Hi! Welcome to an exciting journey through one of the most important elements of your business—brand identity. We’re going to dive deep into how brand identity has changed from traditional methods of branding into modern times and the broad era of digital branding, completely changing how businesses represent themselves and communicate with their audience. Ready to join this eye-opening journey? Let’s get started!
Traditional Branding: The Basics
The early days of branding were simple. Physical elements drove traditional branding to a large extent: think iconic logos, classic colour palettes, and timeless typography—they were truly the cornerstones of a brand’s public image.
1. Logos: The Face of Your Brand
Logos were the literal face of your brand back then. It had to be memorable, recognizable, like Coca-Cola’s classic script logo or Nike’s swoosh—nearly unchanged since decades. Such logos are instantly recognizable and have built a strong, consistent brand identity.
2. Colour Palettes: Setting the Mood
Your colour palette should evoke your proposition, create an association, or elicit an emotional response. An example of this is McDonald’s, whose red and yellow colours are used to stimulate appetite and draw eyes. These colours were not solely selected based on their visual appeal but for their psychological effects.
3. Typography: Crafting a Voice
Another critical aspect was typography, or the style of the text. The brands chose fonts that suited their personality. For instance, a law firm would want to use some sort of classic serif font to connote professionalism and trustworthiness. Contrasted with this, some kind of lean and slick sans-serif font could be used in representing a tech startup for innovation.
4. Branded Merchandise Products
Traditional branding extended into merchandise: think branded pens, notebooks, and T-shirts. Companies like Starbucks built its identity with their iconic green and white coffee cups that go synonymously with the brand.
The Digital Shift: A New Era of Branding
The emergence of the Internet and digital media made it essential for branding to evolve. In essence, digital platforms and technologies really changed how brands started to approach their audience. It is here that the digital brand board jumps in—a game-changer in how we consider and handle brand identity.
1. What Is a Digital Brand Board?
A digital brand board is the modern replacement to collate all of your brand’s visual elements in one place. It essentially works like an online version of the conventional toolkit on brand branding but with a design that is more flexible and adaptable for a variety of online platforms.
2. Key Elements of a Digital Brand Board
Logos and Variations: You may also want to add logo variations on your digital brand board. These could be a primary logo, a simplified version that will fit into small spaces, and a version in black and white to give your branding application diversity.
Colour Palette: Add the colour codes for your brand to ensure a digital, same-from-same approach everywhere. For example, Instagram uses really bright colours that make up its brand identity; having those colours in your digital brand board keeps your content on-brand.
Typography: Note typefaces used in your brand’s materials, listing web-safe versions where necessary for online use. Many companies like to use Google Fonts—such as Roboto or Open Sans—to allow their brand to easily be carried across devices.
Imagery and Graphics: Add visuals in a visual style relevant to your brand. This can include patterns, icons, and photographic style. For example, Apple’s minimal imagery and clean lines are key to its brand identity.
3. Benefits of Digital Brand Boards
Consistency Across Platforms: Digital brand boards ensure that your branding elements are the same for all digital touchpoints, from websites to social media and email campaigns.
Flexibility and Adaptability: Unlike traditional hardcopy materials, digital brand boards are highly flexible and are meant to change. You can make real changes to your brand’s visual identity elements quickly and easily without having to roll out new pieces of stationery, for example.
Creation Efficiency: Having all your brand’s visual elements in one place means you will be able to create new marketing materials at warp speed. No more searching for logos or colour codes, as everything is at your fingertips.
4. Products and Merchandise in the Digital Age
The merchandise isn’t dead in this digital age. It just changed. Instead of products that exist as a physical manifestation, think how merchandise lives in a virtual format. For example:
Digital Downloads: Branded e-books, PDFs, or wallpapers. This is precisely what companies like HubSpot are doing: giving away free downloadables that actually subliminally plug their brand.
Virtual Goods: Virtual items branded with your identity further firm up a brand’s identity in digital spaces. Especially in the gaming industry, this can be applied.
Branded Apps: Branded mobile apps carry your brand identity. For instance, Starbucks’ app not only offers mobile payments, but also reinforces its brand through a unified, cohesive digital experience.
Case Studies: Brands That Mastered the Shift
Let’s now consider a few brands that have made this shift from traditional to digital branding successful.
1. Nike
How the brand identity of Nike has changed over time: Although the swoosh and “Just Do It” remain invariant, they have moved toward a digital brand board where there are different logo variations, a diverse palette of brand colours, and modern typography. As much as the physical branding is captivating, so is the digital experience in terms of providing a seamless experience from their website to a mobile app.
2. Apple
Apple is the first example of how traditional and digital branding work well together. There’s its simple logo, pristine colour palette, and sans serif font, all left intact across its website, packaging of products, and digital marketing material. Apple’s digital brand board helps in keeping its premium image intact and consistent on all platforms.
3. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has maintained the key elements of traditional branding while bringing them into digital platforms. That classic logo and colour scheme show up everywhere: their website, social media, and digital advertising. Their digital brand board makes sure that every campaign is showing off their iconic identity.
Creating Your Own Digital Brand Board
Want to create your own digital brand board? Follow this step-by-step process to get you going:
1. Gather Your Brand Elements
First, gather all the current brand assets that exist—logos, colour codes, typography, and imagery. And also make sure there are high-resolution versions for each of these.
2. Choosing a Digital Tool
The most commonly used digital tools in making a digital brand board are Canva, Adobe Spark, and Figma. All of these have user-friendly interfaces with customized templates.
3. Design Your Brand Board
Create a digital brand board with your preferred tool, including all of your brand’s visual elements. Make it organized and with the ability to move things around easily. Create separate sections for each element and add details such as colour codes and font styles.
4. Share and Implement
Once you have prepared the brand board, share it among your team. Ensure that everybody designing marketing material gets to have a copy. Apply the brand board on all digital platforms to execute consistency.
5. Update Regularly
Branding is never static. With fluctuations in your business, so is the change in the brand board. Keep reviewing and updating the digital brand board from time to time for its consistency; it must show the identity of your brand at that moment.
Final Thoughts
The move from traditional branding to digital brand boards symbolizes many of the overdue changes in the way identity management has been handled within a business. Embracing that change will let you keep your consistency while adapting to new digital environments.
By understanding and applying the power of digital brand boards, you will have a cohesive, pounding brand across all platforms. Get started now, create your digital brand board, and watch your brand identity thrive in this digital age