What is a brand kit and how to create one in Canva

If you're tired of feeling like your branding is all over the place, leaving you invisible in a sea of competitors, then you're in the right place. I'm Natalia, the founder of Green Studio Marketing, and I'm here to help you stand out, gain visibility, and sell with confidence, one website at a time. Today, we're diving into the world of brand kits and how they can transform your business. 

If you are not sure what exactly a brand kit is, or if you really need one,  trust me, I get it. I too overlooked brand strategy until my business growed, and if I’d taken my brand seriously from the beginning I would have skipped the parts about undercharging, having messy and inconsistent marketing and having confidence in landing high-ticket clients instantly. 

A brand kit is a collection of visual elements and guidelines that define and represent your brand. It includes your logo, color palette, fonts, imagery, and more. Having a brand kit is crucial because it brings consistency and cohesiveness to your brand, making it instantly recognizable and memorable. And let's face it, inconsistency in branding leads to inconsistent sales, a lack of brand recognition, and the dreaded feeling of blending in with the crowd.

So, let's explore the world of brand kits together. 

What exactly is a brand kit?

At its core, a brand kit is the blueprint of your brand's visual identity. It's a collection of design elements and guidelines that ensure your brand's visuals are consistent across all platforms and materials. Think of it as your brand's DNA—unique, identifiable, and the key to attracting your dream clients.

The importance of having a brand kit in your business and why you need one

Now, you might be wondering why having a brand kit is so important. And the truth is that a lot of businesses go about without a brand kit but the thing is that having this strategic marketing document allows you to visualize all the touchpoints of your brand, and how your brand will be seen by your ideal clients in different marketing assets. 

A brand strategy guide allows you to see the big picture of all your brand elements and it will give you a clear direction of what tone and visuals to use to guide all your marketing efforts. In short, it helps build a brand identity and lays out how to be consistent with it so that you can ultimately build brand recognition.

What should a brand kit include?

Now that we've covered the importance of a brand kit, let's explore what it should include. Your brand kit should consist of key visual elements that define your brand's identity. Here are the essentials:

Logo

Your logo is the face of your brand. It should be versatile, memorable, and reflect your brand's personality. If you want to DIY your logo can totally start off with Canva (however a logo made in Canva is intellectual property of Canva so that means you don’t own your logo because you are using a style or pre-made design that was made for the platform, and you could find yourself using a very similar logo that many others have since all Canva users have the same access to all Canva logo templates). Their Canva templates are designed to help you out as a starting point to define your brand identity, but it is always best to truly have a unique logo that sets you apart from the competition.

Color Palette 

Choose a set of colors that align with your brand's values and evoke the desired emotions. I like to design color palettes based on the lifestyle of the ideal clients we want to attract

Fonts: 

Select fonts that complement your brand's style and ensure readability across different platforms. To be honest, the preference of fonts is truly up to you. There is no subliminal effect that will persuade people to buy based on fonts, but it will help evoke emotions depending on what you want to communicate like boldness, softness, sophistication, elegance, etc. So thinking about these adjectives is important to select the right fonts that align with your personal mood and vibe and with what you want to communicate.

Imagery: 

Determine the style and types of images that represent your brand and resonate with your audience. This is my favorite part of creating brand mood boards because we are obsessed with looking for aestehtic visuals that represent the vision we have for a brand. Enter Pinterest, Canva and a world of possibilities to explore the vision of a brand new brand.

Patterns and textures: 

Add depth and visual interest to your brand with unique patterns and textures. For some branding and website projects we created an extension of the brand like custom icons, illustrations and elements that are in alignment with the brand tone and mood to have extra touch points on a website, or that can be used for print, flyers and other marketing materials.

How to create a brand kit in Canva

Now, let's roll up our sleeves and create a brand kit in Canva. Canva is a user-friendly design tool that offers a range of templates and customization options. Here's a step-by-step guide to get you started:

1. Sign up for a Canva account or log in if you already have one

2. Choose the brand kit option and click on create a brand kit.

3. Start by uploading your logo and setting up your brand's color palette.

4. Select fonts that align with your brand's personality and ensure consistency

5. Experiment with different patterns, textures, and imagery to enhance your brand's visual identity.

6. Save your brand kit and apply it across your marketing materials for a consistent look and feel. Now every time you create new designs you can be consistent.

Where can you find a brand strategy kit template?

If you want to work on creating your own brand strategy document you can start off with any Canva template or you can grab any of our strategic brand kit templates inside my Compelling Content Toolkit.

10 Brand kit examples

To inspire your creative journey, here are ten brand kit examples from various industries:

1- Minimalist brand kit

2- Luxury brand kit

3- Elegant brand kit

4- Colorful brand kit

5- Feminine brand kit

6- Creative brand kit

7- Mental health brand kit

8- Adventurous brand kit

9- Podcast brand kit

10- Therapist brand kit

11- Luxe beauty brand kit

12- Maternity brand kit

13- Business coach brand kit

14- Fitness coach brand kit

15- Safari brand kit

It’s time to build your brand and create a brand kit that sets you apart from the competition

By creating a brand kit in Canva, you'll establish a consistent and memorable brand identity that attracts your dream clients and sets you apart from the crowd. And remember, for more empowering resources and tools to level up your brand, check out my compelling brand and content toolkit. 

Related reads:

• What is brand personality 
• What is brand authority and how to build it online 
• How to define your purpose in life & business 
• Learn how to create your brand color palette here 
• 10 website photoshoot ideas and personal branding tips 
• 30 luxury mood board ideas