Brand design
Designs what makes an organization or a product recognizable and memorable: its name, its visual identity, its tone and the experience it offers.
What it deals with
People choose among many similar options, and what they know and feel about each brand influences what they decide and remember.
Principles
Recognizable
Identified at first sight.
Consistent
The same at every touchpoint.
With substance
The brand promises something; the experience has to deliver it.
Applications in design
Use it like this
Define what you want people to associate with the brand before designing the logo.
Avoid
Confusing the brand with the logo.
Don’t fall for it
A brand is built through experience: if the service fails, design won't fix it.
Especialidad
Brand identity design
Designs a brand’s visual and verbal system: logo, colors, typography, tone and usage rules.
Methods and tools
- MethodMood boardA board of images, colors and textures that sets the tone of a project before designing it.
- ArtifactDesign systemThe set of shared components, rules, and criteria a team uses to build its interfaces.
Connections
Builds on
Authors and works
- 1993
Kevin Lane Keller
Explained a brand's value by what people know about it: whether they are aware of it and what associations it evokes.
- 1989
Wally Olins
Championed identity as the way to make an organization's strategy visible.
Sources
Original sources
- Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1–22. View source: Keller, K. L. (1993)
- Olins, W. (1989). Corporate identity: Making business strategy visible through design. Thames and Hudson.
Last reviewed: