E04: 5 Branding tips for content creators

Have a strong logo or a recognisable profile picture

People should be able to recognise you on different platforms. You can make a logo yourself or have one made for you. You can choose, for example, your name, a symbol, or the initials of the username. Choose a clearly readable font and make sure you have a pleasant colour scheme. When using text, make sure it is readable. In most apps, your image will also be cut out as a circle. Take this into account when designing. You can also choose a photo, preferably a photo of yourself. This way people can clearly make the link between you and your content. Take a high-quality photo that you feel good about. The more recognisable you are, the better. Use your logo or profile picture on all your platforms. That way there is a clear link between all your accounts, and they will recognise you everywhere.

How do I get a logo?

Want a logo, but don’t know where to start? Enlist the help of a designer. Do you know someone who does graphic design, illustrations or is just handy with photoshop? That would be an ideal situation! Agree on a price together and discuss the possibilities. It is always nice to get the help of a friend or family member, that way you can support each other in each other’s work. Don’t know anyone close to you who can? Then you can also take a look at Fiverr or Upwork. They can make a logo just the way you want it for a price agreed in advance. There are a lot of offers on Fiverr, so there is bound to be someone whose offer is close to what you’re looking for. The approach is less personal than with someone you know, but you will get a quality logo.

Choose a fixed colour scheme and font.

Colours are very important! I usually choose 3 basic colours. Look for colours that go well together and have the look you want. Don’t know where to start? On coolors.co you can have colour combinations generated. It’s free and with one press of the space bar you can ‘scroll’ through different combinations. Choose the colour palette that makes you feel good. What you can also do is base the colours on your logo. That may be an obvious choice, but it makes for a nice whole package. Take 3 basic colours from your logo and use them in your twitch overlays, twitter banner and Instagram posts. Your style will be recognisable, and this will create a nice coherence in your communication to your viewers.

How do I get a Twitch overlay?

Looking for overlays for Twitch? If you can do it yourself, great! Think about the clarity, legibility, and orderliness of your layout, they’re the most important. Too many elements can be distracting, too little branding makes for little recognition. Be sure to put your logo in the overlay. If you reuse your Twitch stream content for other platforms afterwards, e.g., YouTube videos or TikToks, then your logo is already on screen, and you don’t need to add extra branding. Also be sure to leave enough room for alerts, any sub goals and other widgets. But remember, keep it clear and neat. Canva.com has a lot of free templates you can start with. Choose a style and customise it to your liking. Add the right colours, your logo and font. If you are paying for Streamlabs Prime, you can also find themes and overlays here that you can customise to your liking.

Get yourself a design kit.

Keep all your elements of your corporate identity in a design kit. Create a folder on your computer where you store all the elements of your visual identity; a file of your logo and profile picture in high quality, possibly a transparent version, a list of the colour codes you use and a list of your fonts. This way you can easily find everything when you are designing, or when you have someone else do your designing for you.