In corporate world, often the terms branding, identity and logo design are synonymously used or rather misused, we can say. Businesses are not to be blamed for this; since, any activities associated with any of the three terms aforementioned, fall under the umbrella of brand building strategy.
It goes without saying that building a strong brand image is indispensable for surviving and thriving in market. The more smart efforts and creativity you put in, the better your chances will be of standing out the competition. Before going any further, a business owner should have fair idea of the individual terms and the significant differences between them.
So, what are you waiting for? Let us get started by taking them, one after other.
A brand is the amalgamation of perceived notions people may have about your business. It is not limited to what you want people to think of you, but what they think of you and share with each other, defines the brand.
Any conscious effort made by you and your team to improve the brand image is nothing but branding. It has to be obviously in favor of the business. Branding incorporates all the steps including creating awareness about your brand and building reputation.
Some profound marketing connoisseurs describe branding as the outlook of a business formed by perpetual and deliberate work to connect and impress the customers.
Role of a designer is though limited in shaping brand or corporate image but he still is responsible for laying down foundation stones for the same. It is extremely important to watch out anything you do in your business and with your business in any corner of this world, since it will all contribute to your brand image.
Nothing related to branding can be done superficially. Branding efforts have to be in sync with your organization’s goals. It is impossible to segregate your branding decisions from top-level strategy.
Leading IT Company, Apple carries a strong corporate ethic while projecting a humanistic culture in the organization. Apple takes pride in volunteering, participating in the community and supporting noble causes. This all helps people connect with the brand emotionally. This emotional connection is the real brand image and not only the products and services of theirs.
Identity is one of the pillars on which brand or corporate image stands strong.
Building brand or corporate identity is quite feasible with the help of logo, color variants, typography, videos and much more. It is quite upon the creativity of the designer and team to create something distinguishable and easy to remember.
There is a huge scope of work which can be done to have improved corporate identity design. These tangible elements are those by looking on which a person relates to your brand. It can be anything and everything from logo to brochure, website, email, billboard, magazine, radio, social media, employee uniforms and even more. A brand leaves impressions wherever it is present in form of the above mentioned tangible and visual devices.
Designers enjoy liberty to explore and direct their synergies into making of a unique and recognizable identity. While adhering to the set of guidelines, identity application is done on the above mentioned mediums and alike.
Following the guidelines is mandatory to stick to the corporate identity. Application of identity is executed by making use of approved color pallets, fonts, layouts and measurements.
Visual devices as radical as business card, letterhead and envelope and as unconventional as audio, smell and touch etc. come together to explain corporate identity of a business.
Logo is certainly a part of brand identity but this mark or symbol has so much importance to its credit that it is discussed separately.
If you take logo as a symbol that is used for identification of a brand, you are quite right. But there is more to it in store. That’s right when they say logo does not get into selling the business but it plays even more critical role for a business. It enables people to identify and recognize your business in the sea of other logos.
Patrons may or may not remember what all your business does but they will find it very easy to relate your business with your logo. There is always a hidden message in the graphic element, which is popularly known as logo of a business. Effective logo is able to tell your brand’s story. It helps a business to position itself in the market. Communication with target audience is facilitated quite easily with powerful illustration, that you can carry for decades together, as your business logo.
In a nutshell, one can say all three of them, logo, brand design and identity co-exist and actively participate in strengthening the brand’s presence in market. Consider hiring innovative and experienced designers who can enrich your brand with their cumulative and noteworthy contributions.
