What to consider while designing brands and identities?

A logo isn't your brand, neither is it your identity. The different parts played by Logo design, branding and identity design together form an apparent image for any business or product. There's been some recent conversation on the web about this subject, about your logo not being your brand.

What is branding?

Branding is clearly not a light subject. Complete publications and lots of books have been created on the subject, however to put it in brief you might describe a 'brand' as an organisation, product or service with a 'personality' that's formed by the perceptions of the fans. On that note, it should additionally be said that a designer can't make a brand only the audience can do this. A designer forms the bedrock of the brand. Many folks believe a brand only is composed of one or two elements some colors, some fonts, a logo, a slogan and perhaps some music added in too. In fact, it is way more difficult than that. You could say that a brand is a 'corporate image '. The fundamental idea and core idea behind having a 'corporate image' is that everything a company does, everything it owns and everything it produces should reflect the values and purposes of the business in total. It's the consistent performance of this core idea that is responsible to make up the company, driving it, showing what it stands for, what it believes in and the reason why they exist. It isn't purely some colors, some typefaces, a logo and a slogan.

What's identity design?
 

One big part responsible for the 'brand' or 'corporate image' of any organization is its identity. Mostly, identity design is based round the visible devices used inside a business often assembled inside a group of suggestions. These rules which make up an identity customarily administer the way in which the identity is applied through a spread of mediums, using licensed color palettes, fonts, layouts, measurements and that kind of stuff. These axioms make sure that the identity of the company is kept coherent, which, permits the brand in total, to be recognisable.

The identity or 'image' of a company is made of many visible devices:
* A Trademark (The symbol of the whole identity and brand).
* Stationery (Letterhead, cards, envelopes, and many other official documents).
* Promoting Collateral (Flyers, leaflets, books, web sites etc.).
* Products and Packing (Products sold and the packing in which they come in).
* Apparel Design (Real clothing items that are worn by workers).
* Signage (Interior and exterior design).
* Messages and actions (Messages conveyed through indirect or direct styles of communication).
* Anything visible that represents the business.

All these things form an identity and must support the brand as an entire. The logo nonetheless is the company identity and brand wrapped into one identifiable mark. This mark is the avatar and symbol of the business in total.

What is a logo?
To grasp what a logo is, we must first understand what it is for. A logo is for identification. A logo identifies a company or product through the usage of a mark, flag, symbol or signature. A logo doesn't sell the company immediately nor seldom does it describe a business. Logos derive their meaning from the standard of the thing it symbolizes, and not the other way around; logos are there to identity, not to clarify. In brief, what a logo means is more vital than what it seems like.