Branding and identity are all around us.  You see it on websites and product packaging, on different advertising types, even on personal items like documents and business cards.  Simply put, branding is what other people think about you, your company, and your service, so it’s essential that you create an impactful brand identity.

Visual identity is what that brand looks like from your logo and your color choices, and so much more.  Strong visuals can be very persuasive.  Think about your own experiences as a consumer.  Understanding visual identity can help you make more thoughtful design decisions.

Think of your visual identity as a preview of your brand.  Each part of your design is a clue that tells people what they can expect.  You set the tone by the design decisions that you make.

Branding is one of the best parts of being a business owner. You can bring your vision to life and be proud of what you have created. Make sure that you build a brand you can stand behind. While this part can be a fun adventure, you don’t want to jump in blind either. These choices can be hard to change later, so make sure you check all the boxes! 

Brand Clarity

Before you can get started, you need to know what your goals are. What dreams and hopes do you have for your business? Do you envision expanding into a franchise? Or would you be content with a few employees taking care of your small community? If your target market is wealthy, they’ll expect a certain caliber of professionalism. However, that same branding might put off country folks. 

See why you need to establish your business goals before you can get started? 

First, do you have a mission statement? If you don’t, it’s a great place to start your journey to create a brand identity. Before getting started, remember to consider your company values and highlight them while answering these questions: 

• What do you do, and what are you fixing with your service?
• How do you do it?
• Who do you serve?
• Why would they want to work with you?

Once you know what you do, think about your ideal client. First, picture your perfect client in your mind. Of course, you wouldn’t turn down a client for not matching this model, but it’s essential to understand your target audience and their needs. How can you fix their problems? 

Create a Color Palette

Colors touch us on an emotional level before we even read the words. For most people, a sweet green logo gives you the impression of clean and natural, where a sky blue logo makes you think of hope, and a yellow one inspires bright happiness. Therefore, when picking a color for your business, you need to know what kind of emotional response you want from your clients. This Color Psychology Chart is a great place to start thinking of how colors are generally perceived. 

We recommend picking up to five colors. 

• 1-2 Neutrals- White, black, and grey are most common. These will be for text and backgrounds in most graphics.
• 2-3 Bolds- Bright colors that you’re going to use with the most power. Your primary brand color will probably be one of these.
• 1 Accent- A much more exciting color than the others and stands out. You’ll be using it sparingly.

Before making a final decision, make sure you look at all your colors together. Do you like how they look together? Talk to other people and get their feedback, too. Make sure that your colors match the spirit you are envisioning as you create a brand identity! 

Design Elements For Your Brand Identity

Design Elements is a catch-all category covering many other elements such as icons, shapes, patterns, textures, and lines. In general, design elements help make your business stand out compared to another company with a similar color palette. As a rule, using your business name for icon ideas is an excellent place to start. Some popular icons for pet sitting companies include:

• Collars
• Leashes
• Silhouettes
• Bones
• Pawprints

Textures can be a surprisingly fun way to flavor your business. For example, glitter, leather, or parchment textures are all available. We recommend playing around on Canva for ideas on textures, icons, and patterns that work for you. 

However, you don’t have to be locked into these choices forever. Unlike your primary coloring, new icons and patterns are easy to play around with and stay on brand! 

Logo Design

Basically, in the eyes of the government, your business is an entity of its own. A logo is the face of your business. So, take care when designing it. After all, what would McDonald’s be if it got rid of those iconic golden arches? Unrecognizable, that’s what! 

So when designing your logo, those elements we discussed in the last section can come into play. Since the mind processes images faster than words, pick those carefully. Potential clients will be more likely to remember a logo than your business name, so you need to make sure it sends the right message. 

Think about keeping it simple so it can go on anything from swag to paperwork. Try not to go too crazy and let it become trendy since classic will hold up better over time. Also, make sure it uses your brand colors but still has an impact in grayscale too. 

In light of how important a well-designed logo is, it’s a good idea to invest in having it designed professionally.

The Logo Company is one of the more reputable companies, and they offer unlimited revisions. Up to a point, if you have design skills, though, you can always try to do it yourself. Alternatively, be careful using automatic logo generators- they may end up more generic than you’d like, and you run the risk of other people having the same logo. Ensure that you can use your logo on whatever size you need without it getting disfigured and blurry. 

Build Your Brand Identity by Pulling It All Together

At this point, you’ve got everything to make your brand identity feel alive! That is great! Now you can put it all together into one place to reference it anytime you need to make aesthetic decisions.  Additionally, it will be helpful if you have to outsource anything to other professionals.

Do you want more help with building your brand? Check out the PetBrainy Circle. Our membership of pet sitting business owners will be happy to help you. We have valuable resources and experts glad to give you feedback anytime. Sign up below!