This month we're talking about design and aesthetics, so let's discuss unity!
If you want fans to find your work easily, know who you are, and recognise your brand anywhere, you need to unify your visuals across every platform. This includes your website, social media platforms, book covers, logo, and everywhere else that may include visuals.
Here are three ways to unify your visual brand!
Colours
The colours you choose for your brand can depend on many factors. Some people choose their favourite colours. Some people choose colours that match their genre or niche. You may even choose colours to elicit a certain emotion, or to draw the eye.
Making sure you have specific colours to use across all platforms is very important in allowing your audience to recognise you anywhere. For example, All Write uses shades of purple as the main colours, representing both creativity and calm. Secondarily, the business utilises pinks and oranges in photography, to complement the purple tones and brighten up the brand.
Do some research and experimenting - which colours will suit your needs best?
Fonts
While the most important aspect of choosing fonts is ensuring their readability, you can also use them to your advantage in branding.
Which font styles does your audience expect to see? A high-fantasy author may use antique-looking, pretty fonts, whereas a sci-fi author will go for a futuristic, minimalistic look.
Importantly, ensure that you use the same fonts across platforms (where possible). Pick a couple of fonts to use for headings, and a couple to use for paragraphs, at most. Make sure they represent your genre and brand, are readable, and draw the eye.
Photography
Whether you use your own images or stock photos, you should aim to have a similar aesthetic and theme in every photo you use. If one image is a dark, greyscale photo of a rainy day, and the next is a bright, colourful image of playing at the park, your audience is going to become confused.
You can, of course, use pictures of rainy days AND parks - it's all about the way you present the image. Using the same filters and editing methods across your photos is key. (Check out the Lightroom filters available on my Etsy Store.)
Also, you might include specific props in each photo, to show it is yours. This could be as simple as a watermark, but try to get creative. Maybe most of your photos feature the same backdrop, or include the same stationery.
Have questions? Head to my Instagram page and leave a comment!