Setting the Stage for Strategies and Branding Systems in UI Design
Every brand is built upon the foundation of a unique story and identity to solidify their online presence in the vast digital ecosystem. No matter the marketing strategies that come to life when gaining further traction of a brand’s authority, modern times have proven that a robust website and mobile interface is the most fundamental approach.
The diverse strategies and systems that elevate and strengthen a brand is tethered together with a strong user experience (UX) and user interface (UI), as they work in tandem. Yet, what can truly engage a user right at first glance of an interface, are the visual communications that work toward a confluence for an innovative UI design.
UI’s Fundamental Role in Branding
Propelling a business forward with unique visual elements that encapsulate a brand’s vision, mission, target market, and framework is the backdrop for most UI design. As UI design caters to the process of making interfaces embody a certain style through visual elements, while still prioritizing functionality, it builds visual recognizability of a brand.
Visual elements are powerful enough to position a brand and build its style which can strengthen a business persona. By developing innovative designs that a brand wholly embodies, it allows users to remember that a brand is synonymous with those design choices. UI design goes beyond a brand logo, and instead builds on elements that are integral to fully developing a brand’s philosophy and overall identity. A cohesive design also caters to users by demanding their attention in subtle, yet significant ways.
UI design elements visually maintain traffic for a brand’s interface which in turn, is great for increasing conversions rates, consumer loyalty, and upholding a brand’s image. When users and consumers have a positive user experience because a design was effective and functional, is allows a brand to be positioned positively to build consumer trust.
Diverse Elements in UI Design for Branding Strategies
One of the many marvels of UI design is its ability to embody a myriad of features that create association to a brand’s visual individuality, no matter how understated or momentous. The litany of possibilities that UI design dynamically allows are vast and include an endless array of features.
Typography
Typography selection for UI design exceeds the mere notion of picking a nice font. Typography is a main component in UI design, as it is the key facilitator for carrying a website’s content. Selecting a font that is clear and seamlessly blends in with other UI design elements is vital.
Clear fonts not only reduce cognitive friction of content for your users, but it also allows ease of access to a brand’s message without overdoing the design. Typography is a great asset to show the structure of information with font hierarchies, as designers can implement different sizes, widths, and typefaces.
Color Stories
Color schemes play a fundamental role in building a brand’s personality and image. Color is a visual component that a consumer/user will visually respond to first, as it is the predominant part they will initially see. Ensuring that your color story isn’t too identical to other brands will set you apart and allow your users to be able to distinguish your brand. A potent color palette is powerful enough to evoke a particular feel or emotion from users, whether they are aware of it or not, therefore, building those emotions also drives brand association.
Color harmony is another limb to the color story selection process because you want to ensure you are choosing colors that work together beautifully and aesthetically. A poor color combination is noticeable and can tarnish the look and feel of a brand and its interface. Once a unified color scheme is selected, focus on the underlining layers that apply such as how opaque the color saturation will be, its color value, and any hue variations.
Microinteractions
Microinteractions can serve a user with seamless direction. Catering to emotion through the display and interaction through its details can encourage a consumer to resonate with a brand’s message and tonality. The addition of microinteractions must fit into the narrative of a brand’s persona, as you wouldn’t want to have a microinteraction possess bright, flashy animation for say, a law firm website.
Rather, you want to build upon the tonality for your brand to possess. Shifting focus on the details can also create a brand’s signature moment that become synonymous to a brand’s identity — once again allowing consumer recognition. Owning a signature moment, for example Apple’s colorful spinning wheel to indicate a command is loading, can be such a small design, but attain substantial power in the realm of brand building through UI design.
Shapes
Shapes are not only significant in UI implementation on digital interfaces, but for logo creation as well. How a brand establishes itself through a logo can set the stage for the different shapes and textures that can be mimicked into UI design on digital platforms. It can also play a fundamental role in the way a webpage’s layout, iconography, collateral materials, and possible packaging are crafted.
Different shapes can subtly tell their own story and associate emotion through aesthetic. For example, circular shapes can offer a gentle and soft feel, while sharp and square shapes can insist on sleek precision and a powerful, commanding presence. With UI design, these shapes can come to life within interactive elements and input controls such as buttons, banners, or even a mouse hover. The possibilities with shape decisions are vast, and open for creative renovation for your brand to stand out.
Imagery
Imagery includes the elements that are incorporated into a brand’s interface beyond the existence of their logo. This ranges from photography, illustrations, graphics, textures, and patterns that are incorporated within the body of an interface. Graphic design elements through imagery can build a brand’s aesthetic as it allows another layer for brand identity.
Best Practices for Brand Building
Discovering the multitude of UI designs that work best for a brand image is an efficacious steppingstone, but the most important part comes next: how to successfully implement best practices to firmly establish a seamless brand character.
Success in Simplicity
UI design is such an immense entity that can make or break a brand’s image, and thus, simplicity can set the trajectory towards success. Allowing a user to navigate a brand’s interface with ease through visually straightforward design, reduces cognitive friction and a negative experience. Visual elements such as white space, a subtle and light color story, clean typography, or sleek graphic design elements enhance a modern, minimalist approach.
Most consumers are much more likely to enjoy a minimalist aesthetic because it rejects the notion a heavy, over-the-top look, and rather, insists on a much more high-end feel. Simplicity, however, does not mean a brand’s uniqueness should be muzzled. Building with visually appealing elements that effectively positions a brand is still very much attainable. Playing around with different design ideas that are effectively simple and remain authentic to your brand is a great practice to figure out what works best for your company.
Consistency is Key and Balance is Paramount
A brand’s identity is folded into UI design, and they both need to work in tandem with consistency and balance to further push forward recognizability. UI design needs to be built around and within a brand’s established mission, content, persona, value, and target audience to successfully be cohesive. Not only does the identity and design need to match up, but the UI decisions such as colors, shapes, and imagery need to be interconnected throughout an interface.
If a webpage is minimal and sleek, but another has bold animations and a bright colorful palette, it can confuse your users on what exactly a brand’s tonality is. Thus, balancing every design must build upon what a brand wishes to convey, while simultaneously setting a brand apart from others trying to achieve the same outcome.
Acknowledge Agility
Design trends and branding strategies are an everchanging force. Allowing space to adapt new, innovative design trends can elevate a brand to stay in touch with modern design. Carefully and purposefully embarking on the decision for a brand refresh — big or small — can sharpen a brand’s visuals and identity to grow along with a dynamic targeted audience. With careful testing, and a clear idea of what new route to take, is essential to consider before completely revamping your brand.
Peeling back the layers to a brand’s UI design and the strategies they thrive in is an important approach to connect a brand with their consumers and strengthen a distinctiveness. Within a very loud and busy online market, strategic and innovative practices in UI design are the driving forces that can set a brand towards the trajectory of an unforgettable experience.
