A Business Owner’s Glossary of Branding Design Terms
My clients are dentists, lawyers, and financial advisors who pride themselves in their extensive schooling and the many letters behind their names.
One thing they aren’t prone to do is ask dumb questions. They expect to already know all the creative branding terms – even when this is their first time working with a designer. So instead of speaking up, they shy away from asking the questions that will make them feel empowered about their investment.
They expect to already know all the creative branding terms – even when this is their first time working with a designer. So instead of speaking up, they shy away from asking the questions that will make them feel empowered about their investment.
Avoid industry jargon when talking to a potential client
Industry jargon is special words and phrases used in your profession. These words make sense to you. But to your dream customers, they’re confusing. Remember, your dream customer isn’t a subject matter expert like you. And is seeking your guidance to achieve their goals. Use words and analogies they can relate to so they better understand how you can help them.
Just to let you know…I’m guilty of using industry jargon too. And after every client, I learn a better way to describe what I do so it's crystal clear to my future clients.
Branding design terms every business owner needs to know
Working with a designer doesn’t have to feel like you’re in a foreign country where you don’t know how to speak the language. And you definitely don't have to go to art school to communicate your business vision. This glossary of branding design terms will put you at ease when shopping around for your next designer.
Brand aesthetic
A mood board/visual representation of your brand vibe. This is essential in my design process because it helps us set the broad compass direction for your visual identity. It also lets you collaborate with my process at a very early stage.
Brand assets
The creative elements that bring your brand to life and build brand recognition. This can include your logo, color palette, fonts, photos, copy, slogan, and tone of voice.
Brand questionnaire
A list of questions a designer will use to get to know you and your business. I’m anti-brand questionnaire in my business because it feels like homework. And because I feel like it’s tailored to the designer and NOT you, the client.
Brand pattern
A complementing design used to add your brand's personality to your visual identity. Use it on your website, presentations, social media posts, branded swag, and more.
Brand roadmap
A comprehensive document that combines all the insights from our brand strategy kickoff call. It summarizes:
Your goals
The problem you are solving
Your ideal client profile
Your founder’s story
Your brand vibe, and
Your brand’s aesthetic
You can then share your brand roadmap with everyone on your team to ensure you're working towards the same dream vision.
Brand strategy kick-off call
The first official meeting you have with your brand designer once you’ve become their client. My brand strategy kick-off calls are approximately 90 minutes and this is where you share:
Your dream vision for your business
Who your ideal customer is
How you want to be seen, and
Your story/why you are so passionate about your business
Brand vibe
How you want to be seen by your ideal client. This is the human touch your business needs to:
Stand out in your industry
Build brand recognition everywhere you promote yourself, and
Strengthen the trust you have in your brand
Related: The Brand Vibe Formula
Branding
It's the impression you leave on people...aka how they perceive you. Having a well-crafted brand isn’t about masking your imperfections or constantly painting yourself in a positive light. But rather amplifying your values so you attract those who will always support you. And repel those who don’t. Get super clear on the following and you’ll have a brand that feels true to you:
Vision
Mission
Values
Goals
Experience
Attributes
Audience
Positioning
Competition
Brand’s personality
Archetype
Voice
Messaging
Photography, and
Visuals
Branding design
The visuals used to narrate and complement your brand story. Also, commonly referred to as a visual identity.
CMYK
Stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. It’s the color values used to mix the ink for printed applications, such as business cards and branded swag. Printed colors may vary depending on the material the ink is printed on. Different paper stocks and fabrics absorb the ink differently and may affect the final results. So it’s best to work with your printer/vendor to ensure brand colors stay consistent wherever you use them.
Color palette
An intentional selection of colors used to reflect your brand’s personality and make you more memorable to your ideal client.
Related: How to choose memorable brand colors
Color Psychology
The study of how color affects a human’s behavior and mood. Most marketers described it as one color representing a single emotion. For example, red means love. Blue means calm. Yellow means happy. But I think that’s too simplistic. I believe a combination of colors better represents a feeling because it’s based on your own experiences.
Creative direction
The process/strategy of taking your brand’s vision and translating it into marketing materials that will help you achieve your high-profit goals.
Design decisions
The creative choices a designer makes when developing your brand. In my design process, I always provide context when presenting artwork to you. This way you’ll see how your story influenced my thought process. Which leads to a more intentional brand that you can confidently stand behind.
Design element
The shapes, fonts, colors, or photos in a layout that guide your eye down the page to help communicate your message.
Design templates
A visual layout of the design elements used in your brand for you to follow. This way you don’t ever feel like you’ll mess up your beautiful visuals. In my process, I include video tutorials so you feel confident to use them.
Deliverables
The agreed-upon brand assets your designer will complete during a certain timeframe.
Deposit
A brand designer typically asks for a percentage of the total investment upfront. I request 50% from my clients to cover the:
Brand strategy kick-off
Development of your brand's aesthetic, and
Initial design of a specific deliverable(s)
I’m not saying you would do this… But hypothetically you could take the initial design and bring it to another cost-effective designer. So the deposit ensures I’m compensated for the artwork I created.
Favicon
The icon at the top of your browser to represent your website.
Hex code
# followed by a 6-letter and number combo. It’s the same thing as RGB. It’s just shorter to type out.
Iconography
The graphics/icons used to visually communicate your message and guide a potential client to make a decision.
Ideal client profile
A description of the dream customer you want to work with. It's more than just their basic demographics. It details your dream customer’s values. So you can connect with them on a deeper level and build a loyal community of raving fans.
Initial design
The first concept of a specific deliverable.
Logo suite
Various versions of your logo provide flexibility, consistency, and recognizability no matter where you use it in the wild. I provide my clients with a minimum of three version: a horizontal logo, a vertical logo, and a logo mark.
Mockup
Your deliverable is plugged into a faux application to help you visualize your brand asset in real life. For example, photoshopping your logo onto a notebook or business card.
Rasterized files
Photos and graphics are made up of colored squares to create an image. These types of files get pixelated if enlarged beyond their set resolution. These types of files end with .jpg, .png, .gif, and .psd.
RGB
Stands for red, green, and blue. Mixing these lights creates your brand colors on the screen. On-screen colors tend to look more vibrant than printed colors due to the light inside the device. This vibrancy is not achievable when printed.
Revisions
The feedback you give the designer to refine the artwork/deliverable. In my design process, there’s at least one (1) round of revisions built into the scope of work per deliverable. A round of revisions is determined by all your thoughts/comments/concerns sent by a certain date. To help you review the artwork objectively, I make sure to include a list of poignant questions. This helps you to think beyond your personal taste and focus on what's best for your company.
San serif fonts
A font that doesn't have decorative ends and has a modern look and feel. Perfect for digital applications since they are legible when scaled down. Arial and Helvetica are examples of sans serif.
Scope of work
The agreed-upon deliverables, rounds of revisions, timeframe, and investment between you and your brand designer.
Serif fonts
A font that has a decorative line or taper end. They read more classical/traditional and are great for long paragraphs of text like in books and newspapers. Think Times New Roman or Garamond.
Style guide
A living document containing guidelines for your entire visual identity system. It provides structure and creative flexibility as you create additional brand assets.
User experience
The combination of how your client feels about your brand when interacting with certain parts of your business. Most of the time, you’ll hear it used to describe how intuitive it is to navigate your website. But you can apply it to any system/process in your business.
Vector files
Shapes are created by a mathematical equation so they can be scaled infinitely. These types of files end with .ai, .eps and .svg.
Visual identity
The design elements used to represent your brand.
Website copy
The accompanying text on your website to make your clients feel seen, and heard, and think you're the best solution for them. You need both visuals and copy to have a stand-out brand. Because visuals attract and copy keeps them there.
Wireframes
A highly detailed rough draft of your website with copy, photos, colors, and fonts already laid out. This way you can easily review the design before it's implemented onto your website.
With this glossary of branding design terms, there’s no need to enroll in art school. Be brave and ask the branding designer to clarify what they mean. If they take the time to help you understand, it’s a great marker of the kind of relationship they value.