Create Visual Identity of Your Website and Your Brand

Let’s draw a parallel with a physical store to understand better the importance of visual identity for your website store. Imagine a well-kept store, with products arranged neatly on the shelves, good lighting, wide and clean aisles.

Probably with this description you even remembered an excellent store you’ve visited.

Imagine a store with narrow aisles, where it is difficult to get around and even more challenging to locate the product you are looking for, always on some inconveniently high or hidden shelf. Also, the place is poorly maintained has burned out light bulbs and stains on the walls.

This description probably also reminds you of a store you’ve visited.

The factors that made you have a pleasant experience in the first store and unpleasant in the second store are not just the beauty of the place. They are comfort, ease of finding what you need, and the feeling of confidence that it conveys.

Your online store must also communicate these values.

 

What is visual identity?

The corporate identity or visual identity is the physical manifestation of the brand. It refers to the visual aspects of identity in organizational communication. It includes a logo and support elements, generally coordinated by a group of guidelines collected in a document called a corporate identity manual.

The visual identity of a company is one of the essential components of the brand image. Today, the internet is an integral part of the purchasing process. Therefore any company needs to take care of its digital branding and carefully build the visual identity of its website.

Whether you want to hire a designer to help with this task (which is a great idea) or do it yourself, here are a few tips we’ve separated to make creating or optimizing your online store’s visual identity simpler.

 

Put functionality first

Before choosing colors, photos and shapes, design the full functionality of the site. Put yourself in your consumer’s shoes. Imagine what he will have to do to locate a product, read a description, enlarge a photo. And above all, close the purchase! These questions are related to the usability of your store.

If you have hard-to-find buttons, hidden text fields, and confusing functions, you could end up losing customers. A person who cannot use a site does not persist for long. He simply looks for another that is easier.

 

Research your market

The next step is to assess how your competitors position themselves. Specific layouts and colors convey different messages to the consumer. However, this information is quite context-dependent. In other words, what is great for one market may be terrible for another.

Understanding how your market is today is key to introducing something new to it, and it also helps to create your brand identity.

You will indeed find lots of compelling images, beautiful websites, and cool ideas in this search. Please resist the temptation to copy them!

The survey is for inspiration and to understand your business’s context better. In addition to being unprofessional, consumers view plagiarism with evil eyes and can destroy your brand’s credibility in the blink of an eye.

 

Never go with the first idea

A golden rule applies to any creative process: your first idea is never the best. Make several different sketches, experimenting with color combinations, for example.

The more options you evaluate, the clearer your vision will be, and you will be able to choose the best idea to use in the visual identity of your online store.

After choosing your favorite, refine the project. Add details and review each one.

This way, you will finally arrive at a final model that is well agreed to put into production!

Whether you are working alone or following the work of a designer, by following these steps, you can have a store that is not only pleasant in the eyes of your target audience but also easy to use.

All the features that allow the buyer to do business and always come back to you when they need it again!

 

Reflect on the definition of colors

Colors are able to communicate and arouse sensations. In addition, they represent one of the most relevant issues when creating the brand’s visual identity.

To better understand how to combine them well, it is essential to know their meanings and the emotions that they go through.

We know that warm and cold colors convey different effects to those who observe them.

Therefore, before creating your virtual store, it is worth remembering that eye contact will be great. In my opinion, it is even vital to have a good combination of colors in the visual identity of the virtual store.

Usually, the red, yellow, and orange tones are warm: they can stimulate the senses, energy, and even hunger.

Blues, greens, and shades of purple are fabulous colors: they calm down convey more security, wisdom, and tranquility.

When creating your virtual store, it is essential to establish your goals with the brand before choosing the colors that will be used.

 

Runaway from exaggeration

Too much information can end up confusing the viewer’s head and getting in the way of conveying the brand’s identity.

Fewer elements can often communicate more effectively than an exaggerated mix of letters, designs, and colors.

We can take Apple as an example. A bitten apple is enough to recognize their products, isn’t it?

The visual identity of the virtual store is more than just a website logo. It conveys a message from your brand to your target audience. It manages to impact people and can mean the beginning of a long and lasting relationship with customers.

 

Choose the theme

The theme of a website usually serves as the basis for all other brand identity choices, so to create the online store, you need to think a lot to choose the theme that best fits it.

The theme works as the foundation of a house, from which it is possible to modify, create and restructure the entire structure of the site.

And that’s why it’s so crucial to know how to choose a suitable theme, even to avoid significant changes down the road.

I set customers to have a base with several themes available for free. They will undoubtedly help you create the visual identity of your virtual store. Just choose the theme that best fits your store and apply it.

 

Try your best

Currently, as a vital part of their structure and operation, most companies have a department in charge of working on the visual identity of a brand since it is always necessary either in the launch of a new project or in the relaunch of another.

These are the ones in charge of designing the best proposals that capture the essence of a project, whatever the area, clothing, technology, housing, adaptable to everything. With the graphic identity of a company, we manage to develop practical and innovative ideas that make a link with consumers.

This article presents some valuable ideas to help you create your brand’s visual identity. Do you have any doubts? Do you have more ideas about creating the visual identity of your website and your brand? Welcome to share and leave your idea here to complement it.