10 Brand Identity Examples You Can Use to Build Your Brand

A strong brand identity is more than just a logo; it reflects a business’s personality, values, and purpose.

The best brand identity examples show how consistent visuals, messaging, and tone work together to create recognition, trust, and emotional connection.

In this guide, you’ll explore 25 brand identity examples and learn practical ideas you can use to build a brand that stands out.

What Is Brand Identity?

Brand identity is a collection of visual and textual elements that combine to create a unique, instantly recognizable image of a company.

As important for launching small business ideas as they are for global corporations, brand identity is core to an overarching brand strategy.

Brand identity encompasses a range of assets, from logos and typographical elements to specific color palettes.

These elements are then applied across multiple assets, including the business’s website and social media presence, as well as in-store items.

When used effectively, these branding elements forge a distinctive, memorable conceptualization of the company in consumers’ minds.

To achieve this, a brand identity must be reinforced consistently, from advertising campaigns to product design and beyond.

Key Elements Of An Effective Brand Identity

While every company’s brand is distinct, there are key elements that consistently drive high-quality branding.

Let’s break down each of these elements and the overarching roles they play when building a brand identity:

• A memorable brand name: One of the first considerations for any new business is choosing a memorable name that matches the company’s tone and style. When brainstorming business name ideas, it’s worthwhile to consider how it can be effectively presented through fonts and color choices, as well as which logo ideas might pair well with it.
• Clearly articulated brand pillars: The foundations for building an identity that aligns with a company’s core values and defining goals. These brand pillars include the company’s overall purpose, its market position, and the tone of voice used when communicating with the public.
• Brand logo and color scheme: A compelling, memorable brand identity combines bold colors and a distinctive logo. These elements should be designed for clarity across all formats, looking just as great on small smartphone screens as on multi-floor billboards.
• Taglines and fonts: Appropriately selected typography that matches the company’s name and target audience demographics is another important aspect of a brand’s visual identity. These can also be applied to catchy slogans and a compelling tagline that embody the spirit of the business in just a few words.
• Additional visual elements: In some cases, assets such as illustrations and photographs can be incorporated to enhance a company’s visual identity and reinforce the overall brand aesthetic.

By working on brand elements with a consistent design style, businesses can differentiate themselves with bold, eye-catching imagery.

Why A Strong Brand Identity Is Important

Whether you’re creating digital products or selling items in physical stores, a clear identity and brand values are vital for success.

Here are some reasons why developing a strong brand identity is necessary for driving awareness, sales, and hitting long-term goals.

Create A Distinct Visual Identity

Developing a clear visual identity is central to an excellent brand identity, ensuring your company stands out from the competition.

A strong brand identity will define your approach to making a website, crafting ad campaigns, and connecting with your target audience.

When implemented effectively, this visual identity will become a defining element of your company’s personality and appeal.

Define Your Brand Voice To Build Trust

A standout brand identity also helps to cement your brand personality, signaling reliability and indicating the quality of products and services.

This begins by determining what your corporate brand stands for and reflecting those values through slogans and mission statements.

Your brand voice can also be used in customer interactions, leaving a positive, lasting impression that enhances sales.

Enhance Brand Loyalty

Establishing a positive brand perception drives customer loyalty by building emotional connections that resonate with their desires.

It allows business leaders to increase brand awareness where it counts, encouraging repeat business and turning customers into advocates.

As such, brand identity is more important than ever, and brands should leverage all available elements to reach each target customer and drive growth.

Essential resource: How to find out who designed a website.

Top 10 Best Brand Identity Examples

Building a compelling brand identity requires more than just a logo; it requires multiple elements to make a brand memorable.

We’ve compiled the 10 best brand identity examples to help you create stunning visual elements that capture your brand’s purpose.

10. Patagonia

Founded in 1975 by Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia’s branding encapsulates the idea that simplicity creates an instant impression.

The mountain range logo, designed by Chouinard and artist Jocelyn Slack, conveys the great outdoors in a few simple lines.

This grassroots sense of style continued through the original hand-drawn typography, which has since been updated to the Belwe font.

Patagonia continues the themes of exploration and adventure in its slogans, using phrases like “There every step of the road” in its products.

This reinforces a sense of connection with their core audience, suggesting a shared experience and a journey into the wilderness.

Patagonia’s purpose-driven identity is evident in its website design, with resources and activities that support its product range.

9. Oatly

The oat drink producer Oatly uses a color palette of black, white, and blue in its brand identity, creating a style that echoes its dairy roots.

Founded in 1994, the company chose a simple, memorable business name, paired with playful slogans.

Examples of excellent slogans used by Oatly in its products and marketing include “Wow, no wow,” and “It’s like milk, but made for humans.”

These playful expressions are packaged in equally playful, light designs, featuring hand-drawn elements that feel spontaneous.

Likewise, the custom lettering used in Oatly brand elements is fun and energetic, matching the irreverent slogans and taglines.

While the branding overall has a conversational tone, Oatly also emphasizes sustainability as part of its values.

The result is a brand that blends a casual sense of style with an environmentally conscious mission statement to the audience.

Recommended reading: How to sell websites to small businesses.

8. Duolingo

Moving away from the earthly tones of Oatly to Duolingo’s dazzling use of greens in its typography and owl mascot.

As a language-learning app, Duolingo is a distinctive international business, therefore requiring a universally appealing brand style.

The decision to select an owl when designing the logo for the app in the early 2010s paved the way for Duolingo’s rapid rise in popularity.

It’s a simplified, cartoon-like design that uses vivid greens, which carry through to the oval-shaped Duolingo typography.

Since this initial design, the logo and fonts have been iteratively adjusted, resulting in today’s modernized mascot visualization.

Its impact is clear through the various owl-themed memes, with the owl design used for costumes and social media trends.

Duolingo’s marketing strategy has often played into this by using the owl as a storytelling character to further enhance the customer experience.

7. Glossier

Branding sits at the heart of every website project plan, and Glossier showcases how these elements can be used on digital platforms.

After beginning as a beauty blog, Glossier has evolved into a major makeup retailer with extensive branded merchandise.

The choice of color palette creates an instant connection with the products, with neutral, skin tone-like pink backgrounds accenting the text.

A minimalist, hand-drawn “G” adds a personal touch to the designs, hinting at the elegance of wearing makeup.

Glossier’s written branding is also neatly tied to its core products, with a conversational, informative tone of voice.

There’s little high-pressure sales terminology; instead, they speak directly to customers in familiar language.

Glossier is also known for incorporating user-generated content into its branding, such as authentic, relatable customer photographs.

6. Apple

The Apple logo needs no introduction, with the famous bitten apple seen in countless movies and television shows over the years.

Initially designed with horizontal rainbow stripes, the logo has evolved into a more streamlined version with a slick, modern aesthetic.

This flat and minimalistic design demonstrates how keeping things simple can result in iconic imagery that stands the test of time.

Apple’s simple yet effective approach to branding is evident in its slogans, from “Think different” to “Say hello to the future.”

Minimalism is an appropriate strategy for a company best known for its highly approachable and clear user interfaces.

Apple continues to innovate in technology, adopting the latest AI-powered systems in its phones and computers.

5. Nike

As with the Apple bitten apple logo, the Nike “Swoosh” logo has become integrated into the American cultural consciousness.

Nike’s reputation as one of the leading sporting goods manufacturers is in part due to this striking and iconic logo design.

Created in 1971, this logo has been refined and tightened over the years, with fonts like Futura Bold used for the text.

Since the mid-1990s, many of their products dropped the text entirely, relying on the instantly recognizable logo to drive awareness.

These elements have been augmented with appropriately action-themed photos and illustrations in marketing materials.

Partnerships with the leading sports stars of various eras, from Michael Jordan to Colin Kaepernick, further cement their cutting-edge reputation.

Likewise, Nike has effectively used social media campaigns and hashtags to build trust and connections with its customers.

All of these branding elements carry through Nike’s website layout, from the bold logo to the narrative-driven imagery.

4. Spotify

The streaming platform Spotify is an excellent example of how scalable businesses use graphics to attract mass appeal.

The playful lime-green logo design is synonymous with Spotify, evoking the sound waves from its music catalog.

At the same time, the use of neon reinforces its brand personality and is optimized for smaller smartphone screens.

For the typeface, Spotify created its own unique design called Spotify Mix, which matches the visuals of the app’s user interface.

This consistency of color application is vital for creating a deep impression with users and a unique association with the brand.

The result is a company that has demonstrated consistent growth since its inception and has millions of paying users.

3. Airbnb

With a looping line forming its logo and suggesting motion between destinations, Airbnb’s branding is deceptively simple.

Adopting a color palette strategy familiar across hotel websites, its warm colors are inviting and suggest relaxation and calm.

The current company name is a contraction of its initial name, AirBed & Breakfast, making it easier to remember.

This simplified name lends itself to clearer, more precise logos and typography, with the friendly, custom typeface widely used across materials.

Airbnb’s slogans and messaging have also evolved over the years, moving towards a familiar and community-focused tone.

They’re also responsible for one of the best homepage designs, conveying extensive information without sacrificing clarity.

2. LEGO

The legendary toy manufacturer LEGO provides another outstanding example of how font and color choices can be effectively combined.

Taking its name from the Danish for “Play well,” LEGO draws on the block system of its products to inform its brand identity.

Around this central design, they use appropriately vibrant color schemes that appeal to children and expressive graphic elements.

Slogans are also carefully selected, from “Children are our role models” to “Only the best is good enough.”

In recent years, LEGO’s appeal has broadened to include adults, many of whom grew up playing with LEGO.

This shift in consumer behavior has enabled LEGO to capitalize on its social media presence, encouraging customers to share their creative experiences.

Further reading: How much does it cost to build a website?

1. Coca-Cola

No discussion of memorable brand identities would be complete without Coca-Cola, arguably the most iconic American brand of all time.

Its elegant and vintage-style Spencerian script typeface has been synonymous with the soft drinks manufacturer for decades.

Coca-Cola’s position in the beverages industry dates back to the late 19th century, and this rich legacy is evident in its design evolution.

Just as the font has become iconic, so too has the company’s use of vivid red on a white backdrop become a touchpoint for many designers.

Its branding also uses language effectively to forge connections with customers, notably through its “Share a Coke” slogan.

An essential reference point when selecting fonts for websites or designing color palettes, Coca-Cola’s branding legacy is unparalleled.

How To Create A Brand Identity

If you’re writing a brand manifesto for a startup or rebranding an established business, the core process remains largely the same.

Here’s how to create a brand identity that incorporates strong visual storytelling and compelling messaging in a few steps:

• Research your target audience and competitors: Understanding what your company offers consumers is essential to shaping how your audience perceives your brand. When building your own brand, you should also research your direct competitors to see how they present their brand story to potential customers.
• Choose a name and slogans: If your business doesn’t already have one, choose a name that clearly articulates your products or services to build a strong brand identity. This can then be complemented by slogans that deliver clear messaging through a distinctive voice.
• Create brand guidelines: Establish a clear set of guidelines to give your elements a strong sense of unity across all assets. These guidelines can cover everything from the desired color palette and tone of voice to how branding should be applied to packaging and other formats.
• Design your visual identity: With your guidelines established, you can build a visual identity using minimalist design and a consistent color palette. If you’re including illustrations and photos, learn how to edit like a professional so they look their best.
• Apply your brand identity across all platforms: Once your brand elements are ready, include them across all media and on your product’s packaging. This includes adding branding to your website design timeline and outlining how it can be used in a marketing strategy.

When designing a brand identity, brainstorm concepts and gather feedback from existing customers to refine and improve the process.

Read this next: How to promote your website.

Brand Identity Tools & Resources

While corporations often outsource their branding to professional designers, others prefer to handle it in-house.

If you’re creating a brand identity for your business, here are some tools to help create stunning logos and other elements:

• Graphic design software: Essential for creating brand elements, software like Adobe Illustrator and InDesign deliver professional results for logos, icons, and other assets. Alternatively, you can use free graphic design software, such as GIMP and Canva, to achieve quick, easy results on a budget.
• Brand identity learning resources: If you don’t have a background in design and marketing, you can reference books, podcasts, and online courses to learn the basics. YouTube covers many topics in tutorials from channels like Behind the Brand with Bryan Elliott and Brand Story.
• Digital marketing tools: Once you’ve finalized your designs, you can use a range of excellent tools for freelancers to conduct additional keyword research and scheduling for ad campaigns. SEMrush and Ahrefs will help with competitor analysis, while Hootsuite and Sprout Social can streamline your social media promotional drives.

Additional tools, such as Statista and Anadea, can also be used when researching your brand and selecting a business name.

Summary

In this guide, you learned what brand identity is, why it matters, and which elements shape how your brand is perceived.

By exploring the brand identity examples mentioned above, you saw how leading brands use visuals, messaging, and consistency to stand out.

You can apply these principles to make clearer branding decisions and build a brand that stands out from the crowd.