10 Simple Things You Can Do To Upgrade Your Brand Visuals
[et_pb_section fb_built="1" fullwidth="on" _builder_version="3.22.7"][et_pb_fullwidth_header title="10 Simple Things You Can Do To Upgrade Your Brand Visuals" text_orientation="center" content_max_width_tablet="100%" content_max_width_phone="100%" content_max_width_last_edited="on|tablet" _builder_version="3.22.7" title_font="||||||||" title_line_height="1.2em" background_color="#0f7fff" background_image="https://dox.design/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Blue-Lines.png" background_layout="light" custom_margin="||" custom_padding="5%||5%"][/et_pb_fullwidth_header][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="3.22.3" custom_padding="0|0px|0|0px|false|false"][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.25" custom_margin="||" custom_padding="32px|0px|0|0px|false|false"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.27.4"]
Building a brand can be overwhelming. As pet industry designers, we know it all too well. But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t certain things that you can do yourself to uplevel and upgrade your brand visuals.
We compiled a list of some of the best things you can easily do to make BIG changes in your brand. Ready?
1. High-Quality Photography
One of the best things you can do to INSTANTLY upgrade your brand is to replace the blurry or too-obvious stock photography on your website and graphics. You’ve seen the graphics full of like 20 dogs and cats all together with a white background, right?
It’s unrelatable, low-quality, and missing the personalization that quality photography can bring to the table.
Now, you have a couple of options here. Our favorite?
Hire a photographer to actually take branded photos of you that match your brand. This is the best option, for obvious reasons. If you’re low on funds, consider hiring a college student or exchanging services).
If this is just not possible for you, you can always get high-quality stock photography for free! Our best recommendations for stock photography are:
To see even more suggestions on free and paid stock photography (because they are a lot of them), check out our blog post on some of our other design resources!
2. High-Level Graphics
Whether you’re creating flyers, business cards, or social media posts, it’s essential to create graphics that represent your brand. That means staying consistent with your brand colors, fonts, and imagery. As designers, Dox Design recommends Adobe Indesign or Adobe Illustrator. However, if you’re not a designer or you don’t necessarily want to invest in learning how to use these programs, you can use a free program like Canva.
And, of course, we can’t forget to mention that if you’re struggling with social media graphics, we have the program JUST for you. No, really. Dox design believes you can still be #droolworthy without breaking the bank, which is why, if you’re struggling with creating graphics, you should check out our monthly social media graphics program here.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.25"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_post_nav in_same_term="off" prev_text="Previous Blog Post" next_text="Next Blog Post" _builder_version="3.22.7" title_font="|700|||||||" title_text_color="#0f7fff" z_index_tablet="500"][/et_pb_post_nav][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.25" custom_margin="-126px|auto||auto||"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_signup mailchimp_list="Dox Design|7f0ae59247" title="Start With Your Facebook" description="
Ready to start implementing high-level graphics? Download our FREE 10 Facebook cover photos designed by us. This is an instant way to upgrade your social media profiles.
" _builder_version="3.23" header_font="||||||||" header_text_color="#e8dd16" background_color="#0f7fff"][/et_pb_signup][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.25" custom_margin="0px||" custom_padding="32px|0px|0|0px|false|false"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.27.4"]
3. Typeface (Yes, A.K.A. Your Fonts)
We could spend hours talking about the science behind picking your typeface (fonts) and finding the ones that pair properly together; however, the moral of the story here? Stick to high-quality. We want unique, yet readable. We want modern, yet personality-filled.
Our best recommendations?
- Google Fonts has some great free options for you.
- Other great options are MyFonts and FontShop
4. Pick a Comprehensive Color Palette
Similar to fonts, there’s a true science behind picking the proper colors for your brand. In fact, there’s even a field of study FULLY dedicated to color psychology. Say what!?
It’s oh so fun to learn and read about, at least for us obsessed Dox Designers. 😉
Our blog post we referenced above how to DIY Your Brand talks ALL about picking the right colors and fonts for your business. Read it here.
5. Build Brand Icons
Design details are EVERYTHING.
Icons are an essential part of your brand. When used properly, icons can communicate so much valuable information without the use of words.
To see this in play, check out our #droolworthydesign feature on Soenchie. We talk allll about the power of icons and design details with a brand that does it very well.
If you’re not a designer, you can use a service like FlatIcon. They have both a free and premium plan to help find and customize the right iconography for your business.
If you’re not a designer, try using something like FlatIcon. They have both a free and premium plan.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.27.4"]
6. Gather More Inspiration
Yes, we can all get carried away looking at our competitors and obsessing over what we’re doing wrong and what they’re doing right. So, we definitely caution you on this; however, it can be a powerful resource to gather inspiration.
Another way to do this without setting the good ole’ ‘comparative-itis’ set in is to use Pinterest. Create a Pinterest board, set it to secret, and enjoy!
Pro Tip: Make sure you’re not solely pinning things that you just think are pretty. We want to be purposeful and strategic with what you pin on Pinterest. Make sure everything you save captures the essence of your business and your brand. You’ll be amazed and often surprised at what you end up pulling together.
7. Set The Right Tone
Now, this may not be a direct tangible piece of your design visuals; however, it’s just as important to mention. Why?
Because, your brand visuals can be stunning and effective, but if your website copy or social media content don’t match the visuals, you’re simply wasting your time on producing the #droolworthy visuals.
Take a minute to describe your brand and write down some adjectives of what your business represents. From there, you can begin generating the right tone you want to get across to your audience.
From there, make sure EVERY single piece of your brand visuals consistently follows the message you’re sending through your words. Graphics and copy go together, after all.
8. Scale, Scale, Scale
When potential customers or clients are viewing your business, whether through your website or your social media, consider what you want people to focus their attention on. This might sound obvious to you, but it’s something that’s often missed.
What does this even mean?
If you want someone to click on something or see something important to your business, then you need to make it bigger, bolder, or assign something that draws the viewer’s attention to it. Perhaps a bolder color?
9. Don’t Be Afraid To Use Space
A pro designer tip: Never, ever underestimate the power of negative space in your visuals! Negative space is the space around and between the subject of your visual.
What does negative space do? It brings balance into everything you create, whether it’s your logo, your website, or your print materials.
It adds add professionalism, intentionality, and depth to everything you do. It also extends so much possibility in what you can do with your visuals!
10. Be Genuine
Best tip of all? Be genuine.
Instead of focusing SOLELY on what generates sales (although, of course, that’s important as well), consider who you are speaking to. What does your audience want to hear about? How are you impacting them as a business?
If you’re producing work from a mindset of wanting to truly help pet owners or pets, whether it’s delivering an amazing product or offering a needed service, your brand visuals will be 100% more effective.
And hey, if all else fails, you’ve got Dox Design to create ah-mazing visuals for your pet business. Don’t believe us? You can see some of our work here to either gather inspiration or to see if we might be just the right fit to uplevel your own business.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.25"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.27.4"]
Related Posts
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_dpblog_portfolio posts_number="4" include_tags="8,55" show_categories="off" fullwidth="off" module_class="bloggrif" _builder_version="3.22.7" custom_padding="20px|10px|20px|10px|true|true" custom_css_portfolio_image="margin-bottom: 20px!important;" custom_css_portfolio_title="display:inline !important;||margin-top: 50px !important;"][/et_pb_dpblog_portfolio][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="4.0.5" background_color="rgba(181,200,216,0.8)" background_image="https://dox.design/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Background.png" background_blend="luminosity" custom_margin="50px||" custom_padding="61px|0px|0|0px|false|false" global_module="5614"][et_pb_row module_class=" et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth" _builder_version="3.25" width="89%" width_tablet="80%" width_phone="100%" width_last_edited="on|desktop" max_width="89%" max_width_tablet="80%" max_width_phone="" max_width_last_edited="on|desktop" custom_margin="-10px||" custom_padding="0|0px|30.375px|0px|false|false" make_fullwidth="on"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.0.47" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_cta title="This Could Be You!" button_url="/work-with-us/" button_text="Get Your Own Droolworthy Brand" _builder_version="4.0.3" header_level="h1" header_font="Bourton||||||||" header_text_color="#000000" header_font_size="71px" header_line_height="1.2em" body_text_color="#ffffff" background_enable_color="off" custom_button="on" button_text_size="13px" button_text_color="#ffffff" button_bg_color="#000000" button_border_width="0px" button_border_color="rgba(0,0,0,0)" button_letter_spacing="0px" button_font="||||||||" button_icon="%%246%%" button_custom_padding="10px|16px|10px|16px|true|true" background_layout="light" custom_padding="||" button_bg_color__hover_enabled="on|hover" button_border_color__hover_enabled="on" button_bg_color__hover="#0f7fff" button_border_color__hover="rgba(0,0,0,0)" button_text_color__hover_enabled="on" button_text_color__hover="#ffffff" button_bg_enable_color__hover="on"][/et_pb_cta][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]