Identity
designing
- You are more than just a name -
You are more than just a name with a personality, values and traits; combining that builds your Identity. In the same way, a brand needs an identity which can be designed. In this blog, we are going to discuss about it.
What is identity
designing?
Every business has an audience but how do you connect to those people? How do you make them understand that you are perfect for them? One way of doing that is through Identity designing.
It just like saying to a person hey I can help you, but in a little different way which builds authenticity, trust and uniqueness.
Moreover in a saturated market where there is huge competition you can differentiate yourself and create a niche to rule it.
Let us understand this with an example
We at ZAK Designs helped a client in their Identity Design by the name Purple Noodles; they are a digital marketing agency in the US.
To create a unique identity we tried finding a connection between the name and occupation. Digital marketing involves too many things like funnels, link trails, audience selection which makes it pretty messy and noodles are always tangled to each other. The connection we found was both are tangled and messy.
So we suggested them a tagline – Untangle the mess!
Majority of the digital marketing firms offers services like SEO, SEM, Facebook ads etc
Here we offer the same service but in a unique way, we are the people who untangle your digital marketing mess; this way we differentiated and positioned Purple Noodles as the only in the field.
This is the logo (check out our portfolio to see more of our work) we designed for them but Identity Designing is not just about the logo, it is about differentiating yourself from others and we successfully did that.
Why is identity
designing so important?
Identity Designing can be very important and cannot be important at all, depends on your vision.
If you just want to run a business and wish to struggle on a daily basis by catering the clients who look for services available at a very cheap rate then it is not important.
However, if you wish to build a brand and cater those people who value your service and are ready to pay a high price for it, then Identity Designing is a must.
To onboard the high ticket clients your business needs a personality, values and set of beliefs which matches with theirs. Your business outlook must attract those kinds of people or else you will not be chosen.
Your business should present itself in a way which matches their level of mindset and vision, only then you can build a brand.
This is why Identity designing is important; it is a process of humanising your brand to build connection, trust and authenticity.
How to design
an identity?
Every business naturally has an identity but the goal of Identity Designing is to build the right identity to attract the desired customers.
Each business will have a different requirement but somehow these will work for all type of businesses. Let’s begin with the first one.
CORE PURPOSE: Why do you exist more than just to make money? Are you here just to sell or provide something unique in return?
Your business should help them in some way as in the branding world there is a very famous proverb “Not by selling but by helping you build a brand”.
Let’s explore this part
with some examples
BMW – The ultimate driving machine
Have you ever thought that why BMW cars are so expensive but people still buy it? See it is not just a vehicle to take you from one place to another. It gives you a pleasure driving it; often gives you a feeling of achievement that this car is not for everyone and you are one of the special people to drive it.
BMW sells this feeling of achievement and this is their Identity.
Volvo – Volvo is another car manufacturing company which sells more than just a car. They sell safety.
Their purpose and identity is to take the family from point A to point B- safely.
Volvo’s entire business model is surrounded around this purpose, from the materials used in their cars to their innovations.
A fun fact– do you know Volvo was the first car company to introduced three-pin safety belts, which is now there in every car was once rebuked by a lot of people. Even after all the negative feedback the company still made it built in every car of theirs and till date it has saved more than a billion life.
This one thing built trust among people that Volvo will take them safely to their destination and because of that, it is today a brand.
Often it seems difficult to stick to the core purpose and values of the company but if done properly then the reward is massive.
The reason why I gave two examples of Car Company because, it is to show that both provide the same end product- a car, but both have a different Identity and a different niche altogether.
They have the same end products but their audience are completely different. Both are successful in their field at the same time. This is the power of Identity Designing.
Amazon – The reason for Amazon huge success is not because it is just an e-commerce website but their vision of making a wide variety of products available at a fingertip. Now you don’t have to run to different places for different products, it is all available under one roof.
Moreover, if you don’t like the product you can get it easily replaced. The product gets timely delivered and Amazon personally takes the responsibility for it.
All of these factors make it so successful. Now guess what is their core purpose? It is to allow hassle-free shopping to the buyers; such a simple yet powerful purpose.
Myntra – Myntra is another e-commerce website and is very successful here in India which came long after Amazon. While Amazon deals in a broad variety of products Myntra did just the opposite by focusing on a specific niche – Clothing. They made an E-commerce website specifically for people looking to buy clothes online.
Just like Amazon, they have a wide variety of clothes from expensive to reasonable ones, from very famous brands to new brands. They have an easy return/exchange facility on all products.
The core purpose of Myntra is to provide a fun shopping experience.
Now see even after Amazon huge success Myntra managed to capture a market share by creating an identity different from its competitor. Both are E-commerce platform but have a completely different audience.
This is the power of Identity Designing.
I have written a separate individual blog on Core Purpose, you should check it out here.
VALUES – Values are must for every brand, they are the pillars on which the entire organisation stands on and if they are not strong enough then it can be devastating.
Values are nothing but basic rules of a company; it differs from business to business.
It is said that “Your value greatly depends on your values”. If you wish to dig deeper visit this blog on Values, it will help you a lot.
TONE OF VOICE – You will automatically recognize your family members from their voice, similarly, a brand needs a voice of its own known as Tone of Voice so that it can be remembered.
A Tone of Voice can be anything like comic, motivational, serious, caring etc
There is something called audio branding and if you wish to know about it check it out.
I will be writing a detailed blog on it so if you wish to be informed then subscribe to my email list.
LOOK AND FEEL OF THE BRAND – Standing on the middle of the road I see so many people but only a few standout. Most of them will be forgotten however there is a chance to remember a few.
Similarly, the world is crowded with the same products and services you provide, so how do you differentiate yourself in this kind of saturated market? How do you stand out among your competitors?
For this reason, a brand needs a look and feel starting with a logo, not just any symbol or mark but it must have a concept or reason behind it. The logo must show what the brand deals and stands for and it has to be different and unique to create a compelling identity.
Set of a colour palette which will be used everywhere you communicate about your brand. Be it any medium from print to digital it has to be constant everywhere.
A style and pattern which must be used every time in a different, unique and creative way.
By doing this “correctly” we will create a position in the mind of the people, a space which was vacant and now can be ruled by only us!
Thus you create a brand!
Here we are at the end of this blog on Identity Designing and hope it was helpful and you found value from it. If you like it then please share it with your friends and family on social media platforms.
I hope you enjoyed reading this, let me know about it in the comment section.
If you are a graphic designer then do check out the following blogs, it will help you a lot:
- Ultimate Guide on Graphic Designing
- Ultimate Guide on Printing
- Is Graphic Designing a good career choice?
If you run a business and wish to build a brand then read the following blogs:
- Brand, Branding and Branding Strategy
- Core purpose – A must for Branding
- Values – Your value depends on your values
You can go through some of the case studies here –
- Case study on the logo designed for Artinsive Interiors
- Case study on the logo designed for GIGGL
- Case study on the logo designed for The Joint Clinic
If this inspires you please share it.
You can follow us on social media sites; we regularly put content which you can learn a lot from.
Written by Zain Ahmed Kamal