Your brand style is your secret sauce!

There are four different types of brands. They define what your business does as much as your offerings. Once you establish the category your brand fits into, it will help lead you to your brand style. What is the difference? First, let’s look at the four categories of brands. 

Product Brands These represent specific items and focus on what makes them stand out. An example would be something like the iPhone or the Big Mac.

Service Brands Centered on experiences; these highlight how a service meets your need. Think Uber, Airbnb or Lyft.

Corporate Brands These reflect the whole company and its mission, values, and reputation. Coca-Cola and Apple are great examples.

Personal Brands Built around individuals and their public image. Think Oprah, Martha Stewart or Marie Forleo.

Brand type is what the brand is. Brand style includes the visual and verbal elements that shape a brand's unique identity. It’s the feeling people get when they hear your message or interact with your content. Setting the tone for everything, from your logo to your color, palette to your visuals to your design choices, customers will get a sense of who you are.

So how do you know what type of style fits your brand best? Let’s explore six popular brand styles. Minimalist, modern, retro, playful, feminine and masculine.

Minimalist.

Choosing to create a timeless and classic brand can appear simple. It is anything but simple. A lot of thought goes on to make the simple happen! A modern brand is often luxury, focused, and professional. Consisting of white space, a neutral or monochromatic color palette and an easy-to-read typeface. This style of logo suits wellness brand high high-end services, wedding experts, real estate agents and more. Here we are focusing on quality and longevity.

Modern

Outside of the box thinker? A modern brand style might be your choices; it goes beyond traditional marketing. This style of branding is direct and often trend forward uses of strong color contrast, punchy graphics and striking typography. It is very hard to miss. Once you see the style of branding, you will know standing out is their game. Examples might be fashion brands startups, and business is looking to make a lasting impression

Retro

Who didn’t love the 70’s? Nostalgic brands are making a comeback and with good reason! They are quirky, charming, and rooted in your childhood memories. Comprised of vintage inspired fonts, muted color, palettes, throwback patterns and hand drawn illustrations. Created with a sense of history, familiarity and heart. Businesses such as coffee, shops, breweries boutiques, and creatives are often in search of this type of style.

Playful

Bright smiles and kind hearts are always drawn to this vibrant style branding. Creative ideas filled with color and rounded fonts. This style brings joy and movement that come into play sparking curiosity for all. This style appeals to children’s brands, lifestyle products, and socially-driven companies. They are aiming to build emotional connections with memorable style.

Feminine

Craving pink for your logo? You are not alone. Many clients lean toward more of a feminine vibe for their brand. Soft tones such as blush, lavender, cream or pastels. Often showcasing script or delicate fonts. Feminine brands are found in industries like beauty, wellness, fashion, lifestyle, and coaching. They create a sense of approachability, care, and authenticity.

Masculine

Thinking of creating a manly brand, no problem! This style leans into bold, strong, and confident visual and verbal elements. It often conveys power, reliability, and a no-nonsense attitude. Bold, clean, or blocky fonts and darker colors paired with neutrals. Masculine brands are often seen in industries like tech, sports, automotive and finance. These clients are looking to communicate strength, clarity and trust.

You don’t have to fit into one box. Identifying the core vibe helps you create your own brand clarity. Think about your audience, your values, and the feeling you want people to walk away with. Your brand style becomes the anchor for your visual and verbal decisions. When in doubt, create a mood board. Gather images, colors, typefaces and inspiration that feel like your brand. Once you start collecting that information you will start to see a pattern.

Always be sure to include your designer in these boards, it will help them see your vision. Still feeling stuck? That is ok, this is what designers do and we are happy to give you a visual map to help explain the direction that will work best for you.

The more you know, the more you grow!