communication aligns with the brand’s core visual identity, reinforcing the brand’s message and values in the market.
This is your main logo, the one that people will most associate with your brand.
Includes alternate logos, horizontal logo, logo submark, and secondary logo. These are variations of your business logo adapted for different uses.
Your chosen brand colors (and their hex codes) are showcased here. Whether you opt for a feminine brand pink or a bold red, every color should be represented. The colour palette you choose will influence everything from low-cost printing to digital designs.
This section includes the main script fonts, sans serif fonts, serif fonts, and custom fonts you use. It’s crucial to use the same fonts throughout to maintain consistency.
This section encompasses the all the visual elements like patterns, design elements, textures, and graphic elements which can be incorporated into marketing materials..
A collection of styled imagery, image inspiration, and stock photography that represents the brand’s vibe and appeals to your target market. Mood boards are not to be confused with brand boards, but they complement each other, providing a sense of the brand’s aesthetic and feel.
This could include website headers, buttons, and other graphic elements that are repeatedly used.
To create a brand board, start by gathering all your brand assets. From your primary logo to visual brand elements, everything should be on the table. If you’re not a designer, consider working with a graphic designer. They’ll provide brand board examples and insights into visual elements that resonate with your brand strategy.
While it might be tempting to take inspiration from other brands, ensure your brand board speaks authentically to your given brand. Whether you’re creating a brand identity for a feminine brand or a tech startup, ensure every graphic element, from logo design to visual elements, aligns with your brand strategy.
Both a brand board and a mood board are essential tools in branding and design, but they serve different purposes. Let’s delve into the differences:
Purpose
A brand board is essentially a visual summary of a brand’s identity. It presents a concise overview of the brand’s visual elements, ensuring consistency across all platforms and mediums.
Components
A brand board typically includes:
Usage
Brand boards are often used internally and shared with external collaborators such as graphic designers, marketing teams, or web developers to ensure brand consistency. It acts as a reference guide for anyone creating content or materials for the brand.
Purpose
A mood board is a collection of images, text, and other visual elements that convey a particular style, mood, or feeling. It’s often used in the early stages of brand development, project planning, or design work to establish a visual direction or aesthetic.
Components
Mood boards can include:
Usage
Mood boards are often used during brainstorming sessions or early client meetings to determine a visual direction or to communicate a specific vibe or feel. It’s more about inspiration and less about final decisions.
A brand board is a detailed, finalized representation of a brand’s identity, ensuring visual consistency across all branded materials. It’s like a brand’s rulebook. On the other hand, a mood board is more about exploration and setting a tone, helping stakeholders visualize and feel the intended aesthetic or vibe of a project or brand in its early stages.
1. Ensures Consistency: A brand board helps maintain a unified look and feel across all marketing materials, enhancing brand recall.
2. Boosts Professionalism: Utilizing a set style and guidelines elevates the perceived value and professionalism of the brand.
3. Simplifies Decision-Making: Having a clear set of brand elements to refer to minimizes guesswork when creating content.
4. Aids Collaboration: Team members and external collaborators can quickly align their work to the brand’s visual identity.
5. Reinforces Brand Strategy: By adhering to the brand board, businesses can communicate their brand personality and values more effectively.
Here are some popular tools to create your brand board:
Adobe Illustrator: A vector graphics editor ideal for designing logos, icons, and intricate brand elements.
Adobe InDesign: Geared towards layout design, it’s great for assembling brand boards and brand style guides.
Canva: This user-friendly online tool offers free brand board templates and an intuitive design platform, making it accessible even for non-designers.
Figma: An online UI/UX design tool, it allows for collaborative design and is useful for creating digital-first brand boards.
A brand board template is a pre-designed framework that provides a structured layout for showcasing the visual elements of a brand’s identity. Typically used by businesses and designers, this template offers a clear and organized space to display key components such as the primary logo, color palette, typography, iconography, patterns, and any other brand-specific visuals. The template acts as a starting point, allowing users to easily plug in their specific brand assets. Using a brand board template ensures that all vital branding elements are presented in a cohesive and comprehensive manner, making it a valuable tool for maintaining consistency and guiding branding decisions across various marketing materials and platforms.
The following template is free for you to use in Canva. Just click the link and make a copy (no email required).
The following 10 Brand Boards are pre designed examples from Canva you can use for inspiration.
In the ever-competitive business landscape, a brand board stands out as a beacon of consistency and clarity. It’s more than just a collection of visual elements; it’s a reflection of your brand’s soul. Every color palette, logo variation, and visual element echoes your brand strategy and resonates with your target market. Whether you’re kickstarting a new branding project or aiming to revamp your existing brand identity, a great brand board is your compass, ensuring every design element, from web design to print materials, resonates with your brand’s voice and vision. So, if you’ve been overlooking this potent tool, it’s time to explore brand board templates or collaborate with a professional designer to create a brand board tailored to your business’s ethos. Dive in, and let your brand shine consistently across all platforms!
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