Nowadays, there’s no denying that one of the first few things you must work on when building a business is your branding. With consumers’ first interaction with most businesses being online, you are immediately faced with the challenge of standing out among competitors and how well you can play into the “attention economy”.  How you position your brand will affect how strong your business’s fighting chance is.

But first, are you even clear on what a brand should be about? We talked about the difference between a business and a brand before and it bears repeating that branding creates consistency. That consistency is what builds consumer trust.

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Where your brand is headed

And if you think you already have a brand, is it working just as you’ve imagined?

>> Brand development is a full-time commitment. You have to constantly listen to your audience and adapt without losing your company vision.

Even companies like Rolls Royce and Intel have undergone a brand makeover just last year.

If you want to boost your brand and connect on a deeper level to your audience, you might want to look into art direction. Simply put, art direction is “the oversight of all the artistic aspects of a project”. It’s a combination of how the art (brand visuals) will look in consideration with how it will move your audience in their consumer journey.

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Why is art direction important in business

Art direction is about keeping a consistent image; it's about vision. From photography to graphics and color choice, hiring an art director (or agency that specializes in art direction) will make your brand position distinct. Art direction keeps that magic thread running consistently through each consumer touchpoint.

1. It’s literally in the name, it gives your brand a sense of direction. Without a clear concept of where you want to bring your business, your brand messaging might become inconsistent and confuse consumers.
2. An art director marries the artistic side AND the business side of your branding. Your branding does not only need to be aesthetically pleasing but it also has to communicate what your business is about.
3. It organizes your ideas into a coherent brand identity. You can have all these amazing, cool concepts surrounding your brand but without art direction, you won’t be able to tell if those concepts are indeed representative of your brand or you’re just getting too excited by the thought of it.
4. It’ll drive your brand through the long game. Maintaining connection with your audience over some time is not easy. With an art director on board, you can be confident that your visual presence will be consistent as you grow your business.

Art direction barely comes up as part of the business owner’s brand-building checklist so utilize this newfound “direction” for where you’ll be taking your brand. Ultimately, you want longevity for your business, and branding that is fully representative of what your company is and who it serves can be a key contributor to that success.

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