What is identity. Development of corporate identity and corporate identity: what is the difference? Identity of well-known brands

Identity , as one of the components of branding, better known as corporate identity or brand ID - this is the visual part of the brand, the task of which is to increase its recognition in the market and create a holistic image among the target audience that is different from others.

Contrary to the opinion of many that identity is a logo, letterheads and business cards, it is still something more - a whole organism consisting of large quantity elements working exclusively together, according to given rules.

A good and strong identity is imprinted in the minds of consumers, increases trust in the brand, and strengthens the company’s position in the market. Thisintegrity saves advertising costs and reduces the importance of marketers in the company.

There is a certain basis of elements that is unified for a larger number of companies.

Basic identity elements

  • logo
  • fonts
  • Color palette
  • pattern

The combination of these elements gives rise to branded business cards, envelopes, letterheads, branded pens, presentations, advertising layouts and much more.

All these elements are necessary for any company; they perform advertising and image functions and connect the company’s image with the consumer.

An identity system is not always required to contain a standard set of elements, and the role of each in it may vary.

Main types of identity

Traditional (classical)


Classic is timeless! Let us recall striking examples of traditional identity, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co, McDonald’s.

The visual image of these brands is painstaking work by combining a brand name, slogan, color... It’s hard to imagine what they would look like if you replaced at least one of the components.

This kind of images is achieved through the development of not just individual elements, but also the creation of rules of use.

In a traditional identity, the developed elements live according to certain laws of relationships - guidelines , minimizing to zero the likelihood of developing a layout that falls outside the general visual style.

Despite the fact that the above is an undoubted advantage and is suitable for the vast majority of companies, in the modern world, with the constant growth of communication channels with the target audience, the frequent launch of new products, the traditional identity becomes irrelevant for companies operating in the digital and IT markets, i.e. To. you will have to constantly develop new constants, rules and elements. This was precisely the prerequisite for the emergence of a dynamic identity.

Dynamic (generative)



The world and society are actively changing in last years, rapid changes are also taking place in the field of visual communications, which dictates new rules for developing an identity. One of the non-traditional and modern options is dynamic identity.
If in a traditional style all elements are subject to rigid constants, then in a dynamic identity everything is much more flexible in use.

The rules do not disappear anywhere, but become some kind of vectors, and the elements become variable, but require deeper elaboration. You can’t change everything as you want; variability must occur according to certain conditions. This is the only way the brand will not become chaotic and will maintain its recognition in front of the audience.

A special case of dynamic identity is polymorphic logo.

This is when the corporate style is based on a logo consisting of a set of elements, like a constructor. These elements are the style-forming elements of the brand, and all communication is based on them. The logo is constantly adapted to specific communication tasks.

The pioneer and trendsetter of dynamic identity is the MTV channel. It was he who first used dynamic design, back in the 80s. The color scheme, accompanying graphics and the channel logo itself spoke to the audience, changing depending on the direction of the music being broadcast.


The task of any designer is to develop the graphic component of communication, but there are other ways of perceiving information, such as video and audio. Why not identify your brand using these tools?!

A striking example of sound identity is Nokia. Can you already hear that beautiful melody from the early 2000s in your head? Do you remember?! If not, refresh your memory of it, as well as many others successful examples sound identity -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMSnn2C3EAw&list=PLqWMvGxavxhHrlBupkx dKIkjn-Atvud5v

The second example is a successful mixture of audio and video identities - a television advertisement for Microsoft Internet Explorer with the track Alex Clare - “Too Close”. Once the campaign is launched, the song is inevitably associated with Microsoft.


Identity development in the Media Aid Design studio

Our studio offers turnkey identity creation or its individual elements.

Stages of work:

Market analysis of competitors and related industries

Analysis of customer niche trends

Studying target audience and customer company products

Drawing up the image and character of the brand, creating mind maps

Concept development

Scaling

We will be glad to see you among our satisfied clients!

DA Info Pro - July 5th. Many people confuse such concepts as corporate identity, naming, identity and branding. It is believed that all these words mean one thing - creating a logo and applying it to various souvenir and advertising products of the company in a certain style and accompanied by a specific color scheme and shape.

In general, this is how it is. However, each of the terms carries a certain meaning, and it’s not worth lumping everything into one big pile. In order not to confuse all the above terminology with each other and not to call what is branding an identity, and identity a corporate style, let’s try to understand the features of each of the concepts.

Identity. So, the first term on our list today will be the concept of identity. Let's try to explain it simply, in our fingers. Because what we found on the Internet when we googled the meaning of this word leaves even more misunderstandings after studying. And we have to re-read the text 3 times to understand what the author wanted to tell us. Let's get to the point.

For example, you decide to sell daisies. Wholesale and Retail. You can take an armful, stand at the local market and you will definitely have buyers. It will work word of mouth, if the daisies are good, you will sell a lot.

BUT. You want to become the best daisy seller in your city, and you need everyone to know about you. So that they don’t buy from competitors, but come to you.

For this you want to make yourself unique logo, create a website, print business cards for customers so that they come back to buy again and again. Launch advertising on Google, create a VKontakte group and participate in conferences for daisy growers from all over the world.

To make a statement, your organization needs a unique, inimitable visual image. which is created using a set of specific colors, graphic elements, shapes and structures. Creating this image is called identity.

Preparatory work for creating an identity

Before designers start developing an identity for your organization, you need to:

    have a clear understanding of what exactly you want to sell (chamomiles retail or wholesale, children or adults, packaged or not);

    decide on your strengths compared to competitors (your daisies live two days longer than competitors, you personally checked this);

    find your zest (your daisies with blue petals, smell like gooseberry jam or cure a runny nose).

“Draw” a portrait of your product: its color, shape, aroma, taste, consistency. Highlight the features, and then it will immediately become clear what colors will be your signature, what the logo may look like later, and what print to put on corporate pens and notepads.

Write down all the features of your daisies on a piece of paper and head to the designers who will work on the brand and design absolutely ALL of your corporate paraphernalia in a single concept: from a business card to a director’s chair in one of the stores of your chain (you dream about this, no less?) .

And so you come to the designers, they listen to your story about the features of the product, study your leaflet described above, and begin to develop an identity, which includes:

    creating a logo (your unique emblem);

    development of a corporate identity (identification of primary colors, prints, combinations, placement of all this on a corporate souvenir);

    and of course a brand book (if a corporate identity is external attributes that are intended for your clients and competitors, then a brand book is something that was created personally for you, contains technical details of the project and is not distributed outside).

That is, in essence, it turns out that identity is a concept that unites all work on visualizing your brand for the purpose of its recognition and originality. While the remaining terms are its constituent components. Let's look at them too.

Form style. Thanks to its unique corporate style New Product declares itself on the market and becomes (or not) universally recognizable. Let's remember such a well-known brand mobile communications, like MTS. They have their own colors - red and white, their own logo, their own presentation style. Their stores, badges and shirts of employees of these stores, starter packs, souvenirs, advertising on the Internet and on street billboards are recognizable. One has only to glance at this combination of colors out of the corner of one’s eye, and this mobile operator immediately comes to mind.

This is the corporate style. This is the visual image that was created by designers and marketers for the company to distinguish it from other equally well-known mobile operators. For example, such as Megafon and Billine. Also, by the way, very popular and having their own corporate style.

Developing a corporate identity is impossible without creating a logo. You know very well what a logo is and we won’t go into it. This is your corporate logo, trademark, with the help of which customers and competitors will identify you. This is why originality is extremely important here. Dissimilarity from others. Unpretentiousness.

Development of identity and corporate style in the Craft Group web studio

When creating a logo and corporate identity for various products and organizations, we focus exclusively on modern design trends. That is why all our clients are always satisfied with the quality of the work performed and recommend us to their friends.

Contact us, we are ready to create an unusual and memorable visual image for your brand! Write to our group.

Today it is so fashionable to call ordinary things with foreign words. For example, one often hears “the establishment.” And the person thinks, wonders what kind of miracle this is. But in fact, this is an ordinary “creation”, “establishment”. Or a statement such as “respect from me” is translated as “respect.” And there are many, many more such Anglicisms. But there is another one that is quite difficult to understand. This is the term "identity". And try to figure out what this set of letters is and what it is connected with. But it turns out that everything is simpler than that: identity is a corporate or corporate system of corporate identification. All these concepts are absolutely identical. And in the practice of foreign colleagues this is called ID and corporate ID, where ID is an abbreviation for English word identity - identification. This is where, in fact, the innovative word “identity” originates.

This is also a popular service that is in great demand in the modern market for innovative services. Website development in Moscow is expensive, but for the company it is no less. Often these two “products” are purchased together from the same performers. And you can contact such companies as Playdesign, Alexfill, Artemy Lebedev Studio, Silversite and so on. And it is not at all necessary to be tied to your own place of residence: good employees there is a lot on the Internet.

Detailed description of the meaning of the word

Let us now take a closer look at this interesting concept. So, identity is a group of special techniques that are used in technical and artistic design. They provide an opportunity to create original material advertising nature who endears himself to the people around him.

To put it simply, identity is the face of any business, its visual basis. It consists of a corporate identity and logo. To make it a little clearer, remember what first comes to mind when we mention the Mercedes corporation? Naturally, a star that has three rays. What is the name of the Apple company associated with? Of course, with an apple. This will be the identity we are talking about.

Many ordinary people will say that when all the documentation of a company, its advertising and souvenir products and the employee uniform is made in the same color scheme, with identical graphic elements characteristic of this company, then this is not a very interesting sight. But this can be rebutted, because such an identity promises the company considerable benefits in the market it occupies.

If potential client If he sees that the corporation's advertising materials, its documentation, office names and signs, and staff badges are created in the same style, he will understand that he is dealing with a reputable organization where a close-knit and professional team works. In addition, this approach will make the company and its promotions higher. Therefore, identity is about improving the image and strengthening the status of a brand or company in the market.

Components of identity

The corporate identity may also consist of additional fragments: souvenirs, all forms of outdoor and online advertising, folders, packages. This may include POS materials, motto (slogan), multimedia presentation, website and booklet, outdoor advertising, price list.

The main and primary task of identity

The main goal of the identity is to talk about a specific business concisely, clearly and in such a way that it is firmly entrenched in memory. To do this, you need not just a fashionable style and a beautiful logo, but it is necessary that the corporate identity emphasizes the company in the chain of competitors. It should make the corporation extraordinary and intriguing for partners and clients. Relevance is a rare but simple quality that describes a good identity. The logo must tell about this company, and not about any other.

Corporate identity rules

Corporate identity will not have the right to exist if those who deal with it do not adhere to the basic rules of its creation. So, the first rule says that when creating the image of a corporation, one should start from imagery. If you are trying to promote an automaker, then do not use an image of a locomotive to advertise it. The image must support the idea of this business. Only in this case will it be easy and will be remembered for a long time.

Rule number two is that there is no need to give the main role to the logo. Today, many companies can exist without it, or the company name itself can act as a logo. Almost no one knows the Beeline logo, but it exists. But the corporate shades - yellow and black stripes - are known to every person. Everyone knows that they symbolize the mobile operator.

A few more rules

Another important point: it is better not to overdo it with creativity. Thanks to visual identification, the identity must answer two questions: “What kind of company is this?” and “Why does the client need it?” Hence the conclusion is drawn that it is obliged to fully support the ideology of the corporation. And the ideology itself implies management principles, corporate traditions and categories of potential clients.

And the last rule is socialization, that is, ideas about how the corporate identity will work in the media.

Identity is a necessary thing

So, we figured out what a corporate style (identity) is. But is it so important for the company? Of course, this is a guarantee of success for any business project. Each successful company strictly monitors the quality of its corporate identity. It improves its perfection and relevance. It often happens that in order to bring a corporation out of a crisis, it is necessary to change its identity. Also, a change in style is resorted to when a company needs to reach new market or clarify your activities.

Identity represents the banner under which the business of a particular entrepreneur is carried out. It is incredibly important to have a corporate identity and a wonderful logo, because these are the criteria by which people are met and, more often, they are seen off by them.

For someone without a background in marketing, design, or an MBA, it can be difficult to understand what is meant by identity. It is often confused with the logo, corporate style, brand book, are identified with a logo and other related terms. However, understanding the differences between them is important for every manager, manager or entrepreneur.

What is identity

Identity refers to that part of the brand that describes its visual presentation. In other words, this is a set of principles and rules that allows you to recreate the unique image of a company on any medium. This can be corporate printing, souvenirs, office interior design and any other elements.

To ensure this, professional development of the following components of identity is required:

  • logo development is the main and unique element that symbolizes the affiliation of a particular company object;
  • corporate identity development - a set of basic visual solutions used to create branded objects. It includes examples of corporate printing, souvenirs and stationery, designed according to strictly defined rules;
  • development of a brand book - a guide to the use of corporate identity in the company’s activities. It defines the color scheme, design rules for the logo and other graphic signs, the size of the indents between elements, the corporate font and much more.
It's complicated and complex task, the implementation of which should be entrusted to professionals. When choosing a contractor, you should not be based only on price, because only a team of experienced designers, marketers and brand managers can create information products, which will help the company successfully develop and scale.

The difference between corporate identity and brand book

Many people have difficulty understanding the differences between corporate identity and brand book - the most important elements of identity. Some experts equate these concepts, which is fundamentally wrong. The difference lies in the target user of these products.

The corporate identity is customer-oriented. This is a set of ready-made identity solutions, the design of which follows the basic rules of the brand book. It may include business cards, branded folders, letterheads, pens, envelopes, etc. Its task is to increase the company’s recognition among target consumers and help them identify its products among the many presented at the point of sale.

But is this enough when you need to develop a graphic banner to be placed on an expensive billboard, for example, in Moscow? For printing to look branded, unique and recognizable, it must be designed taking into account predetermined rules. This is where a brand book helps. Its users include in-house and third-party designers, marketers, decorators and other professionals. By applying the rules described there, they can give any object a company's corporate identity.

What helps you distinguish a bottle of Pepsi from a bottle of Coca-Cola on the supermarket shelf? The drinks are identical in color, smell and taste. But you can clearly differentiate the two brands thanks to the visual design of their products. Cola is a long-familiar red label with an ornate white lettering. Pepsi is a combination of blue, red and white, with a familiar round logo that resembles a ball.

You know perfectly well what you associate Cola with: it immediately comes to mind New Year in the family circle, holidays, gifts. Pepsi immediately sends us to a youth party or to a football match.

This is how identity, or corporate identity, works. It is a brand image that helps consumers differentiate one company from another. Moreover, this image includes not only visual design, but also the general idea, the values ​​of the company, which is transmitted to the consumer with the help of visual images.

This concept appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century. Just then, like mushrooms after rain, various companies working in the same niche began to appear. It was necessary to think about how to distinguish one company from another. Visual design is the simplest and most reliable approach in this sense.

But identity is not just a set beautiful pictures and bright colors. This concept is much deeper and includes many aspects.We’ll figure out which ones in this article.

What is identity

Identity ( corporate identity, from agnl. "Identity") is a visual representation of the brand. This is a special image of a brand that conveys its idea, values, goals, and corresponds to the company’s strategy in the market.

Identity allows you to recreate the image of a company on any medium, be it a website or a billboard along the road. Letterheads, business cards, sign or interior design that convey a special mood, the atmosphere of the company - that’s all it is, identity. With the help of visual images, the company conveys its philosophy to the consumer, and this is the main goal of the corporate style.

Identity development is a mandatory stage for every self-respecting company. Moreover, take care of corporate identity (or beautiful franchise packaging) you need as soon as you decide to open. Unless, of course, you want to immediately be remembered by your clients or customers. You must have a name, logo, slogan, colors that will correlate with you in people's minds.

Identity development is also needed, if not already new company radically changes the direction of its activities. Usually in this case, her image is created in a new way. This process is called rebranding. It should not be confused with restyling, when the font is slightly changed or the logo is refreshed, but the values, the name of the company and its course remain the same.

Identity solves the following problems:

  • makes the brand recognizable;
  • this is a visual difference from your competitors;
  • increases customer loyalty;
  • attracts attention to the company;
  • creates the image of a serious brand, not a fly-by-night brand;
  • helps reduce costs for promoting new company products;
  • does advertising campaigns more efficient;
  • creates a holistic image of the company;
  • broadcasts USP companies;
  • V long term can increase sales thanks to all of the above.

To achieve all these goals, you need to trust the development of identity elements only to professionals. Yes, today there are many tools and opportunities to buy or make a logo yourself. You can also come up with a name yourself. Choose colors that you like. Create a website using the constructor. But usually such an unprofessional approach gives the corresponding result - there is no brand as such, everything turns out to be cheap and varied.

With a professional approach, all components of corporate identification are gradually worked out:

  • name and slogan;
  • form style;
  • brand book.

The visual concept of the brand is reflected in every advertising material, be it flyer, video or employee uniform. Any form of communication with the consumer carries this image, thanks to which he is distinguished trade marks between themselves.

This is a complex task that is best addressed in a comprehensive manner. You can only entrust this to a team of professionals, which includes not only artists, namers and designers, but also experienced marketers.

What is the difference between identity and corporate style?

The concept of identity came to us not so long ago, and as with many foreign concepts, confusion often arises. The most common misconception is to mistake identity and corporate identity for the same thing.

In fact, corporate identity is a narrower concept. This is a set of graphic, color and other techniques (music, for example) that express the uniqueness of the company, convey its style and distinguish it from its peers. Corporate style is the font that is used on the website and printed products; these are your colors; This is the design of forms, envelopes, pens and other souvenirs and printed products. This is your personality that you broadcast to everyone. This is your image, this is what you are remembered and recognized for.

In other words, this is your face. The more original the corporate style, the more modern it is and the better it conveys your idea, the greater your chances of becoming recognizable in the market.

Corporate identity includes the following elements:

  • color spectrum;
  • trademark;
  • fonts;
  • arrangement of elements on media, layout features;
  • corporate character (mascot).

What is the difference with identity?Corporate style is only part of the identity as a whole, one of its components.In addition to the corporate identity, identity also includes the name, slogan, logo, brand book, and general philosophy of the company.

The second misconception is confusion with the brand book and corporate identity. These are also different things.

Corporate identity is aimed at the consumer, and conveys to him your values ​​and your uniqueness. A brand book is an internal document of a company that explains how and where to use elements of corporate identity. This document is not shown to anyone; it is an internal “charter” that is hidden from prying eyes.

Stages of identity development and what it includes

Identity development takes place in several stages.

1. Development of the company name and slogan(if necessary). A phrase from a famous cartoon immediately comes to mind: “Whatever you call a ship, that’s how it will sail.” A sonorous, original, and at the same time appropriate name for your type of activity is the key to the company’s success in the market. You can come up with it yourself. Or you can order it from professionals who can hear you and choose good name for a successful brand.

A slogan is an advertising tool that briefly and succinctly, in a few words, conveys the main values ​​or features of the company. It just seems easy to come up with. It’s not so easy to develop a really good slogan; it requires a healthy combination of creativity, the concept of marketing and complete immersion in your business.

2. Logo development. This is the main and most important task of developing an identity. A logo is a sign that relates to your brand and conveys its core values. It should go with the name and slogan. Hint or directly indicate your area of ​​activity. Be memorable and simple, scalable, look good on different media - both on a small business card and on a large billboard.

3. Corporate identity development. This stage begins after the logo has been developed. Corporate colors and fonts are selected. The placement of visual elements on different media is being thought through. The design of business cards, letterheads, envelopes, pens, branded T-shirts, car design, etc. is developed.

4. If the brand “lives” online,website design is being developed. It should be in corporate colors, with corporate fonts and logo.

5. F signature character - mascot. This is another technique for increasing brand awareness and creating a certain mood and character. For example, at McDonald's it is a cheerful clown. "Rastishka" has a dinosaur named Dino, who is the main character of commercials and even a series of cartoons for children.

6. The final stage isbrand book development. This is a document that contains complete information about the company: its philosophy, goals, description of the logo and corporate identity, rules for the design of advertising media, and much more. This document is stored and not shown to unauthorized persons.

So if you ordered an identity from scratch, you should be provided with:

  • Name;
  • logo and corporate identity;
  • branded character (optional);
  • brand book.

All these elements, developed with professional approach, will help you create a successful image of your company and differentiate yourself from competitors in the market.

Best Brand Identity Examples

Let's look at some interesting examples of different brand identities.

The company produces environmentally friendly packaging: glass glasses. This environmental friendliness is easily visible in the brand’s signature “wood” colors. The packaging can be reused, ideas for reuse are written on the packaging.

Sletat.ru

Tourist search system Sletat.ru has a very interesting corporate identity. Blue is a color that inspires trust. The interestingly played out image of an airplane in the logo directly speaks about the scope of the project.

Museu Historico de Santa Catarina

The Historical Museum is a special place. The designers managed to convey the atmosphere and the main idea with the help of bright visual images. Associations with paintings arise naturally, and the logo also conveys the silhouette of the building.

Another interesting example— identity of a company engaged in the production of video products. The logo perfectly conveys this specificity.

JJ Royal

Coffee brand identity. Naturalness, brightness of taste - all this can be read from the corporate colors and design.

We hope our material will help you find your unique style and brand character that will set you apart from your competitors in the market.