Visual consistency in your brand is key if you want to stand out and create a name for your business.
Your brand has the power to build trust and evoke emotion in your customers. You want them to feel those same emotions every time they see your brand — across multiple mediums!
Visual consistency can create customer loyalty and help your business grow.
But how do you achieve visual consistency in your brand? Below are some tips to help you get started.
PIN THIS POST FOR LATER!
Listen to this episode now
1 | Resize graphics accordingly
Use consistent graphics templates for your website, blog, emails, social media—everything. Resize templates to make them fit the medium you are working in, or choose templates that are already sized for the platform.
Not only does this eliminate awkwardly cut-off images in your Instagram feed or inconsistently sized blog graphics, but it also makes it faster for you to design without a ton of resizing and re-designing.
Plus, using consistent templates for the same type of content can build trust and reinforce your audience’s memory of your brand. They see that you have the same design elements throughout your communications, and they’ll be able to recognize your brand faster.
You’re creating a connection in their brands: “This style is associated with this brand, and I’ve enjoyed their content before!”
Related post: How to Turn Followers into Customers
2 | Stick with the same template
Put another way, don’t just switch up your graphics style after browsing Canva. We’ve all seen those people who find a cute new template every day, and it causes their Instagram feed, website, and other communications to feel, well, inconsistent!
If something on your site, Insta feed, or in an email is jarring to the eye, your customers won’t have a consistent experience, and they may even worry that you’re not established enough to help them.
This doesn’t mean you have to use identical graphics on everything. Just use graphics that have:
- The same designs (patterns, lines, shapes, etc.)
- Your branded fonts and colors
- A similar style (you don’t want to go from bubbly shapes one day to super plain images the next)
Related post: Trending vs. Consistent Branding: Which Is More Important?
3 | Make it cohesive!
When creating your template or choosing a template set, use one that has the same elements, like we just mentioned above. Your font, colors, logo, and other visual elements should all meld together to create a cohesive and consistent look.
Customize your templates with a primary color palette that matches your logo or brand guidelines and that is appropriate for your brand. These colors should be across all of your media – social, website, email, and more.
Font is also important. Maybe you love a bold, powerful font for headlines, but your content should stick with something simple and easily readable.
Whatever you choose, you don’t want too many fonts because it will look busy. One to two fonts is best, and it’s so important to keep them consistent. Like we mentioned above, it will confuse your audience if your brand uses super fancy script fonts one day, and plain Times New Roman the next!
Related post: 5 Signs It’s Time to Revamp & Refresh Your Website
4 | Update your templates when needed
Always update templates with new fonts, colors, and any other elements (like images, textures, etc.) as your brand grows. Occasionally, you’ll want to update your business’s visual aesthetic. This should be done sparingly because you’ve already created a look that your customers recognize, but there are plenty of ways to “play” with the templates you’re using.
You can tweak small things or do a massive overhaul of your branding. For example, we at Bluchic recently refreshed our blog thumbnails. We didn’t just redesign one of them and call it good — we redesigned them all! This gives people a more visually pleasing experience as they browse our blog, and shows consistency.
Maybe your new look will have a specific color treatment on images that will make your site look consistent throughout. Or you can create a new design effect at the top of each page. Or maybe you’ll want to tweak your Instagram graphic templates to include more diverse images.
Just make sure that when you do this, you’re doing it organically and consistently. If you want to change one of the colors in your primary palette, it needs to be changed on emails, website pages, blogs, everywhere.
We also don’t recommend doing a whole overhaul overnight. Take your audience along for the ride! This can be a great engagement tool: Ask your audience which colors they prefer, which fonts they like better, or which images speak to them more.
Related post: The Power of Visual Storytelling: Enhancing Your Website With Engaging Design
Final Thoughts
Your brand is your word — and visual consistency is an important part of keeping your word. It creates trust between your customers and your business, and it makes it so much easier for a customer to recognize your brand from a single glance. It also establishes comfort! When your customers or clients know what to expect, they feel much more comfortable working with you, learning from you, and buying from you.
Of course, visual content trends change over time, and updates to your brand are sometimes necessary. So long as you are consistent and make changes in a way that feels natural (and not abrupt!), you are well on your way to brand recognition!
If you want design templates that help you show up consistently and create a stronger brand on social media, check out our Canva Social Media Graphic Templates, created for businesses just like yours.
You want what your audience sees to look styled, seamless, and visually consistent — and our Canva Social Media Templates will give you the tools you need to do just that.