| Good brands can easily be distinguished. They are professional, consistent and meet expectations. Branding, corporate identity,
logos, style manuals, icons - what does it all mean
to a business and how does it affect you in the marketplace? Design Train have been working towards educating
our clients for many years on how to break apart these
elements and this useful page should give you a clear
and simple overview as to each element and where you can
address what your organisation needs. |
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Contents:
 Top 10 branding tips
Branding (it's about trust)
Corporate Identity (it's about management)
Logos (is your only mark)
Copyright is very powerful protection (relative article)
Trade marks (relative article)
Top 10 Branding Tips
1. Business Name : Venture past names such as Bob's Plumbing or Andrew's Detailing
2. Conviction : Have a can do attiiude, go the extra mile in your business for your customers
3. Colours : See what your competitors colours are and do something different
4. Uniforms : Look the part of your business and brand, this reflects back to your customers
5. Website : Make it easy, reflect your business well and give out information to benefit your users
6. Employees : Have expectations of yourself and your team. Talk to them about the value of brands
7. Conscious : Be different in the market and promote that. Find new ways to improve your value, service and products
8. Vehicles : If vehicles are important in your business good identity on them improves your professionalism
9. Advertising : have a budget and marketing plan and then keep your advertising related to your identity
10. Miscellaneous : Everything from the way you answer the phone, email and deal with feedback is important to your brand | top
A
logo is not a brand unless it's on something
Branding (it's about trust)
Branding is everything to do with
your organisation. How it's perceived in the marketplace
by your audience, both internal and external, your
suppliers - essentially all stakeholders. It's how
you answer the phone, what you wear, it's your marketing
strategy, it's your invoice - everything is branding.
The problem is that very rarely do most businesses
see themselves as a brand and confuse this with their
logo or single elements such as their printing. It is the perception formed by the
audience about a company, person or idea. Only the
audience can "make" a brand however a company
should create strategies to influence the perception
of their audience - more | top
A
consistent identity conveys professionalism and quality
Corporate
Identity (it's about management)
This is where Design Train is strongest with
your brand management. Your identity is a combination
of the logo, visual system (ie typeface, colours,
imagery), the editorial tone work together to form
a unique and cohesive message for your company, person,
object or ideas. As an example your identity should
insist that the colours and fonts in your signage
reflect the same message as your stationery and website.
As an element of your brand when your identity is
consistent then the identity part of the brand is
consistent - more | top
A
good logo should be a distinctive symbol
Logos (it's your only mark)
If you've ventured through the Design Train website you should have seen many fine examples of logos.
Logos can be broken into a few categories including
wordmarks, symbols and monograms (or elements used
together). When we design a new logo or refresh an
existing logo for a client we cover a series of 10
areas and functions the logo needs to pass before
we present it to our client. A logo is an important
element in your brand management as it is normally
the only time your potential clients are going to
make the perception about your company, person, object
or idea - more | top
Branding...in
more detail (it's about trust)
If you're like most clients you
may have difficulty understanding the significance
of a solid branding strategy. Essentially it means
how your business is perceived. Fortunately because Design Train understand business, branding
and identities as a whole we can rationally and confidently
explain why a brand or identity is struggling or growing.
As part of an audience we will make a perception about
our clients brand and this then begins the journey
of refining your brand.
Let's looks as some names
and see how you react. McDonalds®, banks, Steve Waugh, Disneyland®, George Bush, Elvis, Bunnings®, Sydney,
petrol companies, Greenpeace® . All these and many millions
more are a brand and what makes up that brand are
the many elements. Let's take McDonalds®. It's a universally
recognised brand. How is their food? Are their premises
clean? What's their service like? Does it meet your
expectations? What colour is their logo? Do you want
fries with that? Every element in the McDonalds' branding
is covered and that's the strategy and system they
follow. It is systemised to such a degree that they
deliver on your perceptions time and time again.
Irrespective of the quality
or price of the product it is consistency which counts and that builds
trust. When Design Train enter
the premises of our clients or review an idea we take
the brand and identity into consideration to formulate
the best possible solution. How we see your business
is how all your potential clients see you as well. You may
have a "good" reputation in your industry
but your brand doesn't reflect it. Do you have a consistent
brand? Brands can be fragile. If the perception of
the audience changes rather negatively towards a brand
then it takes significant time for a company or person
to win back the trust and faith in that audience.
So if you want to create
a positive experience with your audience then focus
on every aspect of your business and build the kind
of brand that you want to be perceived as. Professional,
clean, efficient, organised or messy, sloppy, dissatisfying,
unprofessional - it's your business choice. Design Train can assist
in brand management because we're in the business | top
Corporate
Identity...in more detail (it's about management)
Design Train are very strong
in this field. It's been stated that a design firm
should really only focus on the identity of a company
as part of the brand management however we disagree.
It's our responsibility to assist our clients first
and foremost with their identity and secondly with
their overall brand management. If we see something
that we perceive could affect their brand then we
will help in any way possible to get the brand back
on track.
So what's your identity
like? As we've explained it is the visual communication
element of your brand. The colours, typefaces, marketing
(graphical elements) logo, editorial, photography,
illustrations and all the mediums that these communications
have the identity applied on or through. Those mediums
could be stationery, websites,
all forms of print, signage,
uniforms, advertising, displays,
anything.
Because corporate identity
can be a large aspect of your business (just think
of all the visual elements in your company) we encourage
our clients to consider systemising their identity
as a great business like McDonalds does. A style
guide is a fantastic tool for any business to
use as a solid identity guide to ensure that all identity
rules are followed. Things such as what typefaces
does all your company literature go out on? What are
your company colours? How does your logo get applied
on different backgrounds? Are the variables considered?
The application of style guide means that colours
are accurate because everyone has the same reference
and resource tool that your businesses follows religiously.
It's an integral part of your branding and therefore
your audiences perceptions.
So when it comes to the
visual elements of websites, signage, printing and
other communications - do your elements look like
a dogs dinner? The funny thing is that we can sort
the whole thing out quickly following a brief visual
audit of your organisation. Please contact us for more information | top
Logos...in
more detail (it's your only mark)
if you don't have a strict policy on how you manage
the application of your logo then you're not getting value from it and not building
a solid identity or brand. We can't tell you how much
that's worth to you in actual $$$ but we know it could
be significant. Your logo is sometimes your only contact
with new markets so what's the perception. Design
Train logos are designed with you and your market in mind. We
have an extensive list of 10 areas and features the
logo needs to cover before you get to see any visual
from us. Please contact us if you want more information.
What's your logo worth
to your business? Well consider an established
mark and how much you've used it. All the advertising,
stationery and other applications. I guarantee you
that logo is branded. Naturally there are some poorly
designed logos that aren't really unique, have any
impact or little distinctive appeal but generally
companies with these marks haven't given any consideration
to the uniqueness of their business in a visual sense
and consequently do miss out on attracting additional
clients.
The other important element
of logos is trade marking. Many businesses have a tendency
to let their unique logo mark go unprotected which
gives your opposition a way in. For a small investment
you can ensure that it is protected from your competition
in the categories you choose. Design Train have much experience at registering trade marks or
we suggest you consult your local IP
Attorney for assistance.
Some important elements
to consider for your logo include colours, shapes,
typography, image/iconography, scale, emotion, competition.
For assistance on creating the best possible logo
(unique mark) for your organisation please contact Design Train. As an important part of your
brand your name and logo are very, very valuable | top
Some information on this
page was utilised from the Logo Design Workbook -
A Hands on guide to creating logos published by Rockport
Publishers. www.rockpub.com
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