Branding and Logo Design for Law Firms

We’re starting with the very building blocks of branding with brand identity. It’s the secret sauce that makes your brand better than the rest. It entirely shapes your company and what comes next – so it’s important to establish it early in the branding process.

Specifically, brand identity is the summation of all the separate factors of your business’ image. Brand identity is a separate thing from brand image or just plain branding – despite these phrases being used interchangeably by some marketers.

Who you are as a law firm is made up of a few key elements, like:

– Your mission (what’s your “why?”)
– Your values (what does your company believe in?)
– Your brand personality (imagine your brand was a person – what sort of  personality would they have?)
– Your unique positioning (what makes you different from your competitors?)
– Your brand voice (what tone of voice does your brand use when it’s communicating internally and externally?)

Within the legal market, you’re operating in a circle of businesses that all possess a very similar brand voice. They’re likely all mild-mannered with a serious tone. That definitely communicates that you’re a bunch of professionals, but does nothing to help you differentiate yourself from the sea of other bland law firms out there.

See if you can think of a brand with a really distinctive tone of voice. Take Uber, for example. Their tone of voice is simple, bold and consistent. You’ll never find a long rambling paragraph from Uber’s communications. They distinctly ask ‘where to?’ with no fuss or frills. It’s the perfect extension of their fast and effective service.

It’s the same for your law firm’s tone of voice. You need to create a brand voice that is distinctly different from your competition to ensure you stand out. It should also represent your business and how it operates.

We’re all bombarded with thousands of different fonts every day, and each font creates a different subliminal message within your mind. From billboards to book covers, there’s a new font to be found wherever a message needs to be conveyed. Too many businesses fall within the comfortable confines of Times New Roman or Open Sans. Typeface is an extremely powerful tool in your arsenal to help improve your branding. It’s a subliminal kind of language that allows you to craft your business’ distinctive tone.

It might be difficult to understand how type can convey such a large amount of personality. Here are a couple of aspects to consider:

– Serif or Sans-serif? – Your first choice is between these two families of typeface. Serif fonts harken back to a historical age of scripture with their delicate lines. They create a sense of gravitas, class and intelligence – brands like Time Magazine and Rolex. Sans-serif fonts are a more modern invention from the 19th century. They radiate cool, clean modernity and sleek professionalism. Think Facebook and Adidas.

– High or low contrast? – When we say contrast, we’re talking about the thickness between the main and additional stroke. Very low contrast typeface is bold and uniform. This kind of typeface is solid and radiates confidence. Modern, innovative brands like Netflix and Apple use a low contrast typeface. Medium contrast fonts are best for body copy. Staying away from extremes allows for optimum legibility. Very high contrast typeface radiate elegance. Many high fashion brands like Vogue or Dior use high contrast fonts.

– Diagonal or vertical stress? – The stress of a font is the angle that contrast occurs in its lettering. It’s easiest to work out what kind of stress a typeface has by looking at the letter ‘O’. If the bottom left is thicker than the top left, then that’s diagonal stress. This style is reminiscent of calligraphy and has a friendly, inviting, warm feel to it. Vertical stress is when the left and right side of the letter is thicker and the tops are thinner. These styles feel bold and striking with a core of confidence and authority.