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My last blog post provided some things to think about when you’re developing your organization’s visual narrative, or in other words, the images, illustrations or graphics that depict your organization’s story. To complement those ideas, here are five practical tips for developing brand visuals for your organization.

Our eyesight – our prime sense – is predominantly how we connect with our world. Visuals have a way of communicating with us on an emotional level. A definition of brand management emphasizes the essence of this emotional connection.

“Brand management is the process of creating a relationship or connection between a company’s product and the emotional perception of the customer for the purpose of generating segregation amongst competitors and building loyalty among customers.”

Source: Interdisciplinary Journal Of Contemporary Research In Business

Making the Most of Your Organization’s Visual Narrative

1.) Manage the Corporate Identity:
Similar to how your organization uses its corporate identity in print, online and other media, your organization’s visual narrative should also take into account use of the corporate identity. Guidelines that outline do’s and don’ts are often helpful.

2.) It’s Not Just About Logos:
As you develop your visual narrative, consider how you will incorporate (and consistently apply) subtler elements like colours, fonts and artistic style. Your story is about more than just your logo; your visual narrative should also be about look and feel.

3.) Compartmentalize:
Not all components of your visual narrative will be effective on all platforms, so it’s important to consider how content can be applied to the various media (i.e., video, social media, print). This might mean that content is compartmentalized based on objective, message and audience. A table with content listed down the left column with media noted across the top with calendar dates on the right-hand side may be a good way to visually manage the content.

4.) Start Small; Build it Over Time:
Like any other communication program, developing your organization’s visual narrative should begin with goals and objectives determined ahead of time. However, the process should also be considered an evolution, so starting small and building something over time can also be a reasonable approach.

5.) Stay True to the Original Plan:
We live in an unpredictable world, so while your narrative may have to veer a little off course now and again to respond to changes in your business environment, in order to see results, it will be important to stay true to your original plan (assuming it was a good plan!)

One final note to the communicators… your graphic design team can play an important role in this process, so it is wise to make them part of this process from the start.

More great information on visual communication can be found by following #visualcontent.

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