By Lizzy Vaida

January 2026

As award-winning marketers and communicators in Cincinnati, we know that solid branding lies at the heart of every successful marcom venture. If you want your business to gain traction, your target market needs to have a clear understanding of who you are and what you do.

But, what should you include in your brand kit? To help you ensure that your branding is rock-solid, we’ve compiled a list of six important elements to include in your brand kit. The more established your brand’s identity is, the better your audience will be able to get to know you, so take a look at these recommendations and then run an inventory of your brand kit to make sure you’re set up for success.

1. Logos

Logos are one of the first things that come to mind for many of us when we think of branding – and with good reason. In many ways, your logo acts as the face of your brand, and anytime someone sees your logo, the goal is that they think of your company immediately.

Something to consider including in your brand kit is multiple variations of your logo. As you produce varying forms of content with unique purposes, you may come across the need for different versions of your logo. Such variations could include alternate color schemes (such as a black and white option or a version that incorporates secondary colors from your palette…more on that in a moment) or different dimensions (something that fits into a round format as opposed to a square, or a horizontal option in addition to a vertical one). Having multiple logo variations in your repertoire opens your graphic designs to be more dynamic and cohesive, giving you the option to always include your logo in any design, without interrupting its flow.

2. Colors

Brand colors are essential to identify and adhere to while shaping your company’s identity. In a similar fashion to your logo, the goal is that people see your brand’s color palette and think of your business. Of course, with all the unique brands out there today, it’s highly likely that you’ll share a color combination with someone else. While this is essentially inevitable, it also provides all the more reason to establish a solid connection between your brand and its color palette. This is why it’s so important to identify your brand colors, stick to them closely, and use them consistently.

While your primary brand colors should be the focus in most of your advertising materials, it is also important to expand your color palette to include secondary – and even tertiary/accent – colors. Having additional colors in your palette allows you to get a little more creative with your complex visual materials, while still adhering to your brand’s identity. When expanding your color palette, keep in mind that all of your colors should complement one another well and form a cohesive look for your brand.

3. Fonts

Another important element to consider for your brand’s visual identity is the fonts you have in your brand kit. That’s right – fonts, plural. At first, it may seem like having a singular brand font is sufficient for all your typographic needs, but as you get into crafting designs and developing typed materials for various purposes, you’ll likely find that having some additional fonts on hand is particularly helpful for meeting unique design needs while staying on brand.

A couple common examples of when you might like additional fonts at your disposal are when you want to use a subheading that stands out from your heading, or when you want your title to stand apart from the body of your text in more ways than just font size. It can also be helpful to consider any common themes or tropes that tend to appear in your graphic designs – do you often produce designs that include casually captioned photos, such that you would want a brand font that resembles handwriting? Or, does your business regularly produce official documents, warranting a brand-specific formal font?

If you’re not sure what you may need, start by identifying a primary font and a secondary font. These are two great basics that will allow you to differentiate between headings and subheadings, or between titles and body text. You’ll likely build out the rest of your fonts from there by identifying needs as they arise.

Just be cautious when building a set of brand fonts – while fonts are a necessary element to include in your brand kit, it’s unwise to use too many at one time. Incorporating two fonts in one document or design can help your product to be visually appealing and easier to read, but going too far beyond that many fonts at once can start to look busy and lose that cohesion that you’re trying to reinforce with your brand kit.

4. Imagery

In addition to the graphic elements of your brand kit, it’s important not to overlook the task of identifying what style of imagery aligns best with your brand. Fine-tuning this aspect of your brand kit will help you curate a cohesive visual library of photos and videos, all of which can be used to appropriately represent your brand.

Some questions to ask yourself when formulating this piece of your brand kit are, “What imagery comes to mind when I picture my business, what we do and who we serve?” or “What do I want people to associate with my business?”

You can also focus on more detail-oriented visuals. For example, do you want to highlight close-ups of people holding hands, preparing food or performing medical care? Do you like to feature unique architecture or specific elements of nature? Also important to consider is what tone you want your brand photos to take on. Are they brightly lit and vibrant in color, neutral and peaceful, dark and moody? Identifying details like these promotes cohesion across your content, which once again contributes to developing a solid identity for your brand.

5. Voice

Moving on from the visual elements of your brand kit, you’ll also need a clear brand voice that comes through in all your written and verbal communications. Your brand voice is a vital factor in shaping your brand as a whole. It dictates the tone of your communications and has a significant impact on the way people perceive your business.

When developing this piece of your brand kit, consider whether your business is better suited for a serious brand voice or something more lighthearted. Is there an element of humor? Should your messaging be solemn? Is it better for your communications to sound formal and polished or conversational and natural? Think about scenarios such as the voiceover of an ad for your company or a written statement announcing major news on the brand’s behalf – how would these sound if they were best representing your business?

Additionally, it’s a good idea to consider specific keywords that represent your brand voice well. These could be descriptors that you frequently use in your communications or buzzwords from your industry that apply to your brand’s niche. Having a repertoire of keywords that are well-suited to your brand will help you, and all who write on the brand’s behalf, to generate content that sounds consistent.

6. Taglines

Speaking of words, the last brand kit element we’ll touch on is your company’s tagline. It should be concise, meaningful and memorable. Your tagline should sum up the core of your purpose in a few words – what is your brand, and why do you do what you do?

This might sound daunting, but don’t let it intimidate you. Taglines can be a fun way to express creativity, but they can also be more straightforward if something standard is better suited to your business. For example, if your brand operates in a solemn or overly serious industry, it may feel inappropriate to create a catchy, fun tagline…so, don’t! You can still come up with something memorable that effectively represents the core of your brand, while keeping it simple and classic. On the other hand, if your brand lies in a fun or creative industry, we recommend going for something catchy that will make people smile. Regardless of your industry or the tone of your tagline, it should reflect your brand well and stick around in people’s brains long after they first hear it.

Are you ready to sharpen your brand identity? If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the elements that go into building an effective brand kit, try taking things one step at a time. Pick an item from this list to really focus on. Once you’ve established that piece as a solid pillar of your brand kit, odds are you’ll be feeling both prepared and motivated to tackle the rest of it. Good luck, and happy branding!