Branding is known as the logo or identity of a company, but somehow throughout the evolution of branding, graphic design and marketing, all of this has misconstrued the actual meaning between branding and graphic design. 80 percent of companies believe that their branding and graphic design are the same thing. 

However, graphic design and branding are not synonymous with one another. While graphic designers help to design the branding aspects in some scenarios, the actual branding itself is not developed by graphic designers.

Branding is what helps you stand out against the other fish in the ocean of competition, and graphic design can help catapult that with graphics, images, videos and even new logos! 

As a branding agency Austin, OMG Austin is here to help with this common misconception! Here is what graphic design is, what branding is and how they both work together. 

What is graphic design? 

Graphic design is about creating visual cues and representing the branding strategy in place. The graphic design industry is extremely broad and some graphic designers work on print and media collateral and others are trained in the website design aspect, along with working on the print and media collateral. 

A graphic designer is trained in creating visual content that creates emotion and follows the branding of the company. A graphic designer or graphic design project does not create the branding, it can help with the logo conception and final logo, but even then, they are not creating the “brand.” 

A logo and its relationship to branding 

Think of some very common logos out there that you can easily identify? What about Starbucks? Dunkin Donuts? What other famous chains or other companies are on this list? 

A logo sets the stage for branding. This is because the logo will follow branding guidelines that have been established. Usually taken from the branding guidelines, logos and color scheme remains as a constant visual identity, branded into the public image of the company.

An entrepreneur starting a new restaurant themed around sushi could utilize the food itself and incorporate this into their logo. The color schemes selected to represent a brand similarly employ the use of the colors in the logo to create eye-catching designs.

The selection of colors can take into account various factors, such as the theme of the project, the mood or setting the project illuminates, whether the company owner has any color preferences or any colors they consider lucky among others.

What is branding? 

The marketing strategies in place behind branding is what gets that logo to stand out as a visual cue and provides the public with their own representation of your brand and company. The brand is your company. A marketing strategy with the use of proper branding agency Austin strategies together helps to create one cohesive, strong brand that represents everything about the company. A marketing strategy and graphic design create their strategies with branding in mind from the colors of images to the tone of voice. 

A large space where this takes place is social media marketing and its platforms. Authentic branding on social media platforms helps to create a stronger brand representation with a company’s target audience.  A branding agency Austin strategies should follow the current branding guidelines in place and continue to build off of those strategies from print to video marketing, it doesn’t matter the marketing strategy, it just has to follow the branding guidelines.