Instagram isn’t just a place for influencers and latte art anymore. It’s a brand platform. One scroll and you’ll find everything from skincare start-ups to sustainable cereal brands all trying to hook you in and make you care about their brand.

So, if you're a business trying to show up properly on Instagram in 2025, you can't just post pretty pictures and hope for the best - you need to understand the future of brand design (and what’s coming for 2026 👀).

You need a brand. A real one. One that actually makes sense and shows up consistently.

And guess what? That all starts with strategy – not just brand design.

Start with Brand Strategy, Always

The biggest mistake we see (and we’ve seen a lot) is brands diving straight into Instagram before figuring out who they actually are.

Before the colours, fonts, or grid layouts, you need to answer the important stuff:

• What do you stand for?
• Who are you talking to?
• What do you want them to feel?
• How do you want to sound?
• What’s your point of difference?

Don’t start working on your brand design until you’ve nailed this. When your brand strategy is on point, then the design starts to do the talking for you. Aligned. Recognisable.

This is exactly why brand designers (like us) are talking about brand strategy so much, because good design only works when it’s built on a clear brand foundation. That’s how you build a cohesive brand design.

Instagram is Crowded – So Stand for Something

Everyone is on Instagram. It’s noisy. It’s competitive. It’s a visual minefield of trend-chasing and copy-paste aesthetics. So how do you stand out?

Not by doing what everyone else is doing 🙅.

You stand out by being clear. By being consistent. By showing up with a visual identity that only you could have. Brand designers are here to do that job for you 👋. We know what’s already out there, and we do endless research to make sure that your brand won’t be associated with anyone else's. This might surprise you, but brand design impacts sales a lot, even if you don’t even notice it.

Optimise Your Profile for Max Impact

Your Instagram profile is your shopfront. You’ve got about 3 seconds to grab attention and tell people who you are.

Here's what to dial in:

• Profile image: Use your logo or a brand mark that’s legible and iconic at small sizes.
• Bio: Make it sharp. Say what you do and why it matters. Keep it simple.
• Link in bio: Use it wisely. Drive to your most important touchpoint (website, product, campaign).
• Visual cohesion: Your feed doesn’t need to look like a magazine but it should feel intentional. Cohesive colours, clear typography, and room to breathe go a long way.

Pin Your Essentials

Instagram lets you pin up to 3 posts at the top of your feed. Don’t waste them.

We recommend:

• A brand intro post – what you do, what you stand for, and who you’re for
• A founder or team post – real faces, real humans, real trust
• A product or service breakdown – what you offer and why it’s different

These are the posts people should see first, and they should be strategically designed to match your overall identity.

Use Highlights to Make it Effortless

Treat Highlights like mini landing pages. Group them by theme – “About Us,” “How It Works,” “Press,” “FAQs,” “Reviews,” etc. Keep the highlight covers consistent with your visual identity. It’s an easy way to extend your brand system and make navigation dead easy for the user.

Also: ditch the default colours. If your brand palette doesn’t come through in your Highlights, you're missing a branding opportunity there … big time.

Build a Value-Driven Content Strategy

Now that your profile and visuals are in place, let’s talk content. Not random posting but purposeful brand storytelling.

Start with your messaging pillars. These are the 3–5 themes your brand always comes back to. They might include education, behind-the-scenes, values, product tips, founder stories, or community love.

Say your brand puts sustainability at its core – don’t just say it once in your bio and leave it there. Build it into your content.

Share posts about the carbon footprint of packaging, what materials you’re using (and why), or how your supply chain is changing for the better.

This kind of value-led content shows your audience what you believe in — and how you’re backing it up. It builds trust, loyalty, and makes your brand more than just a product on a grid.

Then, build your content calendar around those. Map out:

• Content types (posts, reels, carousels, stories, lives)
• Frequency (how often can you realistically show up?)
• Engagement strategy (how will you invite conversation, not just likes?)

Every post should either educate, entertain, inspire, or connect and always circle back to make sure everything you put out there reflects your brand’s tone, visuals, and purpose.

The Designer’s Role in All This

If your brand looks disconnected on Instagram, you have a brand identity issue on your hands and you might be in need of a brand refresh.

As brand and packaging designers, we know that looking good on Instagram is not enough. We're here to help you build a complete system – one that shows up confidently across all platforms, including social.

When strategy leads the brand design, Instagram becomes an extension of your brand, not its own separate entity. And that’s how you start to stand out.

Part of our brand design services at Noramble includes creating social media post designs that align with your visual identity and messaging so your brand feels right across every touchpoint.

Instagram success in 2025 is all about showing up with a clear, consistent, strategic brand, both visually and verbally. Everywhere.

And if you aren’t making an impact yet?
Well, you know where we are. 👋 Get in touch!