Designing a commercial identity perfectly is no longer a matter that can be ignored, with many brands appearing and growing every day, it has become necessary to take care of all the details in which the customer meets your brand, for example, you may think that the colors of the images for your project are a marginal matter that can You choose it at random, as the occasion requires, but the truth is otherwise.

Because everything that connects you with the customer is important, every element that he receives during his interaction with your project allows you to strengthen this interaction and turn it into a solid association that develops the growth of your profits that is difficult to compensate for in any other way. Designing a unique commercial identity motivates the public to trust your products, and enhances your ability to create a familiarity that attracts customers every time they want services similar to yours so that you are their first choice.

table of contents:

What should you know before designing a commercial identity for your project?

1. Designing a business identity takes time

Before moving on to the rest of the paragraphs of the article, I am interested in making sure together that designing a professional commercial identity does not come overnight. Rather, it requires deep and comprehensive research to select the appropriate elements and highlight them in line with the spirit of your distinctive brand. In fact, it can be very stressful and confusing, both for the designer and the business owner; Because you need to think systematically and deliberately with every choice; To ask yourself many questions, for example:

  • Which colors suit you the most?
  • What is the logo that expresses you?
  • What is the appropriate font size and type?
  • What are the best design templates?
  • How do these elements appear on the personal card?

And more important questions that come to your mind when you think about growing your business, but the good news is that you will find here your comprehensive guide about the elements of commercial identity and how you can employ them in line with your goals, so that you can express them authentically, especially with the latest statistics that prove that 88 % of Customers see authenticity as a critical component of their liking and support for a brand.


2. Don't underestimate color when designing your brand identity

Colors are important, so don't settle for any ill-conceived colors that are hard to relate to your project. Now think of a brand in red, remember Coca-Cola? How about a brand in white and green? Have you thought about Starbucks? Most likely, yes. The previous examples prove the importance of colors when designing a business identity, and they increase your brand awareness by up to 80%.

Therefore, study the available color options according to the nature of each color and its connotations, and then commit to including these colors in all of your designs. Color theory can help you pick what works for you, but more importantly, know your brand spirit. In another way, think of your project as someone who will be dressed for an important event, so what is the most suitable outfit for him, and what color?

3. Make an immediate impression with everything you have to say

You must be aware of the role of the first impression while designing a new commercial identity, as it is not just about imitating competitors and making an identity like them, but rather this initial simulation. If you think about the brands you trust, they have all the qualities you would love to have or would be interested in acquiring and growing. 77% of consumers buy from brands that share their values.

If you think of Tesla, for example, you may find that you like it for its interest in using renewable energy and how creative it is in producing smart and advanced cars. But if you care about privacy, you may see Apple as an ideal candidate for your new phone or personal computer. This means that every brand has core values, and it focuses on showing them to those interested in it so that it attracts those who see it as a priority in their life.

And you can take advantage of this in designing a commercial identity and grafting it with your values ​​in a smart way, to give this impression from the first moment, and to attract those who really care about what you offer, especially since many of the audience now do not have patience until they form a final opinion about your brand. According to statistics, customers take about 0.05 seconds. To create an impression of your website.

And since the commercial identity is very important in the website and other means of communication with the customer, then you must take care of everything that he sees and interacts with but do not forget to also take care of other matters, such as applying all the rules of search engines SEO and the quality of e-marketing.

4. Provide perfect handling and use experience

The main purpose of any project is to contribute to making the life of the target group better, by facilitating opportunities or encouraging them to do a certain task, or helping them implement something. If you keep this belief in mind and always focus on it while designing a professional business identity, you will find the best way to improve the user experience when they interact with your brand.

However, you will not be able to know the best experience until you ask about it, which means that you must conduct comprehensive research and continuous communication with your customers, and then use feedback in developing your services and products, as 73% of customers acknowledged that their experience while dealing with the brand was a key factor. In deciding their decision to buy the product or not.

Therefore, use this information to improve the commercial identity, as many organizations have involved customers in the selection process, such as placing a post on Facebook asking the public to comment on which colors they like best to represent the organization, or even launching an official competition in which your audience designs your logo, and then you choose the most suitable logo. Align with the values ​​that you espouse and want to demonstrate.

This means that the ways to improve the user experience are endless and stop at the limits of your creativity. The most important thing is to realize that the primary function of designing a commercial identity is to give a human spirit to your project, making it easier for customers to get to know you and bring them closer to you. Do you expect the designs to be perfect and of unique human beauty, and Does this have a bad user experience or feel mechanical, uninspired, or even fake?

5. Continuity is the secret of your success when designing a business identity

Keeping your images shared with consistent templates and providing your brand voice with what your audience knows is a necessity that should be taken care of. Add to the above your commitment to promoting your values ​​regardless of the temptations, when you are committed and persistent, the audience will quickly recognize you and your profits will grow; Based on indicators that have proven that the continuous representation of the brand increases its profits by about 33%.

Imagine with me that today you shared with your audience an image with a specific design, red color, and New Roman font, for example, and then tomorrow you shared an image with a completely different design, with green color and Arial font, and so every day you changed the design, colors, and fonts according to what you want.

Do you think this method will help your audience get to know you or mentally establish your presence in their mind? Therefore, adhering to the guidelines when designing a new commercial identity is indispensable, no matter how tempting the differences or additions may be. Not only will it benefit you in achieving more profits or getting closer to the audience, but it will also strengthen employees' faith in your brand and increase their motivation to work.

This also affects the reputation of your organization, as you will share with your audience every day what they care about regularly while maintaining the elements of the commercial identity, and all of these things will bring you great benefits in the long run. All major brands follow the previous notes, and it is difficult or impossible to find any global or locally successful brand that does not stick to what I have indicated.

And based on all the statistics that I mentioned above, people today do not buy any product based on its quality only, but the brand identity plays a big role - we agree or disagree on saying that - but it may match the role of the quality of the product, and perhaps brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga, and Prada are proof of that. That is, but the important question here is how to design a commercial identity that the public respects?

In 10 Steps: How to Design a Professional Business Identity?

1. Know your capabilities

The visual elements of the commercial identity are the last thing that should be taken care of now, as your way must be clear before designing a commercial identity for your project, which means knowing your capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses, and here comes the role of the SWOT analysis, which shows you the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing you. your project. Based on your business analysis, you should clearly and accurately answer the following questions:

  • Who are you?
  • Who is your competition now?
  • What sets you apart from competitors?
  • What do you want to highlight about your brand?
  • Who is your target audience, and where do you find them?
  • What is your brand personality?
  • What are the values ​​that you espouse and that you are interested in sharing with the public?
  •  How do you talk about what you offer? (This question focuses on discovering the distinctive voice of brand identity)

And after clearly answering these questions, you will start applying what you have harvested in a group of very important elements, and if you cannot know the above or do not get satisfactory answers that you can share them with those around you without shame or facing a defect in explaining one of the elements, then do not move to the step The following before you achieve this, as the possibility of failure to apply these elements visually will double if the answers are wrong, and you will not be able to design a commercial identity that the audience loves.

And I will assume here that you get the appropriate answers that are compatible with what you hope for, let's apply them as follows:

  • Brand Heart

In the previous paragraphs, I emphasized the importance of having values ​​that you take care of highlighting while designing a new commercial identity, and here comes your role in writing them professionally, focusing on the message you adopt, the vision you aspire to, and your mission that you would like to perform through your project.

  • Business identity name

If you haven't chosen a name for your brand yet, the previous points will help you choose the perfect name for your business, and note that choosing the right name in this step is essential; Because you will need it in the next steps, and avoid choosing ill-conceived or random names just because you like them, as the matter is more complicated and you must study the methods of choosing the appropriate name for your business carefully.

  • Presence of business identity

In this step, think about how your brand will appear to the public; Choosing the voice and its tone, the personality of the business identity that highlights the most important qualities that you want to leave the customer with, for example, is your brand fun or serious? Accessible or complex? Quick or for those who like to slow down? And then employ these things in your messages with the target customer, while maintaining your motto and values.

2. Analyze and evaluate the status quo before designing a new brand identity

If you do not start from scratch, this means that you have a certain segment of the audience who are actually interested in your services, and you also have knowledge of which products generate more sales, just as you know the most successful promotional campaigns or marketing methods that paid off with you previously, and I invite you here in this step to study all matters To comprehensively analyze the current situation, it must pay special attention to the following:

  • Understanding of the current business identity.
  • Knowing the new way you would like to adopt to express your brand.
  • Competitor analysis and what methods they follow.

About the analysis of competitors, let me emphasize here that every time you want to make a certain change, whether in designing a new commercial identity or adding new products, you must every time analyze the market and know the current trends and indicators of future trends to benefit from that and be ahead of competitors by long steps. The main idea here is that the purpose of designing a commercial identity is to highlight your project among thousands of competitors.

Therefore, you must study them carefully, following a clear approach, and looking for certain answers so that you can represent the results of this study while designing the new commercial identity. For example, you can follow this method; Study each competitor separately, then compare each competitor to another, and then study them all at once.

This method enables you to find the best practices followed by each competitor and to extract the common methods adopted by all competitors, which will be fundamental and cannot be compromised because the market needs them. You'll also know what colors your competitors are using, your average font size, and even which elements are most attractive to your audience, how competitors present themselves to the market, and what their brand personality is.

3. Express your desired brand identity in writing

Now you know the personality that you want to show for your commercial identity, and since the characteristics of any personality are relative and we must compare them with another to make their impact clear, this is what you should do when designing a new commercial identity, which means holding a meeting with the relevant employees of your company or whoever is interested and then discussing The best way to express these qualities before putting them into the elements of the final identity.

After agreeing on the deliverables, write clearly a summary of the brand you aspire to and share it with the designer or other designers if more than one designer is working on the project. This brief contributes to the clarity of vision throughout the design process; As it will be a quick reference for the designer to reach if he stumbles on finding the right idea, and avoid potential distraction, especially if you cooperate with more than one official.

But note that the branding brief should be balanced; Do not elaborate on the explanation or shorten the details, assuming that those working on the project will understand what I wanted to say and refrain from. Read the abstract after writing it more than once at different times and ask the experts and designers themselves to make sure that they fully understand each point of the summary and that they can embody it according to the vision that you aspire to.

4. Design your logo, the beginning of an integrated commercial identity design journey

Professional logo design is the job of creators. A logo or slogan is a symbol or drawing that expresses your brand. The logo is used in all the elements that you interact with your audience, it can be printed on personal cards and product covers, just as it is placed on videos and images that you share on various social media platforms and on your website as well as other various elements.

Therefore, it is not surprising that we start designing the logo here, and do not rush to quickly implement one of the ideas that you like, but rather allow yourself to study all the possibilities and ideas to generate a distinctive logo; Because it is an essential element for the success of designing a commercial identity.

Here are some quick tips that you should know in this step:

  • Determine the specifications of the ideal logo from your point of view, taking into account the specifications of a successful logo.
  • Choose the type of logo you want.
  • Set the basic elements that you will include in the designed logo, such as colors, font, size, etc.
  • Extract the logo in more than one format.
  • Get a black and white copy.
  • Preview the logo on more than one platform and on various electronic devices (you may like the look of the logo on the computer, while you would like to make some additional adjustments to its appearance on mobile phones).
  • Make sure that the logo is as clear and expressive of the business identity as you hope.
  • You can request one of the professional services on the Fiverr platform to design a distinctive logo in record time and at a competitive price.

5. Choose the color combination that you will stick to

I think that many brands specializing in fast food, especially poultry, and hamburgers, choose red and yellow colors, and with logical thinking, you will see the similarity between the colors of the hamburger sandwich and those colors that these restaurants adopt in their logos and various design templates, for example, let's think of the McDonald's brand Or Burger King or even Hardee's, you'll see what I say.

But if we study the matter according to the psychology of colors, we will see that the choice of these restaurants for the colors red and yellow came in line with their significance. And when you mix them together, they give you an energetic effect with speed, readiness, and preparedness, which is in keeping with the spirit and nature of these brands.

McDonald's

So the choice of colors while designing a new commercial identity is never done randomly, but rather each color is studied and its compatibility with the personality of your commercial identity is carefully measured, and after settling on a specific color palette, you must recommend designers to use it later in all design templates and various visual elements in your business. Colors can be distributed according to the following:

  • One main color.
  • Two primary colors.
  • 3 to 5 secondary colors, which you'll use depending on the nature of the occasion.
  • 2 to 3 Accent color, usually applied in small amounts in empty spaces for artistic and aesthetic effect.

6. Select the appropriate font and set its size

Choosing a font that is compatible with the personality of the business identity is not easier than choosing colors. In fact, I can say from my experience that this matter is very confusing, especially with the very many font choices that make you happy every time you decide to try them, and the matter will be more complicated if you need to set an Arabic font It is also Latin, which means that the confusion multiplies every time if you do not like the look of the Arabic calligraphy in the Latin letters or vice versa.

Therefore, do not underestimate this step, but rather take your time to study all possibilities. Because you will use fonts in images, prints, your website, banners, brochures, and guides that you will share with your audience if the need arises, and do not forget about videos of all kinds. You may think it is just a line, but it is like a finger pointing at you, by which your audience recognizes you and keeps it in their memories unconsciously.

Choose the appropriate font and set its size

You can stick to two or up to three different fonts, one of which will be for the headlines, while you'll choose the rest for the subheadings and text. The following notes can help you take advantage of calligraphy and use it while designing a distinctive business identity:

• See the font you have chosen in all its states; That is, print it on A4 official paper, A4 notes, personal cards, menus, catalogs, and other papers that you use in your business; Until you evaluate it in all its aspects.

• Attach the font to one of the designed images and a video of your own, and evaluate its appearance with the colors and its suitability for the personality of your commercial identity.

• Display the font on the mobile phone, computer, and tablet, and seriously search for any defect or weaknesses if it is displayed on these platforms, and you must make sure that the font you have chosen is legible and appropriate in size, and not only expressive and beautiful.

• Try more than one font on your website, and analyze which one is more eye-catching and improves user experience.

• If the personality of the commercial identity is serious, it would be appropriate to choose straight lines drawn regularly and ruggedly, such as Serif lines or Sans Serif lines in general, as many brands specialized in selling luxury goods use the Geometric San-Serif classification.

• If the business identity character is female, youthful, or fun, she can choose soft hand-drawn lines, such as:

    • For Arabic characters: Zapfino Arabic or Arslan Wessam.
    • For Latin characters: Bradley Hand or Zapfino.

• Knowing the art of typography and knowing its secrets will help you understand how to use fonts in designing a successful commercial identity. But if you find it cumbersome, you can use one of the distinguished services on the Fiverr platform in designing fonts, so that you can design a special and unique font.

In light of the previous observations, you will find that your choice of fonts depends mainly on the personality of the brand and the category you are targeting, so you must ask yourself: Is the font you choose really suitable for your perception of the commercial identity? Is it clearly expressing what I want? Is it easily readable? Is it sufficiently distinct from competitors and at the same time appeal to the target audience?

7. Design the additional elements you use in your activity

After completing the design of the previous steps and ensuring their quality, you will move here to designing the additional elements in the integrated commercial identity, such as:

  • Illustrations and charts.
  • Icons.
  • Photo and video templates.
  • Information chart (infographic).
  • Personal cards.
  • Printing paper of various sizes and types.
  • Gift prints, such as pens and clothing.
  • Design your brand invoice.
  • seal design.
  • Covers such as paper or cardboard bags.
  • Design uniforms and employee identification cards.
  • Design envelopes, catalogs, and magazines.
  • Advertising flyer.

These matters and other additions branching from them are necessary to succeed in designing an integrated commercial identity, which you can rest assured of implementing from A to Z. For example, your brand images must be symmetrical and regular in the template so that the recipient knows them immediately without having to look at the logo or even the name of your page or website, so you should have a guide with the most important instructions that the designer must adhere to while designing images and various visual elements Other videos and charts.

It would also be distinctive and useful for you to have a special way of drawing graphics, which means that you pre-design some characters specially designed for your business, which you can use while designing motion graphics videos, for example, and your audience will automatically get used to these characters to serve as actors ready to serve you in any way time.

Although there are many different and distinctive forms of icons on many free and paid sites, your design of some of the most used icons on your site or your business application.. will distinguish you from all competitors. You can also use it for magazines, videos, catalogs, and other items, which means your investment is worth it.

8. Know your brand voice

Just as it is easy to recognize the people close to you from their distinctive expressions and tone of voice and how they uniquely use words to express their emotions and feelings, it will be necessary to create a voice of your business identity. The audience can know who you are from the words you use, emojis, and all the expressions you write in your content or your representatives say.

Therefore, discovering your voice is necessary while designing a new commercial identity, even if you already own an old identity, you must evaluate it at this stage and discover its strengths and weaknesses. Your brand voice should align with the personality you want to project to customers. If your business personality is serious, the words you use should be authentic, formal, and very professional.

While slang and lively expressions are suitable for brands targeting youth and teens. Note that you will stick to this voice in all customer encounter areas, which means you will use it in all your promotions, social media posts, and articles on your business website or app.

Add to this that the unique voice of the brand identity creates an experience that is hard to forget and easily sets you apart from the competition, and the importance of creating effective and memorable content is growing, based on statistics that prove that 40% of customers are interested in following brands that provide content that is interesting and easy to remember. Remember, the ultimate goal is to talk to your audience like you're a close friend, knowing what matters to them and pronouncing their words the way they like.

This is what large companies do, let's consider, for example, the voice of Apple. You will find it clear as they choose their words carefully and briefly so that the content is presented to the masses directly and logically. As for Spotify, it chooses a sound that is fun, concise, and full of lively emotions, all of which are friendly adjectives that aim to show the brand as friendly to those interested in different music genres.

9. Choose a memorable and vocal logo to design an integrated business identity

In this step, it is preferable to choose a strong and resonant vocal slogan, as soon as the client hears it in his daily life, he remembers you. Large and emerging companies choose the Slogan audio tagline to display their ambition or evoke a certain emotion in the mind of the listener as much as the visuals do. And we have so many great examples where companies have managed to blend their spirit and personality into a vocal logo so well.

If you think about Apple’s slogan, which is one of the most successful sound slogans in the twenty-first century, “Think Different”, you will find it simple and expresses the company’s ambition to introduce different products to the market. As for the local Arab markets, we find many sound slogans that attract your ears at first sight. In Egypt, we find Vodafone's slogan “Stronger together”.

And if we reflect on this vocal slogan, we will find how Vodafone Egypt uses it to express its role in bringing the distances between people closer by providing various communication services, and the matter is not limited to this limit, but this close distance makes them stronger than others. On the other hand, in the Saudi market, we find the distinctive vocal slogan of Almarai Dairy Company, “Quality worthy of trust.”

Thus, it clearly expresses the quality of its products and that it provides the customer with products that he deserves to buy and trust, which means stimulating feelings of reassurance for the brand and increasing customer loyalty to it. Examples of distinctive sound logos are many and it is difficult to list them here, but in general, successful logos have some common characteristics that you are interested in knowing while designing a new commercial identity to benefit from them, as follows:

  • Keep the phonetic slogan as short as possible so it's easier to remember. Short is better than saying everything.
  • Make sure it aligns with the rest of your brand identity, especially your business voice.
  • Avoid restricting it to a specific product or event, but rather make it eligible for continuity in different circumstances and times.
  • Try to include it in promotional campaigns and various designs to make sure it matches your various purposes.
  • Focus on the most important thing that distinguishes you and declare its presentation. Think about the feelings that will motivate the target group to take interest in your products and services, or in other words, ask yourself: What do they mean most in this type of service?

10. Complete the business identity design with the necessary instructions

You will certainly not like wasting your effort in designing an integrated commercial identity according to what I explained above, and then sharing files with team members or officials and finding that they do not adhere to the necessary details, so avoid making such mistakes and write a complete file explaining in detail each element of the identity business and the best way to use it, in each of the following:

  • print files.
  • social media sites.
  • website.
  • Mobile application.
  • Types of fonts used and how the guide reader gets them.
  • Color grades and symbols were used.
  • The logo is used in different formats and colors.

And other necessary things that you will discover during the design of the commercial identity, and then keep this guiding file in an easy-to-reach place so that you can share it at any time with whoever is interested without depleting time and effort in explanation and clarification, or in the event of hiring new employees in Design, marketing and other departments concerned with dealing with various commercial identity elements.

Conclusion

In this article, you learned about the most important things that interest you to study before designing a new commercial identity, and you can start designing your project identity professionally, following the ten rules to produce it in a professional way that dazzles your audience and competitors but do not forget that the most important element for creating a successful commercial identity is the regularity in its representation Visually, vocally and in writing, and over time, the audience will get to know you effortlessly, putting your products and services at the forefront of their choices.