At Leona Collective Co., we are passionate about educating our audience. So we thought we would share our design dictionary aka—the common brand terms everyone should know! 

Understanding these terms will empower you to hire a designer, improve your business strategy, and eliminate any fear you have of asking a silly question. BTW there are no silly questions! Above all, we are fans of ALL the questions—so please ask away! There are many terms that come with cultivating, creating, and designing a brand, but in this post, we will stick to the essentials! Let’s dive in here are the common brand terms everyone should know!

Brand

The intangible combination of your marketing, visual identity, and mission directed at your specific ideal audience. Above all, it’s EVERYTHING you do from the experience you create to the value you provide.  

Branding

Branding is the undertaking of strategically curating, creating, and influencing your brand. It includes the visuals, the promises, and the attempt at communicating with your ideal clients. Protip: Brand is the noun, branding is the verb. In other words, its the word you use to communicate.

Branding Experience

Brand experience refers to the way your audience interacts with your brand. For example, the way someone experiences a retail store or how they interact with you online. The brand experience culminates when your ideal client interacts with your brand on multiple, consistent occasions, and experiences. 

Brand Voice

The brand voice is the intentional and strategic use of words, content, and tone in your business across all platforms. In other words, how you write social media captions, respond to emails, and write blog posts. It’s the strategy behind each word that conveys your brand. 

Brand Personality

Your brand personality is how people humanize your brand. This is often done through adjectives. Brand personality fosters genuine connections between your ideal client and business. For example, words such as approachable, warm, authentic.

Wordmark

A wordmark is a logo designed solely on the company name. Above all, a wordmark puts heavy emphasis on typography and the customizations made. 

Letter Mark

Similar to a wordmark, a letter mark uses the initials of a company to promote the brand. For instance, IBM is a great example, its a shortened version of their full brand name.

Pictorial Mark

A pictorial mark is a logo design that uses a graphic. Pictorial marks depend less on the typography (although the type is super important!) and more on the graphic itself. The graphic must be unique, memorable, and tie back to the foundation of the brand.

Emblem

An emblem or shield is a logo that shows text inside of a symbol. Emblems/shields are mostly highly-detailed designs. However, they can be done in a clean and modern way.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is a sentence or a few sentences that express the intent and purpose of a brand. Mission statements identify the goal, describe products and/or services, and highlight the ideal client. In conclusion, it describes your who, what, where, and why. 

Target Audience

The target audience is the group of people that you market to. Demographics are measurable traits; age, career, or income. Psychographics are immeasurable traits; goals, motivations, or personality traits. Therefore, it’s important to consider demographics and psychographics.

Niche

A niche is a specified segment of a market that you position yourself in. For instance, a general market is photography. A niche market would be, newborn photography or wedding photography. Above all, this allows you to mark yourself as an expert in your field.

Visual Identity

Visual identity refers to the graphics and elements that represent your brand. This includes logos, color, typography, and pattern. In other words, its the facade that your audience interacts with.

Mood board

Mood boards are compositions of images, materials, fabric, text (you name it) intended to evoke a specific style or idea.

They allow creatives to propose an intent: a look or idea. They show your audience what your intended visual direction. Similarly, mood boards assist input key members on the same page early on. They offer a chance at collaboration.

Style Guide

A brand guide refers to a document that contains all aspects of your brand’s visual identity. This includes logos and logo variations, colors, fonts, icons, patterns, and any brand guidelines a small business requires. For instance, you can use it for passing off to a team member, VA, or web designer.

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WHOO! We hope that helped clarify the common brand terms everyone should know! Were you caught by surprise by any of the definitions? Let us know in the comments below!