How to Incorporate the 3 C’s into Branding and Design

Creating a memorable brand requires business owners to apply the three C’s—Clean, consistent, and creative to each design and branding element. With companies facing brand-wary consumers and digital marketing challenges, differentiating your business is crucial. Adobe drove home this point by reporting that “73% of companies are investing in design.” Moreover, “69% of organizations that consider their company design-driven” report exceeding their business goals by nearly 10% more than other firms.

Designing a cohesive visual identity that adapts across mediums can get complicated. However, by keeping the basics of the three C’s in mind, you’ll develop a brand strategy that builds your credibility and increases brand recognition.

Clean design and messaging

Whittling down your visual branding ideas into one clean design takes time and often a few strategy sessions. The benefits of precise design and messaging far outweigh the initial time and financial investment. Here’s the thing, your design and messaging should match your brand’s core identity. So, when you’re considering each of your branding elements, from logos to your images, review each to ensure that you’re using the best practices.

• Free of clutter. Use the concept of negative space to ensure that your design is easy to read and recognize.
• Not chaotic. Don’t try to cram in too many words, images, or graphics. Make it easy for your audience to look at and immediately grasp your main message.
• Professional appearance. Choose each design element to portray credibility. Pay attention to the hierarchy of text size by increasing the font size of your most important messages.
• Clear copy. Pick your words carefully and use them sparingly. Choose purposeful content with power words that align with your brand identity.

Consistent messaging and visual aesthetic

In a study by Leadpages, 48.4% of small businesses reported building brand awareness as a top digital marketing priority. Makes sense when you consider that a recognizable brand inspires consumer trust and confidence and with that trust comes increased sales.

Help your customers recognize and remember your brand with a consistent look across all touchpoints. The current consumer might use voice search to find your business on their smartphone, then follow up with a website visit from their work desktop—which is why it’s crucial that your brand elements adapt well across digital channels.

• Use a style guide to clarify your logos, tone of voice, typography, and taglines on all platforms.
• Choose a color palette and translate it into CMYK, RGB, and Pantone to ensure consistency.
• Start with a branded photo shoot that sets the visual aesthetic for future endeavors.
• Create templates and specific instructions for how to use your branding elements on multiple networks.

Creative natural solutions

With omnichannel marketing, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when seeking ways to stand out from the competition. That’s where creativity comes into play. Adobe found that organizations that value creativity were 46% more likely to have exceeded their business goals by a remarkable margin.

Place your focus on your ideal customer and design with that person in mind. By centering your branding around the user experience, you’ll know that you’re meeting their needs. With creativity, you’ll find ways to adapt your brand across multiple touchpoints.

Achieving a consistent brand identity is one of the first steps to increase your brand awareness and reputation. Whether it’s a web page or flyer, if you incorporate too many elements, like different fonts or colors, then you’ll confuse your viewer. Keep the three C’s in mind when building a brand or developing your digital advertising strategy, and you’ll create a memorable reputation that drives sales and increases awareness of your business brand.