You may have heard people speak of designing a brand identity and building a brand personality as if they were exactly the same thing, but the truth is a little more complicated than that. Although designing a brand identity has an important relationship to brand personality, it is in fact its own thing. Let's examine the differences close up.

Visual Recognition

When we speak of a brand's personality, we often refer to its "voice" -- the emotional tone, temperature, and ambience projected by the marketing content. An exciting tour guide, an objective industry expert, and a reassuring friend all sound quite different, just to name three examples, and each tone of voice will appeal to a different market segment. Brand identity design, on the other hand, specifically refers to the visual elements that establish your business in the mind and memory of your target audience.

From your unique logo to your company's color scheme, the website layout, and the font choices used across the board in all your marketing, brand identity encourages your name to pop into people's heads whenever they see those combinations of elements. And the more readily they recognize or think of you, the more likely you are to turn them into buyers.

The right design elements can make for a memorable brand identity.

A Physical Presence

While personality of your brand is a voice or "feeling" that pervades all aspects of your marketing, brand identity design is conveyed through some specific tools that give it physical form. Your distinctive look must find its way onto your letterhead, mailers, printed collateral, ads, brochures, and any other part of your business that "touches" the viewer. Even the front entrance of your headquarters or various branches may use signage, company colors, and other design elements to make those facades instantly recognizable as your brand.

That's one of the reasons you see staff at leading retailers walking around in uniforms of shirts branded with their company logos. That clothing doesn't just point out the staffer to customers in need of their aid; it also serves as a constant reinforcement of the brand identity.

Speaking Without Words

It should be pointed out that while the term "brand identity design" has a different meaning than "brand personality," that doesn't mean that the two exist exclusively. Far from it. Identity can actually be seen as a subset of personality -- one of the key ingredients that inform the public of what they can expect from your company.

Take the classic mascot character designed for the email distribution company MailChimp. "Freddie von Chimpenheimer IV" does not have a voice or his own, yet he oozes personality with his happy expression and casual demeanor. He has become an instantly recognizable symbol that helps establish the company's brand identity, and at the same time he's making a direct statement about the brand personality by depicting it as the producer of fun, user-friendly mass email solutions. Even the color scheme you choose may inspire specific emotions, from the confidence and reliability projected by blue or red to the glamour evoked by purple.

A cute, friendly mascot is a brand identity design
element that projects personality.

You must design your brand identity so that it will work hand-in-hand with other aspects of your brand personality to send a congruent, powerful message. Xzito can make sure your brand communicates properly by working with you both on brand identity design and on the various marketing tools that position it before the public eye. Contact us to learn how we can help you.