When it comes to crafting an impactful brand identity for your jewelry brand, design is everything, since brand identity is the ultimate visual representation of your brand. Does your brand identity capture and convey everything you want your customers to know about your mission, values, and products? If not, it may be time to reconsider the importance of design and work with a design professional who can help you streamline your identity.

Over the weekend, I saw the newly-released Korean film Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho. In one scene, a rich businessman is intrigued when his chauffeur hands him a business card for VIP concierge services. Knowing nothing about the company, the rich businessman looks at the sleek logo and decides immediately, based on the design, that the concierge company must be very reputable and exclusive, even though we find out that’s actually not true (I don’t want to spoil too much!).

As a marketing professional, I was particularly moved by this moment in the movie and felt inspired to write about the power of design in brand identity. Most, if not all, jewelry business owners already know about the importance of design when it comes to their inventory, but not all of them are extending that mindset to their brand image.

According to Adobe’s State of Create 2016 report, 59% will choose to do business with a company over one of its competitors based on good design, and 45% have even paid more for a product or service with good design. In an industry as saturated as jewelry, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not paying attention to design, since so many jewelry brands – both big and small – are already making it a top priority.

If you think it’s time to upgrade your brand identity and reconsider graphic design, as it applies to your website, printed marketing collateral, social media profiles, packaging and more, then you’ll want to know what to prioritize.

Update Your Logo

Of course, a brand is more than its logo, but a logo plays an important role in brand identity. An effective logo should distinguish your jewelry brand from your competition, inspire curiosity, be unique and memorable, and be related to your brand.

Logos usually only have one to two colors, but they should also work in black and white, in case your marketing collateral requires that. You can use text only or incorporate a symbol.

Also, you should be aware that your logo may change and evolve over time, and that’s okay. In luxury fashion these days, the trend is for brands to use a similar, all-caps, san-serif font in their logos. Brands like Burberry, Rimowa, Yves Saint Laurent, and Diane von Furstenberg have all recently updated their logos to match this look.

Even some of the world’s most recognizable brands have updated their logos over time. To see an example of a fascinating logo revolution, you’ll want to watch this video, which illustrates how Google’s logo has evolved since 1998.

Stick to a Color Palette

According to research from Color Matters, “A signature color can boost brand recognition by 80 percent.” Take a moment to think of the color that represents Starbucks’ brand identity. If you were able to imagine “Starbucks Green” – or Pantone 3425C – then you know first-hand how closely a color can be associated with a brand.

When choosing a color palette for your brand, you’ll want to select one to three dominant colors and then three to five accent colors. The number of colors you choose will depend on the amount of color variations you’d like in your brand identity. You won’t necessarily use all the colors on every page of your website, in every version of your logo, and on every piece of marketing collateral, but it’s nice to have a predetermined color palette for when you need additional colors.

An experienced graphic designer can help you choose the colors that best evoke the emotions you want to convey to your customers. To jumpstart the process yourself, you can gather photos containing colors that seem to align best with your brand. In general, you’ll want to know that some of the most common brand colors include blue, green, and red. While blue represents trustworthiness and loyalty, green symbolizes growth and freshness, and red symbolizes power and passion.

Be Consistent

According to data from Lucidpress, “Brands with consistent branding expect to earn 23% more annual revenue than the brands that are inconsistent.” Consistency means extending your brand identity to all your consumer touch points, from your website and social media profiles to all your print and digital marketing collateral. It also means being consistent every single time – every social post, every email, every blog post, every new product addition, every paid advertisement, and more. Your consistency is what your customers will come to expect from you.

Be Professional

Learn to recognize the elements of good design, so that you can choose a talented graphic designer who can create a professional brand identity for you.

Good graphic design is usable, so it’s easy to understand and navigate without too much thought. Good graphic design follows design principles like contrast, balance, proportion, emphasis, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, pattern, white space, movement, variety, and unity. To learn more about these principles, visit this page.

All this being said, design matters, but it won’t necessarily inspire your customers to return to your brand again and again. Design can attract a new customer to your jewelry brand, but you’ll have to deliver. While design is the curb appeal, your exceptional products and top-notch customer service are the foundation and the structure of your business.