How a design system can help you achieve brand consistency

Brand consistency is essential for the success of your company. In today’s competitive world, you have to ensure you’re presenting an authentic, professional face to your audience – something brand consistency helps with.

But what exactly is brand consistency, why is it important, and how can you go about achieving it? Today we’re going to do a deep dive into brand consistency and how a design system can help you take your branding to the next level.

What is brand consistency?

Brand consistency is the practice of honing your brand messaging so that it aligns with a specific identity and core strategy. In terms of design, this means broadcasting the same visual elements across all channels or messages delivered by your brand.

For example, you might ensure your brand color palette is consistent across your logo, website, business cards, and advertisements or that your typography is the same in every employee’s email signature.

The key here is a unified look and feel that invokes your brand.

Why is brand consistency important?

Brand consistency is important for a number of reasons, including:

Awareness

Brand consistency breeds brand awareness and brand awareness is the best way to create a space for yourself in the minds of your target audience. The familiarity of your brand plays a part in consumers choosing to shop with you. The more familiar they are with your company, the more likely they are to choose your brand over your competition.

Most of the time, brand awareness starts with your look and feel – your logo and other brand elements such as color scheme and typography. But for your brand to become memorable, consumers need to keep seeing these elements, consistently, across any online or offline channels. This is essentially how you present your identity to the world.

Authenticity

Authenticity is all about showcasing how your brand aligns with the values of your company. Authenticity is essential in the modern digital landscape as consumers become used to connecting with real humans behind the branding. They also want to spend money with brands that are genuine in their values, whether that be committing to excellent customer service or moving against climate change.

Authenticity is a gateway to customer loyalty. But what does this have to do with design? Well, say you decide to change your logo or website design without warning. This breeds a sense of dissatisfaction and instability. That feeling can bleed over into your audience’s perception of your brand.

Professionalism

Professionalism is the cornerstone of any successful business. It ensures that when a person spends money on a service or product, they trust that they’re getting the full value of their purchase. Professionalism plays an essential role in maintaining that dependability and trust.

Design consistency ensures you’re putting your best professional foot forward. It proves to your audience that you’re committed to your brand and your business and that you know the steps you must take to outstrip your competitors.

What is a design system?

A design system is a set of reusable components, interconnected patterns, and shared practices that are guided by clear standards. They’re designed to be assembled to aid in the design and development of different products including websites or apps.

Many think design systems and style guides are interchangeable but they’re actually distinct tools.

A style guide is a documented set of rules for using brand elements while a design system is a comprehensive library of assets and components that can be assembled in near-infinite ways. A style guide may be part of a design system but it’s not the be-all and end-all of it.

Building a design system

Building a design system can be achieved through a four-step process.

1. Conduct a visual audit

Your first step is to do a visual audit of your existing design. This might be a website, an app, or any other digital product. Conducting an inventory of the CSS or the visual qualities or the various elements will help you gauge this undertaking.

2. Develop a visual design language

The visual design language is the cornerstone of your design system. It’s made up of four main categories:

1. Color
   Your design system should include 1-3 primary colors that represent your brand. You can also include a range of tints and shades to expand your designer’s options.

2. Typography
   A typical design system includes three fonts: one for headings, one for body copy, and one for code. You want to keep your font use to a minimum so as not to confuse your users.

3. Sizing and spacing
   Your sizing and spacing look best when they have balance, rhythm, and consistency.

4. Imagery
   You should have a plan and stick to it when it comes to your visual design language. Set specific rules for icons and illustrations and use the most optimal image format for the situation.

3. Create a UI/pattern library

While the visual audit looks at the visual qualities of your design elements, this step focuses on the components of your UI. Gather together all the parts of your UI that are currently in production. This includes every form, image, modal, and button. Condense or remove those you don’t need.

3. Document your components

At this stage, you should sit down and document exactly what each component is and how it’s to be used. This is an important step. Standardizing your components is what sets your design system apart from a simple pattern library.

Create your design system today

Creating an effective design system can be tricky but the payoff is well worth it for the effort involved. Now you know the importance of brand consistency and how a design system can help you achieve just that.

Looking for a hand in developing your own design system? Get in touch today to see how Akorn Studios can help you and receive a free 15-minute consultation.