Branding is vital to a company’s success. It can be as simple as a colour choice or as complex as a corporate identity and a marketing slogan. Some companies can have as little as four logos in 97 years like UPS or have up to ten or more like Pepsi and Coca Cola.

There are four identity components your brand could fall into:

1. Signatures
2. Wordmarks (or Logotypes)
3. Monograms
4. Logos

Signatures are a corporate name written in a specific font. There is no distinguishing or unique design element and this type of identity is best suited for brand name consumer products. Some examples are Nintendo, Sony and Epson.

Wordmarks are similar to a signature and must have a unique design element. Some companies add lines to the letter ‘n’, like Sanyo, or add a star in Star Bank.

Monograms are sometimes used alone without the full corporate name. It is either the first letter or letters of the corporate name rendered in some unique graphic way with a signature. Some examples of monograms are IBM and Motorola.

Logos are unique design elements. They do not resemble letters and are used separately or with a signature. Pepsi is a great example of a logo. The word logo, however, is used incorrectly most of the time to describe the previously stated identity components.

When a company is thinking about creating a corporate identity for themselves, they have to consider the four conceptual approaches:

• Corporate Activity
• Corporate Ideals
• Corporate Name
• Graphic Approach

A Corporate Identity shows something about the product or activity of the company and shows what it does. For example, Uniroyal makes tires so they have an image of a tire tread as their identity.

Corporate Ideals don’t show what the company does, but shows the qualities and ideals the company aspires or wishes to have associated with their company. The U.S. Postal Service has an eagle, which is known as the American symbol, but it also demonstrates motion and speed.

A Corporate Name visualizes the name of the company itself. It only works with certain corporate names such as Wendy’s – named after the founder, Dave Thomas’s daughter- or Apple.

A Graphic Approach shows nothing about the activities, ideals or names. It is just a unique graphic design or typographic treatment. Coca Cola and Chevrolet have used a graphic approach for their identity.

Plenty of time and money goes into creating a unique slogan or identity that will make the company stand out above the competition. Nike, for instance, has used “Just Do It” and the ’swoosh’ for their marketing campaign and has seen great success with it.

When coming up with a corporate identity, there are some design rules to keep in mind. These are known as the ‘7 Deadly Sins’:

1.      Lack of Mass

2.      Overlapping Elements

3.      Lack of Refinement, Style, Sophistication

4.      Disharmony, Misleading, Wrong Mood

5.      No Unique Design (Signature Only)

6.      Scale – Parts Too Small

7.      Clarity in one Colour

Unfortunately, some designs have neglected to follow these simple rules. This could be a costly mistake when it comes to branding your company.

A recent change to the Pepsi logo has caused great discussion. Many dislike the logo and have actually made spoofs of the logo. Sometimes you have to ask yourself, is a fresh new corporate identity a positive or negative move?

Resources:

http://www.logoorange.com/logodesign-A.php

http://www.instantshift.com/2009/01/29/20-corporate-brand-logo-evolution/

http://www.visualentity.com