Developing Your Brand Identity Shouldn’t Be Scary

I love this time of year. My family really gets into the decorations and costumes that go along with Halloween. All these outward expressions help to identify with and enhance the overall experience. It got me thinking about the importance of visual identity and how it helps identify and enhance a brand’s experience. In today’s post I want to briefly outline steps one should consider when creating a key aspect of a brand’s identity – its
logo.

Your brand’s identity is the entire visual appearance of your brand. In other words, it’s more than the logo. However, a logo can be trademarked and is potentially the most unique part of your identity. So what are some things you need to consider regarding this valuable asset?

1. Research

Competitive analysis is an important first step. It’s helpful to understand the landscape before sitting down to develop a mark that truly differentiates. Start a collection of designs and URLs that you can refer to later.

2. Naming

A well-crafted mark should evoke the essence of your practice. Do you specialize in something? Then your name should probably point that out. Also, when choosing a name for a practice, consider the impact a name has on the future sale of your practice. Will the new owner be able to leverage the equity in your practice’s brand or will they need to rename?

3. Visual Exploration

Designers often use a number of techniques to explore possible ideas. Mood boards are just one great way to start the brainstorming process. They are simply a collage of images that represent various attributes of your brand. This is a form of non-linear thinking that allows you to explore a variety of ideas organically. Once you have explored the possibilities, summarize the board in a statement. Then identify key words and look at combining them in different ways. You’ll be surprised how this can help you “think outside the box.”

4. Design

Keep the communication goal of the logo in the forefront. Concept is king here, not just a cool icon. You want to be creative. But in the end, if the logo does not communicate to prospective patients what you do and how you’re different, you’ve missed a key opportunity.

Let us know if there are other topics regarding brand building you’d like to hear about. Good luck and have fun.

About Post Author

Christian Oleson

Christian is the creative director and global brand manager for Patterson Companies. He is responsible for leading teams in developing engaging, compelling and relevant marketing and advertising for Patterson’s growing global healthcare portfolio. He’s been building brands for Patterson since 1999.