Let’s start a new design project together!
Why have a brand pattern?
The human brain loves patterns! The repetitive structure and spacing in a pattern give us a feeling of order. Brand Patterns are one of the most interesting and fun elements in a brand’s identity. Using patterns is a simple way to build strong brand recognition and unforgettable brand experiences. It helps you keep your branding engaging, consistent, and cohesive. Every time the viewer sees a business card, a brochure, a mail, an invoice, a social media page, or even a company vehicle with the brand pattern applied, they develop a deep sense of brand recognition which helps the company gain reputation. In fact, sometimes a company’s brand pattern is more recognized by people than their logo.
How to design a pattern for your brand?
Different brands use different patterns unique to their personality. If you want to design the right pattern design for your brand, it’s important to know your target audience and what emotion and style you want to convey. There are three things you should keep in mind while designing your brand pattern.
Brand personality
The message and emotion that your brand conveys is a crucial factor in deciding a pattern for your brand. Most corporate brands usually use subtle, structured patterns with an organized composition. Businesses in the creative and entertainment industry tend to use more playful and random patterns. However, these days more and more companies are becoming braver and are experimenting with their brand identities and patterns. Visible is a good example of a corporate company that was brave enough to use a bright and playful pattern to complement its brand identity. The pattern was tailor-made for its target consumers, millennials
Pattern type
Defining the pattern content, treatment, and its arrangement is the next step in designing the brand pattern. These three factors mainly define the structure of the pattern. The content of the pattern can be iconographic, typographic, conversational, or even abstract. In some cases, the brand logo is used as the pattern content. The treatment refers to how the pattern looks, whether it is hand-drawn or graphical, minimal or elaborate, geometric or non-geometric. And finally, the arrangement is how the pattern elements are arranged together. Is the arrangement seamless or random, geometric or non-geometric, complete or partial. There are endless combinations using these three factors from which new pattern designs are born.
Here are a few examples of patterns from various combinations of these factors…
Colour
We often believe that colour is the last thing the viewer would notice in brand identities, but it is actually the visual component that people remember the most. Research has reinforced the fact that color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent. For example, you can easily spot the original FedEx logo in the image below. Your eyes instantly recognize the colours of the original logo. This is why colour is important in branding.
Many of the most recognizable brands in the world rely on colour as a key factor in their instant recognition. So in most cases, it is good practice to start with your original brand colors when creating your pattern and then supplementing it with additional shades if required.
When choosing the right colors for your pattern, it is crucial to think about your target audience. If it is a youthful, fun-loving audience that you are trying to cater to, then go for an energetic and bright colour palette. On the other hand, if it is a more serious and mature audience, then muted colors and pastels would work best. But if you are going for a modern, minimal, and neutral look, then a monochrome color palette can make a bold and powerful statement.
From the images shown below, you can clearly see how colour can change the mood and emotion of a pattern.
Where do I use patterns?
A brand pattern can be used absolutely anywhere. The more you expose the viewer to your pattern, the more brand recognition and reputation you earn. Given below are the most common ways in which reputable brands use brand patterns.
Stationery
You can use your pattern to help keep the consistency of your brand with your company stationery, be it business cards, envelopes, invoices, notepads, staplers, or even pencils.
Packaging
Any business that delivers or ships physical goods, or runs in a physical retail space has a lot of potential in incorporating brand patterns. Adding patterns to your packaging can enhance the customer’s buying experience and earn you more brand recognition.
Website
Adding patterns to the background of your graphic or as accents throughout your website can help you gain brand recognition as the user subconsciously notices it each time he or she visits your website or blog page.
Social media
By applying your brand pattern on posts you upload on social media, you can maintain a consistent and cohesive brand language.
Vehicles
Having brand patterns on company vehicles can make them stand out and can help you greatly increase brand value and recognition. It instills curiosity in people every time they see the vehicle with the brand pattern on it passing by.
Infrastructure
Be it a shop, office space, mall, classroom, restaurant, or even a local tea stall. Having patterns on a larger scale can create more interest and curiosity from onlookers and visitors.
Merchandise
Adding a brand pattern to merchandise always draws in more audience. People like to find a sense of connection between things, and adding patterns to merchandise does just that. The sole purpose of any branded merchandise is to promote a company’s products or services and adding patterns on them will increase brand recognition and help boost brand awareness.
Patterns matter!
In short, a pattern can be a simple yet incredibly powerful and versatile tool for communicating a brand’s identity and message. They help the brand create texture, interest, balance and also help it to stand out from your competitors. So why wait? Upgrade your brand using patterns and elevate it to greater heights!