You have about 50 milliseconds to make a first impression… actually that might be a little generous lets make it 40 milliseconds!

Before someone reads a single word on your website, before they speak to anyone on your team, before they know anything about the quality of your support – they’ve already formed an opinion based on how you look. The opinion might be subconscious, but they are deciding what you are to them quickly, they won’t give you the benefit of the doubt. We don’t when we scroll. We need visual that arrest the scroll, have them read the first word, and actually consider us. 

How the brand makes them feel in that instant is important, it’s the first impression and most of the time we squander it with lazy designs and ugly branding. 

That’s not shallow. That’s human.

Visual identity is the non-verbal communication of your brand. It signals professionalism, trust, personality and purpose before a single word is read.

What visual identity includes

• Logo (primary, secondary, icon)
• Colour palette
• Typography (fonts)
• Photography style
• Graphic elements and patterns
• Document and template design

Together, these elements create a visual language that should be immediately recognisable as yours.

The trust signal

In the disability sector, families and participants are making high-stakes decisions about care and support. A professional, consistent visual identity signals that you are a serious, trustworthy organisation. 

Conversely, a dated, inconsistent or generic visual identity – even if your support is excellent – creates doubt. If you’ve just thrown together a crap logo, in poor resolution, with mismatched font, inconsistent colours and motifs, why should anybody take you seriously? You don’t seem to take yourself seriously. If you’re ok with putting that out there, why should I think they’ll be any professional pride elsewhere? 

The consistency problem

This issue doesn’t just end with bad logos. At it’s core its a inconsistency problem. Their logo looks different on their website vs their brochures vs their social media. Their colours are slightly different everywhere. Their fonts change depending on who made the document. Again, it may seem trivial but people are making associations and forming opinions of you all the time. 

Consistency builds recognition and positive association. These build trust.

Exercise

Do a quick audit of your current visual identity. Collect 5-10 examples of your brand in the wild, website, social, documents, signage. How consistent are they? What stands out as inconsistent or off-brand?