When creating a corporate identity or brand, a company needs to determine
and keep in mind all of the above to ensure the message is clear and reaches
the right customer through the right media or medium. The brand or identity
consists primarily of words, graphics and colors that reinforce the message
and image the company wants to project. Many elements can work in synergy
to build a corporate image. Logos, slogans, typography, colors and brand-related
graphics and imagery will catch the customers' attention, and they will
recognize and remember a company because of it.
To establish and reinforce the corporate identity, a company must
use all of the above in all corporate, marketing and promotional
collateral, websites, and presentations. This will solidify the
company brand in the eyes and hearts of the customer. An identity
system can include:
Usually implemented as brochures or other materials with detailed information
on specific products or services, company contact information, and web
site addresses. These may also have room for the business card of an individual
salesperson. If the company has many product offerings, there may be a
folder with room for product/service inserts or sheets. (Often including
spec sheets and price lists.)
The company name in a particular typestyle (and color), the company name
in combination with a graphic or a just graphic, such as the Nike "swoosh",
although not many companies can get away with a graphic logo alone. McDonald's
Golden Arches comes close; even the IBM logo incorporates the letters IBM,
as does Hewlett-Packard's "hp" and Sun Microsystems' "diamond".
A slogan is a statement that brands the company or a particular product
(or range of products) or service(s). Some memorable slogans include "Just
Do It", "The clear alternative to cellular" and "Do the dew". Does a brand
come to mind?
Specific fonts and type styles are used in association with the logo's
typestyle to boost recognition further. Apple Computer, BMW, Xerox...
many companies have created custom typestyles specific to their brand.
While a custom font is not always necessary, specific typography rules
of usage help to reinforce a company's image in the customer's mind.
Color(s) can reinforce the image the company is projecting. Just seeing
certain color combinations can bring a particular brand to mind.
No matter how large or small a company is, business always depends on one
thing: the interest of the customer. When a company presents their products
and services to the customer, they must dazzle the customer. But it just
as it is important to impress, it is also important to inform. Like every
other medium, a presentation must be visually impressive, as well as a
strong source of information. One without the other won't do it; both must
be present to leave a favorable memory in the eyes of the customer.
An image is worth a thousand words. Brand-related graphics or images can
make a statement that color and type alone cannot. Adding brand-related
photography to a company's corporate materials can make them jump out and
catch the eye of customers who might otherwise have not even glanced at
them.
Photography in a particular style is often immediately recognizable. Just
one glance at an Ansel Adams photograph brings instant recognition to most
people. Photography with a certain level of sepia or color screen, or taken
with a particular use of depth of field will, when used in conjunction
with a company logo, color studies, and other elements of the identity
system, generate such recognition.
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