How Pattern Design Can Help You Build a Memorable Brand
- Stephanie Audette Connor
- May 7
- 4 min read
Updated: May 15
“But what would I do with a brand pattern?”
We often get this question from branding clients when we encourage them to consider pattern design as one of their deliverables.
Brand patterns are one of our favorite things to design. They are also one of the most underused visual assets for small businesses, so they have enormous potential for brands that use them correctly.
In this post, you’ll learn some of the reasons we love pattern design and get inspired by all the ways you can use patterns to build a more memorable brand.
Wayfinding Signage at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill implemented the brand pattern we made. Images ©New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill
Pattern design can boost your brand recognition.
Since pattern design is an untapped asset for many small business brands, establishing and using brand patterns is an incredible way to stand out.
Like color and typography, patterns give you more tools in your toolkit to help establish your visual brand. When you use your patterns consistently, your audience will begin to recognize them. This regular exposure boosts brand awareness, all while signaling your unique value proposition and offerings.
Patterns can also inspire you to be intentional about branding everything—from gift wrap to vehicle wraps and more! They are perfect for making your brand look polished and professional.
Patterns give you another way to reinforce your brand personality.
It's important to consider the patterns that best fit your brand's personality. Do you want something abstract, elegant, and monochrome? Or is your brand warm, colorful, and playful? Your patterns should reflect who you are, giving an immediate cue to your audience about the vibe to expect when they engage with your brand.
You can even use a brand pattern to communicate your products, services, or values. By incorporating symbols or icons that you use elsewhere in your marketing, you can remind people what you’re all about every time they see your pattern!
With so many businesses relying on the same social media templates and layouts, we love patterns to reinforce your unique personality and positioning with every post.
A brand pattern is an awesome way to add visual interest.
Patterns are eye-catching, visually pleasing, and can add balance and depth to a design.
Because you can play around with color and opacity, brand patterns help you or your designer give each asset more dimension and interest. For example, we love using semi-transparent patterns in digital designs, rack cards, or brochures. Another great application of brand patterns is on merchandise. There are plenty of instances where your audience would be excited to use a cute bag that incorporates your pattern, even if they wouldn't have bought one with your logo on it.
Patterns offer an alternative way to brand things when including your logo feels like too much.
When a business first invests in a custom logo, we sometimes see them getting a little over-enthusiastic. Suddenly, they put their logo everywhere—and on everything—often making it larger than necessary.
While we love the logo love, there are moments when we encourage restraint. For example, imagine you want to create beautiful custom journals to give as a holiday gift to clients. It's likely they don't want a giant logo of your business front and center. This would be a perfect case for a brand pattern. It's a way to remind them of your brand without putting your brand front and center.
Now that we've shared why pattern design is magic for your brand, it's time to see some patterns in action.
Check out these examples of brand patterns in the wild, all from our portfolio of client work:
Social Media Graphics
Ecological Landscape Alliance makes every social graphic feel like a celebration by incorporating their pattern perfectly!
Wallpaper
How fun must it be to walk into a dentist's office with this much personality? We created custom wallpaper for Cambridge Smiles using their brand pattern to give their office unique charm.
Stationery Amanda of Amanda Grazioli Copywriting is a huge fan of handwritten notes, so we designed this suite of stationery using her brand patterns so she could reach out with style.
Signage
New England Botanic Garden uses its pattern design to accentuate signage throughout its beautiful 200-acre property.
Apparel
Who wouldn’t be delighted to receive this onesie from Baby Whisperer Wellness? By using a pattern rather than a logo, it feels like a genuine gift, not one that makes baby into a billboard.
Packaging
Wavelength Coffee Roasters, known for modern roasting technology and circular packaging, needed a seamless pattern design for their coffee cans. We delivered with a custom-designed can utilizing the hand designed brand pattern.
If you’re now as excited as we are about brand patterns, we can help!
Whether you have a logo and want to add patterns to your toolkit or you need complete visual brand design, we would love to help.