The Branding Concept

The term branding is a broad umbrella; visual branding (also called visual identity) is one important piece of it. Understanding how they relate — and how they differ — helps businesses create clearer, more powerful identities.

When we generally talk about visual branding, we talk about the look and feel of a business — the design elements people see and immediately connect with a brand.

Visual branding is the strategic use of visual elements to communicate a company’s identity, values, and personality. It is the visual component of a broader brand strategy, transforming intangible concepts (like reliable, innovative, or luxurious, for example) into a consistent and recognizable visual language. 

Branding generally refers to the full strategy around how a company, product, or service is perceived. It includes everything that shapes that perception.

To make that distinction simple and practical, let’s first clarify a few key terms, then bring them together:

• 1) Brand / Branding:
  This is the collective perception of your business in the customer’s mind — and the active process of shaping that perception through strategy, messaging, experience and design.
  
  

• 2) Visual:
  A visible element or representation — anything the eye can perceive (color, shape, icon, photograph, layout, texture, etc.) that can convey meaning.

• Both Together: Visual Branding:
  The set of deliberate, visible tools used to shape perception: logo, color palette, typography, imagery, iconography, layout rules, and other design systems that together form a consistent visual identity that represents ownership, endorsement and other affiliation.