Creating your verbal and visual brand identity

What is verbal and visual branding?

What exactly is verbal and visual branding? Simply put, it's the unique voice and appearance that a brand uses to communicate with its audience. Your brand isn't just a logo or a colour scheme – it's the idea or image people have in their minds when they think about your company or product. Beyond physical features, it includes the feelings and perceptions your audience associates with your brand.

Why does this matter? Because branding helps you stand out in busy markets and builds loyalty. It’s not about making things prettier with colours or design alone. It’s about developing a consistent style that clearly sets you apart from competitors.

How long does it take to build this? Building a strong brand takes time and dedication. Consistency is key; you need to repeat the same messages, styles and tones over months or even years. This repetition helps your brand settle in people’s minds. Famous brands like Apple or Nike didn’t become recognisable overnight. They stayed true to their brand personalities and visual styles for years.

What is a verbal brand?

What does a verbal brand include? It’s all about the words you use and the personality you convey through your language. This includes your tone of voice, brand values, mission, vision and the way you speak directly to your audience.

How do I create a verbal brand? A good starting point is developing a brand persona. Imagine if your company was a person; what kind of character would they have? Are they young or old? Fun or serious? Emotional or practical?

‍

This exercise helps you define the personality you want to project. For example, a tech startup might choose a young, energetic and informal persona, while a law firm may prefer a mature, professional and reliable voice.

What adjectives describe your brand? Here is a helpful library of adjectives you can choose from to define your brand’s character. But beware of the common mistake many make — choosing generic adjectives like "trustworthy" or "honest". These are important traits, but they don’t make you memorable because every brand claims them.

For example, brands that are ‘honest’ openly admit their mistakes, discuss industry problems, and share their progress. This genuine transparency helps them stand out.

Why focus on one key quality? Pick one trait that your customers will remember you by. If you want to be known as caring, make sure empathy shines through all your communication. This makes your brand unique and easier to recognise.

What elements make up a verbal brand?

• Tone of voice: Is your brand friendly, formal, playful or serious?
• Brand values: What principles guide your company’s actions?
• Mission and vision: What do you want to achieve and how?
• Target audience: Who are you speaking to, and how can you meet their needs?

What is a visual brand?

Visual branding is how your brand looks to people. It includes your logo, colour palette, fonts, and images. This visual identity should match your verbal brand and attract your target audience. If your brand persona is fun and playful, your colours and fonts should reflect that energy.

Can I use simple tools to create my visual brand? Absolutely. Platforms like Canva make it easy to design consistent images and videos with your chosen fonts and colours.

However, once you understand your brand better, consider hiring a graphic designer. A professional can craft a complete brand guideline, including colour schemes and font choices. This helps keep your brand consistent across your website, social media, and marketing materials.

Is looking pretty enough? Not quite. Your goal is to create a memorable visual brand that people link instantly to your business. Think about Coca-Cola’s red and white, or McDonald's golden arches. These visuals grip viewers’ attention and differentiate them from competitors.

What should you include in your visual brand?

• Logo: Your brand’s visual symbol.
• Colour palette: A set of colours consistently used across your brand.
• Fonts: Choose fonts that reflect your brand’s personality.
• Images: The style of photos and graphics that represent your business.

How to choose your brand palette

Your brand palette is the selection of colours you use regularly. Typically, this includes two or three colours. Too many colours can confuse your audience and dilute your brand’s impact.

For example, look at Spotify. Its core green colour is distinctive, supported by black and white for contrast. Or Airbnb, which uses a warm red as its main colour, supported by softer pinks and greys to complement its friendly persona.

Choosing dominant colours makes your brand more memorable and visually cohesive.

What role does colour psychology play?

Colours evoke emotions and send messages to your audience. For example, blue is calming and trustworthy, often chosen by banks like Barclays or HSBC.

Red grabs attention and triggers excitement — think of Netflix or Coca-Cola. Green suggests health and growth, which is why many eco-friendly brands use it.

Choosing colours that suit your brand personality creates stronger emotional connections with your audience.

Primary and secondary colours explained

Your primary colour is the main shade people will associate with your brand. Most well-known brands have a single dominant colour. Can you picture the red of Netflix or the blue of Paypal?

Secondary colours support the primary colour. They can be different shades of the main colour or contrasting accents to add interest. For example, Google's logo combines multiple bright colours for a fun, approachable look. Alternatively, a bank might use navy blue as primary and light blue or grey as secondary to keep a professional feel.

How to select the right fonts

Fonts also communicate feelings. Sans serif fonts like Helvetica or Arial look modern and clean, ideal for startups or tech companies. Serif fonts such as Times New Roman or Georgia feel classic and formal, perfect for law firms or financial services.

Usually, two to three fonts work best. Pairing a serif with a sans serif creates contrast and balance. For example, a headline in a bold serif font with body text in a clean sans serif can look polished yet readable.

Choose fonts that reflect your brand’s personality and are easy to read across devices.

‍

How do verbal and visual branding work together?

Your verbal and visual branding should tell the same story. If your tone is playful and fun, your colours and fonts shouldn’t be dull and formal. If you promise reliability and trust, your visual elements should look professional and solid.

Consistency builds trust. When customers see the same style and hear the same voice everywhere – on social media, your website, emails – they trust your brand more.

For example, Apple’s minimalist visual style matches its clear, straightforward communication. This alignment makes their brand memorable and trusted worldwide.

How can you start building your brand today?

1. Define your brand persona by answering key questions about your brand’s character.

2. Choose your core brand values and tone of voice.

3. Pick your primary and secondary colours based on the emotions you want to evoke.

4. Select fonts that enhance your brand personality.

5. Create guidelines to keep everything consistent across all platforms.