How to create a brand identity from scratch

Step 1

Pick a project and define what the brand promises

For practice, take a real or believable small business: a neighborhood café, English classes for kids, a bike repair shop, a book-swap app. The more specific the project, the easier the decisions. If it's a friend's brand, talk to the owner first. Then answer a few questions in writing:

• •who the brand is for and where people meet it: a sign, Instagram, a website, packaging, an app;
• •the one main promise it makes to people, the reason they come to it;
• •how it differs from the two or three closest competitors, and what they look like;
• •3–7 attribute words for how the brand should feel (for example, “warm, unhurried, cozy”), and, just as honestly, what it should not be.

💡 Nielsen Norman Group calls these two things the brand promise and the brand attributes, and says attributes are typically a set of 3–7 words. A short list is easier to check against than a paragraph.

Step 2

Build a moodboard and choose a direction

A moodboard is a board of references that shows the mood before you start drawing. Collect not only other identities but also textures, photos, shop signs, covers and interiors: anything that matches the words from step one. Figma, FigJam, Miro or even a sheet of paper all work. The order of work:

• •first collect everything that resonates, without strict filtering;
• •remove everything that doesn't match your words, even if you like it;
• •sort the rest into two or three distinct directions, such as “craft and paper” and “bright urban”;
• •under each direction, note which brand word it supports, and choose one.

💡 A moodboard is a source of mood, not a parts kit to copy. If the final identity is easy to recognize as someone's Behance case study, go back to your words.

Step 3

Set the foundation: logo, colors and fonts

These are the three pillars everything else rests on. Treat the logo as its own process, with a brief, sketches and a small-size check; it's covered step by step in How to design a logo yourself. What matters here is that the logo works together with the colors and fonts, not on its own. For the rest of the foundation:

• •colors: one or two main brand colors, neutrals for backgrounds and text, and one accent; write down HEX and RGB values, plus CMYK for print. How to choose a palette: How to choose a color palette;
• •fonts: two are usually enough, one for headings and one for text. Check that both have Cyrillic if you need it, the weights you need and a license for your use. See Fonts in design;
• •check text contrast against the background in every combination you plan to use.

Step 4

Add graphic elements and show the identity in use

A logo, colors and fonts don't yet make an identity recognizable. It needs its own language: a pattern, a label shape, characteristic corners, an icon style, an approach to photos (light, framing, treatment) or illustrations. Take one idea, for example from the logo's shape, and develop it into a few elements. Then test the system on the things people actually see:

• •for a café: the menu, a cup, the sign, a post and a story;
• •for an app: the icon, the sign-in screen, a push notification, the app store page;
• •for classes: the website's first screen, a certificate for students, an ad banner.

💡 Make at least one “boring” item: a price list, a notice about new opening hours. If the identity survives dull layouts, it really works.

Step 5

Build a brand book and get feedback

A brand book (guidelines) is a document you could hand to someone else and ask them to make a layout in your style. For a study project, a few pages in Figma or a PDF are enough. According to Nielsen Norman Group, brand guides usually cover color palettes, typography, logo variations with size and spacing rules, and the approach to imagery. For the full structure, see What a brand book is and how to make one. For a study project, add:

• •the brand words and a short explanation of how each one shows in the design;
• •logo variations, clear space, minimum size and misuse examples;
• •colors with values, fonts with a hierarchy, graphic elements;
• •two or three “do” and “don't” examples in use.

💡 A readiness test: give the brand book to another designer and ask for one social post. If the result looks like your identity, the system is repeatable. If not, the missing rules are exactly where they went wrong.