How to develop your visual identity

The visual identity is a set of coherent visual elements that identify your company or brand through different communications materials. Not only does it express the graphic elements of your brand such as the logo or the font, but it must also convey a vision, a brand universe that is original and unique.

Express your personality!

Who are you?

Before moving on to the visuals, think about all aspects of your brand. Fonts, colours and logo are obviously important, but they need to fit in with the different variations and values of your brand image, not forgetting your audience.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • What do you do?
  • Why do you do it?
  • Who do you serve?
  • What are the needs of your customers?
  • What makes you different?
  • What don’t you do?
  • Who do you not serve?

Your logo

Your logo should represent your brand and incorporate your visual identity. Ideally, it should be simple, memorable, versatile and, above all, relevant. For inspiration: Dribbble, Hatchful and GraphicSprings.

Your colours

What colours best suit your brand? Your colours convey the emotions you want to convey. Choose your main colour, a complementary colour, white and black. Write down your hexadecimal colour codes (e.g. #5c6ac4). To help you: Coolors and Adobe Color.

Typeface

Typography should express who you are (e.g. classic or creative). It should speak to your customers, be web-friendly, convey your objectives and be legible. For inspiration: Google Fonts.

This article is part of the Digital marketing and eCommerce toolkit, an initiative offered as part of the free digital marketing and e-commerce consultation service for retailers of the City of Montreal.

Offered in collaboration with :

Logo Ville de Montréal