Differentiating Visually

Jess Wilson

In the past, I did a post about how personal branding and various actions can change the perceptions of consumers. This week’s post will focus on how visuals can also alter the perceptions of your target market. Visuals are an incredibly important way to portray a specific mood or image for your brand. As an artist, your album artwork, logo, and personal image are all ways that consumers can derive ideas about the brand. Ries’ Pieces is a business blog focused on branding. In the post, “Being Different Visually,” the author describes how a number of companies differentiate themselves just by looking different from their competitors. The energy drink Red Bull has a very distinctive small can. Monster on the other hand, differentiated themselves by using a larger can. Consumers don’t have any difficulty in determining which product is which because each has their own way of standing out in the consumer’s mind. If your brand is easily recognized, it’ll stand out more and gain more attention from consumers.

Apple uses white headphones to show that their iPod products are unlike any other (Ries’ Pieces). Using color as a differentiator is a successful way to show that you are unique. The Law of Color is the 17^th Immutable Law of Branding (Ries). In 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, Ries explains that consumers associate colors with specific adjectives such as purple for royalty, white for purity, and blue for leadership (Ries). If an artist is looking to portray a certain mood for their album, the best bet is to reflect that in the album artwork. If the album is lighter and upbeat, it should reflect that. If the album has a more solemn feel, perhaps darker colors would work better. The most important advice from the blog and the text is to look at what the competition is doing, and do the opposite. If the biggest competition is using red, use blue.

For example, observe how We the Kings, All Time Low, and Boys Like Girls differentiate themselves by artwork. We the Kings use red and yellow, All Time Low uses blue, green, and yellow, and Boys Like Girls have used red and yellows along with blues and greens. It’s no wonder why I have a hard time telling each band apart. Mayday Parade uses different colors for all of their albums but there is a recurring image of a particular red umbrella that unifies the brand image. The band Bayside always has their bird logo featured on their album artwork. This ties into the 19^th law of branding, the law of consistency. Being consistent with colors, logos, and images will make it easier for consumers to recognize you in a sea of albums. If your image is very different every time, your brand meaning will become lost. In “Being Different Visually,” the author describes how being different and consistent is a strong point for any brand. In essence, the strength of a brand is it’s most important asset.

Ries, A., & Ries, L. (1999). The 22 immutable laws of branding. London: HarperCollinsBusiness.