How to Create a Brand Board for Your Business
Do you take branding seriously on Pinterest? How about in other areas of your business?
If you answered with a resounding “YES” to both questions, we salute you!
After all, a strong brand is crucial to success. This is your business’s personality; its uniform and reputation – the perception others have of you. It gives your business life, helps you stand out, and attracts your target customers.
A lot goes into successful branding, of course, but *consistency *is at the top of the list – especially when it comes to visuals. People process this info in milliseconds, so a consistent visual style on Pinterest (and beyond!) helps you become recognized in your niche and trusted by would-be customers.
That’s where having a brand board comes into play. Today, we’re going to reveal everything worth knowing about this powerful branding tool.
Read on to discover what it is, why it helps, and how to create one.
Definition of a Brand Board
A brand board is a concise and easy-to-read reference guide full of information on your brand’s unique style and identity.
Think of it as a one-stop shop for everything related to your brand, including your logo, fonts, colors, brand imagery, and graphics. With a brand board at your disposal, you’ll have a comprehensive document full of key info that anyone can use to create on-brand copy and creativity for your business!
How Creating a Brand Board Helps Your Business
Your mission is to create a strong brand that sets you apart from the competition.
But to do that, all of your branding efforts must have the same visuals and general *vibe! *Remember, consistency’s key.
Unfortunately, a slew of factors can make that hard to accomplish. Maybe you hire a new freelancer to help create or edit your Pins, for instance. Or perhaps you’re forced to take sick leave and can’t be around to check the social media posts your team’s putting out…
Having a brand board stops either situation from being an issue. Everyone on the team would have everything they needed, in one convenient location, to stay on-brand at all times.
All told, you’re less likely to deviate from the specific elements that make you recognizable in your industry.
Elements of a Brand Board
In general, brand boards contain information on:
1. The Logo
A fundamental part of any brand, make sure you include your primary/standard logo in your branding board as well as any variations of it.
For instance, you might have a logo submark which is an icon (e.g. a small graphic or set of initials) used to represent your logo. There could also be a square version of it for social media, a horizontal version for your website header, and so on.
2. The Color Palette
What colors do you use to represent your brand? There may be a number of main colors alongside further secondary/neutral ones. List them all on your brand board!
Top tip: try to include the hex code and RGB/CMYK values for each specific color as well. It’ll prevent slight color variations from creeping into your branding.
3. The Typography
There’s nothing worse than mixing up the fonts in your marketing efforts!
Stay consistent by choosing 2 to 3 fonts to use in your body copy, headings, and subheadings and including them in the brand board. You should also list any accent fonts that are permitted.
4. The Images
This includes everything from the icons and brand elements you use to the types of graphics and stock photos you like. A picture says a thousand words, so consistent imagery in your branding’s super important!
Make sure you put a few examples of each on your brand board to help other people represent your brand effectively. Heads up, they usually incorporate the colors you picked out in your color palette.
Qualities of a Great Brand Board
The best brand boards provide a cohesive summary of your brand’s unique visual identity, vibe, ethos, and style.
Do you know how you can look at a complete stranger sometimes and recognize the type of person they are in an instant? That’s your goal with the brand board! Someone should be able to look at it and appreciate your brand’s entire personality and approach without any need for further explanation.
How to Quickly Create Your Own Brand Board
While creating your brand board from scratch might seem daunting, it’s actually quite straightforward. We recommend you start by assembling your main visual elements and graphics and putting them in a one-page document!
Graphic design tools like Canva are a big help here. They’re packed with useful tools, such as the Canva Color Wheel, which make putting together your brand board a breeze.
