Visual identity and trust: what I learned selling branding

To buy from someone, the client has to trust that person and also the brand behind them. I wrote about the person in you’ll always buy from the person you like. The brand part I understood while working at a design and branding studio, where I saw up close how much a well-crafted visual identity weighs when it comes to trusting a company.

What changed when I started selling design?

I come from media and advertising. When I moved to selling design, branding and web projects, I started seeing how a brand is built from the inside: the decisions about typography, color, tone and website structure, and what each of them says to someone seeing it for the first time.

That’s when I understood something I hadn’t really kept in mind as a salesperson. I can build trust on a call, but before that call the client has already seen the website, the logo and how the company presents itself. If that’s sloppy, doubt starts before I say anything.

Why does a brand build trust before the first call?

Because it’s the only thing the client has to judge by when they haven’t talked to anyone yet. A coherent visual identity shows them there’s someone on the other side who takes care of details, and it’s easy to assume they’ll take care of their project the same way.

And trust weighs on a purchase more than it seems. According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, a survey across 15 countries, trust in a brand is now as much of a purchase consideration as quality and price.

Something similar happens with a salesperson: first impressions count, and then everything has to confirm them. With a brand, that includes the website, the proposal, how people are treated and the finished work.

What does this look like in real projects?

In the portfolio of Minimum, the web design studio I worked at (now part of SSTIL), there are several projects where trust was at the heart of the problem. Three of them needed it for different reasons.

Tu Refugio is a psychology practice. People who visit that website are often looking for help, so the brand has to convey calm from the first moment. The work was making the identity warmer and more human, organizing the site’s structure and adding a shop to book and pay for services online in a few steps.

Bitizenship helps investors from outside the European Union get Portugal’s Golden Visa through regulated crypto investments. When a product mixes money, residency paperwork and blockchain, the website has to explain something complex clearly and convey security. That’s why the project combined brand positioning, product storytelling and a private area where each investor can follow their investment.

Lauri Math School is an online math academy. The first step was defining a visual identity that made math feel more approachable for students, and the platform was built on that foundation.

And in a personal brand?

The same thing happens to me with this website. I chose black and white and a terminal-style logo because I wanted it to have a techie touch. When I shared the link for the first time, I didn’t like the preview that showed up and I changed it before publishing anything else. I explain how I built the website in this article.

People who read me also notice how what I publish looks, so I take as much care with that as with the text.

If you’re building or reviewing your company’s brand, I’d like to know what weighed most in your decision. Get in touch and let’s compare notes.