Why Branding is More than Just a Logo

I wrote a blog post about Branding vs brand identity. What is a difference between brand, identity and logo design in which I talked about the differences between branding and brand identity, but this time, I wanted to focus just on the logo design, so why you need more than just a logo to build a profitable business? I can’t remember how many times I was asked “why do I need brand design?”, “Isn’t logo a brand?”, “I only need a logo” and so on.

The simple answer to questions like that is:

Branding/Brand is NOT a logo. The logo is just a graphic symbol of your brand and business. So let’s break down the 4 reasons:

WHY BRANDING IS MORE THAN JUST A LOGO:

1. YOUR BLOG & BUSINESS STARTS WITH A LOGO, BUT IT’S A JUST TIP OF AN ICEBERG

There’s no doubt in the fact that every brand and business needs a logo and that it’s an important part of your brand identity because as I said, it’s a symbol/representation of your business. But, logo design is just a tip of an iceberg of your entire branding.

Branding/brand is an experience, it contains your business’s values, mission and goals. The visual side of branding, (so brand identity/brand design and logo) helps you convey all of the non-visual components, so your customers can understand your vision and see how you can help them.

2. CREATING A LOGO JUST FOR SAKE OF HAVING IT, DOESN’T SERVE THE PURPOSE

Designing logo just to have it, isn’t complicated at all. But it’s not about choosing some pretty fonts and writing down your business name. You need to think ahead. You need to think what message a logo is showing to your potential clients.

The logo is probably the hardest part of designing an entire brand identity (it definitely takes a significant amount of time in my brand & website design packages) because it’s a guide for creating other elements like alternative logos, submarks, colour palette, brand collaterals and so on.

3. YOUR AUDIENCE NEEDS MORE THAN A LOGO IN ORDER TO TRUST YOU

Having a pretty logo at the top of your website or on your business cards isn’t enough to help your target audience get to know you. If you don’t have a brand identity (you only have a logo), your website design is all over the place, you’re using random colours that you like and you’re using the fonts you found yesterday for social media graphics.

Not having a brand identity or having incohesive brand design will definitely break your first impression and scare away your potential clients. Your visuals need to send a clear message to your audience and show who you are (branding/brand).

Cohesive branding builds trust with your audience, help you convey your message and showcase that you’re professional and establish you as an expert in your niche. Having just logo isn’t going to do any of that.

4. FOR SOME BUSINESSES, BRAND IDENTITY IS MORE MEMORABLE AND IMPORTANT THAN A LOGO

As I’ve mentioned in this blog post, for some brands, the colour palette is more recognizable than a logo. If someone uses memorable icons or illustrations on their website, you might remember them because of that design elements, not because of the logo. You may remember some blogger and recognize their blog post graphics on Pinterest right away and not necessarily their logo.

Of course, I’m NOT saying that logo is not important, it’s quite the opposite, but as I said, it’s a starting point for your entire brand identity. To simplify – by creating other elements of your visual identity like different versions of your main logo (alternative logos and submarks), design elements like icons, illustrations, image holders and brand collaterals like blog post graphics, website buttons, you’re giving your brand/branding higher chances to be remembered.

All right, once we talked about the main reasons why branding is more than just a logo, let’s talk about the things your brand and business need, so the visual elements/brand design elements/brand identity elements in order to grow your business, build trust with your audience and show them who you are.

Branding and brand identity, help your audience to see your business as a whole. The non-visual side of your business (branding/brand) will create an experience for your customers and the visual side (brand design/brand identity) will showcase all of the non-visual aspects. Branding, helps you differentiate yourself from others, which is super important especially nowadays when a lot of markets are oversaturated.

I hope this blog post helps you understand the importance of branding and why you need more than just a logo.

If you already figured out all of the non-visual aspects of your business and now, you’re looking for someone to convey your message via visuals, take a look at my brand & website design services, by clicking the image below.