Brand imagery has always played a role in marketing, but in this age of Facebook and Instagram, it has never been more important.  To paraphrase Madonna, we’re living in a visual world, and your customers are visual girls (and boys).

What is brand imagery?
Brand imagery is anything visual that helps you communicate your brand identity.  Your logo is of course part of this, but brand imagery covers much more than just your logo.  Depending on your business, you may use images on your website, in social media posts, in print media and advertising, and so on.

Why is brand imagery so important?
Images are a powerful way to convey emotions and brand identity.  With the right visuals, you can tell people that your business is edgy, modern, traditional, youthful, trusted, vibrant, or whatever you want.  The right images tell people who you are.  As such, brand imagery is an effective way to draw people in and keep your business at the forefront of customers’ (and potential customers’) minds.

Where should you start?
Here are a few tips to help you find your visual style:

• Start by thinking about your target audience. What matters to them?  What do they want?  How do they live?  Then ask yourself, what are they more likely to respond to – something with clean backgrounds and simple, timeless images and fonts, perhaps?  Or something altogether bolder, more vibrant and on-trend?
• As for the images themselves, they could be photographs (indeed, photos are the most common form of brand imagery), but they could also be cool graphics, beautiful drawings, or even simple animations. The Headspace app, for example, uses cute, whimsical illustrations.
• Also consider your colour palette. Dark colours may evoke a serious or traditional vibe, while lighter colours tend to convey a more modern feel.
• It might be an idea to trial a few different image styles before you settle on the right look for your brand. Social media is brilliant for trying out different styles and seeing – quickly – which gets the most engagement.
• Then, once you’ve worked out which style resonates with your audience, stick to it. Because consistency is key with brand imagery.  This doesn’t mean using the exact same images all the time – rather, creating a unified style that’s instantly recognisable as yours.  Like Headspace does with its illustrations.

The best way to find your style is to work with marketing experts.  At OCTOPUS, we can help you narrow down your style options, source imagery, trial images with your audience, and build a portfolio of stunning brand imagery to beautify your comms.  Let’s find your style.

(Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash)