A brand identity is like a body — it requires several different parts to work together efficiently, to express your brand not only visually, but also emotionally.

Your brand/branding is an experience for your client or customer. It’s what they think about you, remember about you and associate with you. Certain feelings, ideas, colors, typefaces, photos and other imagery will come to mind when they connect with your brand online or offline — when they are visiting your website, engaging with you on social media, watching a live video or holding your business card. All of that culminates into a journey for them — again, an experience. (Hopefully, a positive one!)

They need to have the same experience and see the same visuals over and over again — one cohesive identity that coordinates with all areas, across all mediums and platforms, so that they can feel like they know it.

Various brand assets make up your brand identity. A few of those include:

Logo
Secondary logo/sub-mark
Iconography
Illustrations
Photography
Color palette
Fonts (typography)
Patterns
Textures

The biggest misconception is that your logo is your brand. It is not! It is simply ONE piece of the puzzle. It’s like the face of your brand and one of the most important and recognized parts — but it needs to be complemented by other assets (like the above) for an entire brand to be really memorable.

When your brand assets all work together successfully, your brand identity stands out. It allows your business/organization/platform to look professional and legitimate, because of the consistency used across all applications (from the design of your business card to a sign to a website to a social media channel to an email newsletter and beyond) and the legitimacy that is born from that.

The more consistent that you show up, the more legitimate that you look. The more legit, the more recognized and therefore, trusted, that you are.

It’s important to keep in mind that ALL brand assets are important. Your brand shouldn’t just have a logo and color palette. Those make for a great start, but again, they need other aspects to help support the overall mission and values — and what your brand is deep-down, about. All assets are needed for the following reasons, crucial to brand awareness:

Consistency
Professionalism
Legitimacy
Recognition
Trust
Transparency

Icons, textures, patterns, colors and fonts visually support a logo. These assets can be used across not only print materials, but also social templates, websites, sales/landing pages and emails. All of these parts function together and complement one another, so that the body can appear as 1 entity — one that gives someone the same experience, over and over again.

Think of the various brand assets that support Target:

Red “bullseye” logo
Red and white color palette
Clear, modern “easy to read” sans serif typefaces used on their signs, website, etc.
Tagline: “Expect More. Pay Less.”
Photos of people (young, old, families, cultural diversity) used online
Red shopping carts/baskets that use the bullseye icon (sub-logo mark, without words)

Now, associate those with:

The smell of popcorn/their snack counter
The “Dollar Spot” shelves/bins that greet you at the entrance (who can pass on these?!)
Convenient features on their website (if you can’t make it to a physical store right away) like free shipping, order pickup and same day delivery.

These tangible and intangible things can work together to stimulate all of your senses, to give you a certain experience. A professional brand relies on them, in order to connect with its audience. Brand assets, supporting the logo, website and more, can help to express the brand in the best ways possible.

So, be sure that you are using more than “just a logo” or some basic colors or stock images. Create a solid and strong identity that will withstand the test of time (using all kinds of assets) and that represents and tells the story of your brand!

Why Brand Assets are Important