Key Visual

Key Visual – branding

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then familiarizing yourself with the concept of branding is for you. In a broad sense, it refers to the process of building brand awareness among consumers. At its core is the creation of a brand strategy, along with the way it communicates and the values it wants to convey as an entity. The creation of unique characteristics, values and brand assumptions, can make our audience identify with the brand. This is important because in such an arrangement we gain – probably – long-term fans and repeat buyers for its services. Being able to identify with a brand is very important to many buyers. This should not come as a surprise, after all, when we decide to buy shoes or a handbag, we, as it were, sign ourselves with the logo of the brand whose product we have decided to purchase. We become brand ambassadors and part of the brand.

What is the most important element of key visual?

And here we come to the essence. By far the most important part of branding is the brand strategy, which will define the brand’s key differentiators and values. It indicates what the brand does now and what it wants to be in the future. Determining this and writing it down allows you to set the directions through which you can build brand awareness. It’s worth taking a regular peek at this document and thinking about what can be improved or done better. Holding the helm and being able to change direction is insanely important in the fast-paced world we live in today.

Brand strategy is a fundamental reference point in many other branding activities. Developing even a visual identity, without close reference to the brand strategy misses the point. Key visuals, logos and logos that don’t relate to anything and live their own lives – can do more harm to the brand image than build it.

Remember, however, that the most important thing for any audience is the first contact with the brand. This is when the evaluation and verification takes place. There are also first emotional feelings towards it – subconsciously we know very quickly whether we like or dislike something – whether we like it or not. We should take advantage of this first impression effect when creating a brand.

Key visual – what is it?

Key Visual, is the visual key of a brand, which creates graphical consistency of the brand. A well-developed KV distinguishes the brand from competitors in the market, making it memorable to the audience. It allows to maintain the communicative integrity of the brand, for example, in all advertising campaigns and products. Key Visual is a graphic theme of the company with which it is associated, illustrating its values. Importantly, it is not a direct part of the logo, but an important addition to it. Key Visual should be flexible so that it can be placed on different brand elements, so it is not a typical template just like a logo.

What should the Key Visual be like?

Above all, Key Visual should be unique and distinctive, and at the same time understandable and simple. Mostly, it consists of several elements – intermediates from which a graphic designer can quickly create a design for the brand. The developed Key Visual brings such benefits as, first of all, communicative consistency of the brand and financial profitability. The initial investment in the visual key of the brand, quickly pays off, and subsequent products are created with incomparable ease and less expense than without a previously developed Key Visual. In addition, when creating visual brand recognition, it is important to consider the target audience to which you will be targeting. It’s a good idea to start creating the KV at the same time as designing the logo, because then we will be sure that everything will form an integral whole.

Key Visual of the brand

The main graphic element of the brand, which is repeated in most advertising materials, successfully attracts potential customers. Therefore, it is worth thinking holistically about the brand image, so it is recognizable and positively associated. In addition to designing a logo, you need to remember the visual identity. The logo itself should be simple and associated with the overall Key Visual, which affects the emotions of the recipient. The development of a company’s visual key, as well as the entire visual identity, makes brand branding consistent and, above all, effective.

The visual identity includes not only the Key Visual, but the entire design of the company’s headquarters, marketing materials, employee dress code, corporate colors and typography, product design, website/apps and logo. It is a good idea to find a brand feature that needs to be emphasized, which will serve as the basis for solid brand branding.

Stand out and formulate a message!

A key element in creating a competitive advantage in the market is to stand out and gain identity. A brand can do this through its unique advertising slogan, a unique message, or a series of its advertising activities. However – what builds a brand is the sequence of activities, the consistency of the message and the sum of all the steps carried out. Therefore, it is worthwhile to maintain consistency in the activities carried out and focus especially on micro moments that can make a difference. By this we mean a situation in which a brand, for example, identifies with specific important world events and for a given period conducts its advertising activities using this context. Well-conducted activities of this type can prove to be a hit and greatly accelerate the development of the brand.

An example of this type of activity can be, for example, actions against racism, which many brands later weave into their marketing message, using socially engaged content and inviting well-known people.

Ask yourself the right questions

In the branding process, nothing provides direction more obviously than asking yourself the right questions. A few of them are absolutely crucial to embedding ourselves in the mold we best fit. These certainly include asking why would someone want to use our services? What is the identity and character of our company? Who are our customers and the recipients of the messages we create? How do we want to be perceived by the market?

Bet on a solid foundation

Message, values, consistency. Without these, the path of brand building will be very short, as it will quickly become apparent that the king is naked. Remember that all your messages reach your audience – so to speak – in the blink of an eye… and just as quickly they can be compared with all previous ones. With this in mind, focus even harder on your message, values and consistency – this is the key to success and building a long-term relationship with your customer based on trust.