Be Seen AND Heard: The relationship between design and copy in branding
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Art and Copy.
Name a more iconic duo. We’ll wait. ;)
We kid, but when it comes down to it, branding can be boiled down to those two core elements: design and language.
That’s because a company’s brand is its core identity – it's who they are and what they do. And those things are communicated through words and visuals – art and copy.
How do these two practices work together to create strong, consistent, impactful brands?
By doing just that: working together.
Here’s what we mean:
The role of art and copy in branding
When developing a brand, the goal is to create a distinct identity for your company or product. Like creating a character in a story, you want to establish who they are, what they do, and what they’re like. And to do that, you use art and copy.
Now, usually when we talk about art and copy, people immediately think about branded pieces – print or TV ads, websites, marketing collateral.
But branding is different.
With branding, you use design and copy to communicate who you are.
Brand design establishes the look and feel of the brand, it’s visual identity. Things like logo and color palettes, of course, but also the visual tone. Is it gritty? Beachy? Soft? Loud?
For example, notice how each of these convey a different vibe, even though they all say the same thing:
Brand copy, on the other hand, establishes the brand’s verbal identity. It’s the “text equivalent of a brand’s logo,” demonstrating the brand’s personality and tone of voice. Is it casual and conversational? Or more formal and expert?
For example, while each of these communicates a similar message, see how they invoke very different moods and styles:
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Brand copy can be customer-facing, like the company name and tagline, “About Us” text, or mission and vision statements. But it also includes background copy that external audiences may never see. Statements describing Who we are, What we’re saying, and How we’re saying it.
Why write copy your audience may never see?
Because reference points, like brand style guides – are useful brand guardrails. They establish your brand’s tone – both visually and verbally – and equip you to make consistent branded content and marketing later on.
And when it comes to branding, consistency is key.
Art or copy: Which comes first?
Ah, the age-old debate. Which do you tackle first: art or copy? Design or voice? Chicken or egg?
Our answer? Neither.
It’s like asking, “Which ingredients do I prepare first when baking: the wet ingredients, or dry?” You need both, and they are dependent on each other to create the finished product.
Your art and copy have to work together and support each other to make an impact. The visual tone will influence the written language, and vice-versa.
Instead of seeing them as two disparate steps in the branding process, approach them holistically.
Or, in the words of ad legend Bill Bernbach:
Art and copy should sit in the same room.
He made waves in the 1960’s with this radical new approach. Instead of having the writer write the copy and then hand it over to the artist to deal with, he proposed that they should both be involved in the creative process from the get-go.
And we agree.
When developing a brand from scratch, chances are your initial brainstorm will include a mix of words and visuals.
“I want it to be gritty, and brusk – like when you think of New York in the 70’s. A little dirty but no-nonsense.”
Or…
“I’m picturing something modern, clean and minimal – like mid-century modern architecture or Scandinavian design aesthetics. Simple, clean lines. Friendly.”
Ideas like these elicit both words and visuals. And those words and visuals will then inform more words and visuals, like a snowball getting bigger.
So, instead of asking which comes first, approach art and copy together.
3 (more) ways to use art and copy to build a strong, consistent brand
Okay, both art and copy are equally important when it comes to branding, and should work together to do so. But how?
Here are three tips for how to use design and language collaboratively to build a strong, consistent brand
Embrace the need for speed
Create visual and verbal mood boards
Keep the customer in mind
1) Embrace the need for speed
What is the fastest way to communicate the essence of your brand? You have one sentence, one logo, and one layout to convey who you are and what you do – how do you do it?
This practice forces you to distill your brand down to its most core components – and focus only on what’s most important.
Once you’ve identified the fastest, most essential things you want to communicate (both visually and verbally), you can use that as the basis for your brand strategy.
2) Create visual and verbal mood boards
Art informs the copy, copy informs the art – that all sounds great, but where do you actually start?
While you can’t expect to nail down final design and copy right off the bat, initial brainstorms will usually shine a light on a few key elements that resonate. You may know that you’re opening a fancy, fine-dining restaurant, or a grungy music venue, or a beachy bike shop. Whatever the business, you probably have some sense of what you want the brand to be – even if you don’t realize it.
Use that initial spark to create art and copy mood boards. What colors, fonts, and visuals set the right tone? (You can make these manually, or even use sites like Pinterest to create your boards.)
For language, create a bank of words you think resonate. For example:
“Beachy, Chill, Vibes, Waves, Tiki, Vacation”
Or,
“Retro, Disco, Psychedelic, Groovy, Funky, Peace”
Notice how your visual mood boards may influence your word banks, and vice versa.
3) Keep the customer in mind
Branding is inherently inward-focused. But, you want your brand to resonate with your target audience.
Always keep your customer in mind, and if you get stuck trying to figure out what you want to say, ask yourself: What do they want to hear?
By keeping them at the core of your brand strategy, you’re more likely to build a brand they’ll want to do business with.
Still feeling overwhelmed? We get it. That’s why we came prepared with a secret, surprise, Tip #4…
When in doubt, call in the pro’s
As we’ve said before, unless you’re starting a branding agency, chances are branding isn’t your field of expertise. That’s okay! You don’t have to go it alone.
Branding is what we do, and we can help get you started. Drop us a note to tell us about your project, and we’ll get you set on the right path.
