“Designing Brand Identity” this book is pretty awesome.

Believe it or not, there is a “way,” a path, a process to creating a successful brand. It takes time, effort, and people. It requires patience, an obsession with getting it right, and the successful summation of vast amounts of information. But regardless of the client, the process is the same, only the depth changes.

Research

Research is necessary. It is not an option; you must understand a subject to design for it. When designing a brand identity, there are many different places to gather information from.

Begin with gathering the basics; mission, vision, values statement, value proposition, organization chart, strategic planning documents, business plans, marketing plans, annual reports, existing market research, cultural assessments, employees surveys, CEO speeches, Press releases, News Clippings, History, web Domains, and Intranet access.

Interview key stockholders. This is best done face to face because eye contact facilitates a better interview experience, but in a pinch, a phone interview is acceptable.

Conduct Market Research to discover customer preferences for products, services, or brands, but be careful, market research is powerful, but it can also go horribly wrong.

There are two types of market research, primary and secondary.  Primary is the gathering of new information. Secondary is the interpretation and application of existing statistical, demographic, or qualitative data.

When conducting market research, there are many methods to use, these include ethnography, interviews, focus groups, mystery shopping, online surveys, usability testing, product testing, eye tracking, and just about anything else that can be thought of to gather information on consumer preferences.

Research is a key factor to success, and it is not something that stops when you are working on a project. At every step along the way, you will be conducting some kind of information gathering.

Narrowing the Focus

On every project, there comes a time when the ideas must be condensed. They must be narrowed into one “big idea.” This is one of the most difficult aspects of any project because you have to make decisions. You have to wade through all the mass of “stuff” that has been gathered and find that “big idea.”

Image taken from: http://untcomdes.blogspot.com/2009/10/web-site-of-day-30.html (scanned from the second edition of “Designing Brand Identity”)

Brand Brief

Brand briefs are succinct documents that put that “big idea” into words. Brand briefs direct the project, creating visible guidelines.

The components of a brand brief contain mission, vision, brand essence, brand attributes, value proposition, key beliefs, target audience, key markets, key competitors, competitive advantage, stakeholders, and driving force. One important thing to note regarding brand briefs is that don’t “write” until it is approved.

Naming

As Wheeler writes, “naming is not for the faint of heart.” It is a difficult process that rarely just pops into your head. Naming takes research, time, knowledge of marketing, patents, trademarks, and many other tidbits of information. Basically, naming takes patience.

A name can come from many sources, the founder of the company, a clever bit of word play, foreign words, or even made-up words that just sound good. The trick is in “differentiation.” Having a name that is different from the competition that can be remembered, and associated with that product/company is key.

Designing Symbols & Wordmarks 

Brandmarks, or “Logos” as they are commonly called, serve as the visual touchpoint between a corporation and the public. Brandmarks are much like a person’s face–it is often the first visual a consumer sees when he or she thinks about any corporation.

Brandmarks can be classified into three categories: iconic, logotype, and combination marks/signatures.

Iconic marks use a symbol like the Apple “apple” or the Nike “swoosh.” Logotypes or “wordmarks” use a stylized representation of the company’s name that is unique to that company. Logotypes are often trademarked so that other corporations cannot replicate that logotype without legal penalty.

Popular logotypes include Dell, IBM, and Disney. A combination mark/signature includes both a graphical icon and a unique treatment of letterforms to create a brandmark.

Brandmarks, much like a name, need to be unique. They need to stand out from the crowd and make a stand. Often, it takes an entire team of designers to come up with a creative solution that serves its purpose and is unique.

Color

Color invokes emotion. These emotions are tied to personal experiences and societal evocations. When a person is looking at a brandmark, color is the second thing they identify. We often associate a brand with the colors used in its visual presentation.

Tiffany blue and Coca-Cola red, for example. Selecting colors for a brand requires a strong understanding of color theory, and often a sensitivity to cultural color meanings. Red can mean love or violence. White in America represents purity, but in Japan, it represents death. Color can be vibrant or somber.

Color facilitates recognition.

Coca-Cola has a unique brandmark with a red that just pops out.

Typography

“Type is magical. It not only communicates a word’s information, but it conveys a subliminal message.” ~Erik Spiekermann (Stop Stealing Sheep)

Typography is an essential part of an identity program. It creates a sense of coherence and personality throughout a company’s assets. Typography must support the company’s strategy and information hierarchy. Typography needs to stand the test of time, and not fall into some “fad.”

Fun Type related information (as copied from page 133 of “Designing Brand Identity”)

(from: http://www.thesoulcreative.com/journal/)

• The Obama political campaign used Gotham, designed by Tobias Frere-Jones. (see also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow6ajKO0XsM)

• Frutiger was designed for an airport.

• Matthew Carter designed Bell Gothic to increase legibility in the phone book.

• Meta was was designed by Meta Design for the German post office but was never used.

• Wolff Olins designed Tate for Tate Modern in London.

Sound & Motion 

“Websites without sound are starting to sound naked.” ~Blake Deutch

Sound and motion become increasingly important for a corporation. They increase the brand experience. And, with bandwidth ever increasing, it is becoming the “next frontier for brand identity.” More and more of the tools we use daily are “talking” to us, cell phones, palm pilots, computers, MP3 players, and more.

Sound and video can create a mood, signal arrival, and tell a story.

Everyone can identify a Motorola phone by the tell-tale “hello moto”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL_BHMY8XDM#t=0m58

Applications

There are many applications for a brand, from the products and services to trinkets and trash; a brand’s visual look should be able to travel places without losing its unique identity.

Portability should be considered greatly when designing a brand identity. Both for current use and possible further use.

• Websites
• Signage
• Stationary
• Business cards
• Cars, buses, and trucks
• Brochures
• Company documents
• Packaging
• TV advertising
• Environments (stores, restaurants)
• uniforms
• And more