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By Gerren Lamson on Mar 3, 2017 in Business, How To
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https://creativemarket.com/blog/designing-a-brand-identity
One of the most interesting projects that a graphic designer can take on is designing a logo. It can be daunting (and stressful) to come up with logo options based on market research, and stumble upon some "design magic" through the exploratory process. Narrowing it down to a final approved logo and then seeing it out in the world can be a very rewarding experience for a designer. However, most of the time, a logo is not enough. Large organizations with layers of management require a thorough brand identity system that provides a unified vision and tools that help everyone build the brand. But before we dig in, let's define the difference (and relationship) between a brand, an identity and a logo.
A Brand (or Branding) refers to the perceived image and subsequent emotional response to a company, its products and services. It also represents the conversation that customers are having with each other about the company, and how that spreads. My favorite definition about brand is the one Seth Godin gave: A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer. An Identity describes the visual devices used to represent the company. Identity systems are a visual components package that is paired with style guidelines and used as a framework to ensure the corporate image is cohesive and consistent. Some of the visual devices that leverage the brand elements and style guidelines are as follows: stationery, marketing collateral, packaging, signage, messaging, and digital projects, among others. A Logo is the central, identifiable visual element that helps customers discover, share and remember a company's brand. Usually it's in the form of an icon (mark or symbol), logotype, or combination of the two. The main purpose of a logo is summed up nicely as the five principles of effective logo design in this Smashing Magazine article.
This phase should be as thorough as needed — depending on the depth of research and size of the company. It's the most crucial part of the overall process, and should result in a design brief that guides the rest of the project. Below is a list of foundational questions and key dynamics to explore and document through qualitative and quantitative methodologies. (Note: This is only a quick overview of the most complex part of this process.) How is the brand perceived against competitors in the market for products and services you're looking to provide? What is the positioning statement of your brand? Answer the what, how, to whom, where, why and when questions. What is the heritage of your product type, and the origin(s) of it's ingredients and fabrication process? Who is your audience? Are they digitally savvy? Where will your products/services have contact with them? How do you want that contact experience to make them feel, take action and think about your brand? What values & beliefs should the brand have about the business and it's mission in the world? If the brand was a person, what would it's personality be? How would it look, act and talk? What benefits do you want customers to associate with your brand? What is the vision of the brand that you want to create? Other brand image concerns: market awareness, emotional associations, value to the consumer, brand perception vs. consumer behavior, changes desired in the brand-consumer relationship over time. As you can tell, it's complicated. Two agencies who I think do a good job with their brand research are Landor and Fi. It shows in the way that they describe their completed work as challenge-and-solution projects.
It's important to have a design (or creative) brief if the brand identity project is bigger than one designer doing work for a small local business. A design brief should contain summaries from the research phase, such as: target audience(s), messaging objectives, values and mission of the brand, and the brand's products/services offering. It should also include budget, project schedule, file formats for delivery, and other practical needs. If you're looking for tools and help on how to write a design brief for a brand identity project, explore the following: Freelance Switch Brief Tips, Link List and Logo Design Brief, 99designs, Just Creative, and FreePDF Templates.
After the research phase is complete and a design brief has been created, it's time to start designing the logo and identity system.
There are many ways to start designing a logo, but most often times you'll see designers begin by sketching out dozens if not hundreds of iterations on paper. The process of getting concepts down on paper and then iterating on those ideas can unlock new directions to explore and final solutions that you wouldn't have normally arrived at when starting on the computer. After selecting your best sketched concepts, you should start iterating on them digitally. Here's a peak behind the curtain of a few logo concept sketches as they became final digital solutions: Firefox Logo by Martijn Rijven of Bolt Graphic, art direction by Wolff Olins
ITV logo by Matt Rudd of Rudd Studio
Greenpeace Airplot Logo by Airside
The identity system usually starts after the logo is complete. The purpose of the identity system is to form a systematic visual language around the logo — one that compliments the design thinking of the logo and offers a family of useful, flexible elements that will help to design marketing and business collateral. Here are some examples: Fortaleza 2020 by Guivillar
Handsome Coffee Roasters by Ptarmak
Patina Restaurant Group by Mucca Design
The style guidelines contain and prescribe the logo usage rules, typeface system, color palette, layout guidelines, and more. They exist so that others can create design collateral and marketing materials that will have a cohesive look and voice. Style guidelines have traditionally been produced as print and web-ready PDFs. They're the core of the identity design, and usually accompany the logo, templates, fonts and other resources packaged together to make designing for the brand easier. Style guidelines are in-depth rules about logo usage, styling, and layout, and are always interesting to browse through.
Here are a few style guidelines of popular brands: Skype (pdf, brand page), BestBuy (Euro Guidelines), BBC, Adobe, Apple, Google, and Walmart. Looking for more? Dig into this list by Logo Design Love.
These days, the documentation that a designer must deliver has a heavy digital skew, with an emphasis on development-ready files, such as Style Tiles, Element Collages, Style Prototypes, SASS documentation, a Logo/Brand download page, among others.
Don't forget to check out our simple Creative Market brand page, and download the logo if you want to promote and share Creative Market.
Lastly, after a new brand identity has launched, it's important to monitor and care for it, as it's a living and breathing thing that interacts with your customers. Honestly, that's a loaded statement as there are many ways to properly care for a brand. Regardless, over time, if your target audience shifts, the market evolves, or the brand's products and services change, it may be time for a rebrand. The main challenge with rebranding is trying to maintain familiarity and consistency so that your customers will remember you. There are two really awesome sites that give an inside look when prominent brands get rebranded: Rebrand and Under Consideration's Brand New. Here is a quick sampling of their short before and after case studies:
1. Emma, 2. Bishop of London, 3. Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2013, 4. Cancer Research UK, 5. Google SketchUp, 6. oDesk
If you're starting a new brand identity or rebrand project, here are some Creative Market resources that might help get you started.
Want to learn the ins and outs of creating a brand identity for a business or yourself? Sign-up for this new Skillshare class by our friend, Courtney Eliseo — Beyond the Logo: Craft a Brand Identity. Get 20% off using the special discount code SKILLS. There's still time to sign-up before the class begins on Mon, Aug 26th, 2013! New to Skillshare? Learn more about how it works here. Courtney is a talented, respected designer. She formerly ran the popular design blog Design Work Life, and produces well-designed, thoughtful brand identities alongside her husband at their 2-person studio, Seamless Creative. She recently launched her latest venture, En Route Workshop, where she works with people who are going places to develop brands that get them there.
Brand Thinking and other Noble Pursuits by Debbie Millman This book describes itself as a series of illuminating and spirited conversations on branding with 22 top design executives, strategists, and critics. Debbie interviews an all-star cast that makes purchasing this book a must! The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier Neumeier has been an expert practicing in the field of brand identity, and this timeless book offers a unified theory on brand-building. Dynamic Identities: How to Create a Living Brand by Irene Van Nes This book has many examples of dynamic brand identities that are malleable, creative systems of visual identification. Branding Matters by Jason VanLue Jason explores the core essentials to the purpose of good branding for small businesses, offering easy access to design exercises that will you shape your brand's vision, strategy, identity, experience and interaction. Logo Design Love: The Book by David Airey This valuable resource outlines the steps of creating an effective logo, and offers valuable insights, exploration processes and more. Designig Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler Alina's book is a well-rounded, deep dive into the world of designing brand identities with tons of great examples. Alina's expertise shines as she explains the brand identity design process through the phases of ideals, elements and dynamics. Thanks to Ben Tibben for recommending this resource.
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Beth Rufener
STAFF
What a wonderful, inspiring article! Great examples. Thanks so much! Jul 23, 2013
Gerren Lamson
STAFF
@Beth Rufener - Thanks for the reading it! Hope it helped. Jul 23, 2013
Vinay Mittal Very nice article! Jul 23, 2013
Gerren Lamson
STAFF
@Vinay Mittal - Glad you liked it! Jul 23, 2013
Penina Finger Delighted to see you talk about the whole picture. So tired of seeing "instructive" posts that use the words Brand and Logo interchangeably! I will share this with the world. Jul 23, 2013
Cruzine Design cool article...thanks ;) Jul 24, 2013
BenTibben Gerren you've nailed it. What an excellent piece. I also recommend 'Designing Brand Identity' by Alina Wheeler - a brilliant reference. Jul 24, 2013
Ivan VERY educational, Thank you! Jul 24, 2013
Gerren Lamson
STAFF
@Penina Finger Glad you liked it. Share at will! @Cruzine Design No problem! @BenTibben Thanks! I'll go look up Alina's book. @Ivan You're welcome! Jul 24, 2013
Gerren Lamson
STAFF
@BenTibben I've added Alina's books to the resources above. Great find! Thanks for recommendation. Jul 24, 2013
Bootstraptor com Awesome article and illustrations! Thanks! Jul 24, 2013
Neo Mudaly Great job on this article. It demonstrates how much thought and effort actually goes into making a quality logo and Brand ID. The challenge is always maintaining focus on all the separate components that make up the whole. Jul 24, 2013
Gerren Lamson
STAFF
@Bootstraptor com - Thank you! @Neo Mudaly - Totally agree. Jul 24, 2013
Crxstvl On Point! LOVE it! Thanks Jul 24, 2013
fathima kathrada Absolutely fantastic article! Thank you for this. All stuff I think most designers know but sometimes forget. Jul 24, 2013
Gerren Lamson
STAFF
Thanks @Crxstvl and @fathima kathrada - hope it helped! Jul 24, 2013
BenTibben @Gerren Lamson happy to help / share - Congrats again. Jul 24, 2013
Nathan Huening Looooooove this, very well done. Forwarded to a half dozen people (including clients!). But I gotta pick this nit: in your 2nd bullet under "Brand vs. Identity vs. Logo", I believe you meant "stationery", not "stationary". Thanks much! Jul 25, 2013
gatonegro666 So much to read. Thank you for a great article and I will be tweeting this! Jul 25, 2013
Gerren Lamson
STAFF
Thanks @Nathan Huening @gatonegro666 Aug 4, 2013
Waqas Ahmed Useful and Interesting to read. Aug 5, 2013
Shae W Excellent article!! Thanks Aug 19, 2013
Gerren Lamson
STAFF
@Waqas Ahmed Glad you liked it. @Shae W Thank you! Aug 19, 2013
andy edge A very concise, and well written explanation. I've been working on a simplified version of this process for some time. I'm constantly distilling it down to just the basics. I find clients love it, but often just skim and rarely get through my longer versions. But, it's missing the details and examples you've captured so well here. http://andyedge.com/identitydesign.html Good read. Sep 13, 2013
joel kitts Thank you for creating and posting this article! it is very informative and I am glad someone has taken the time to explain the differences between branding, Identity, and logo. I struggled with the separation before taking classes on this subject and I would recommend taking a class to any graphic designer who hasn't. I only just revealed my portfolio website but there are quite a few nice logo design examples within. Take a look at http://www.Joelkitts.com Thank you again and I look forward to seeing more articles of this caliber. Sep 18, 2013
Alexandru Doda Incredibly good and consistent information, this is exactly what I needed. Once again, thanks for the advice. Oct 5, 2013
Mercy Guzmán A very nice short post to help us to clarify some of the most discuses items in Identity Design. Many thanks! Dec 10, 2013
Boris nazarov Great info and really valuable for all brand identity design. This is really very wonderful post. I really appreciate it, this post is very helpful for web design. By sinowadesign.com Mar 3, 2014
Rodrex Matthew Great post. Thanks for sharing the in-depth information about logo designing and branding. The phases and the examples included in it are really amazing. For each phase, a detailed description is given, including the examples of popular brands. It is really interesting to know how thoughtful these designs are !! Really a nice article ! http://www.agencyfish.com/ Apr 15, 2014
bro luthfi very useful article... Apr 20, 2014
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