There are many misconceptions when it comes to the terms Branding and your Logo Design.
I'm here to tell you that: your visual identity is not your brand; neither is your logo a brand identity.
The word brand originally means "hot or burning".
With that in mind let us look at the farmer who brands his livestock with a burning, hot iron.
Do you think that the mark left on the livestock is his brand? No.
The mark identifies his ownership of that particular animal.
My dad used to scribe his name into his tools with the very same principle in mind.
So if the iron mark left upon the livestock isn't his brand, well, what is? His brand is many things.
His visual identity is just an element into identifying what it is that belongs to him.
The farmer's actual brand could be his hard working nature, his strictness to deadlines, his breeding and the quality of his animals.
In other words, the farmer and his product are the brand.
How hard the farmer works to make sure he has the best product available and whether he is looked upon as a valued supplier all determine how strong his brand is.
Apple Computer's brand is not the half bitten apple on the packaging: it's Steve Jobs' vision.
I have always looked upon Apple's visual identity as being cutting edge.
The half eaten apple representing a computer bite, their design always being cutting edge, however, Apple were over shadowed by Microsoft for so long.
That's not because their identity wasn't strong enough: that's because Steve Jobs' vision was long term - now you associate that identity with the quality of Apple's products, their ethos, their design, their goal...
all of which was once a thought within the head of Steve Jobs.
Brands are more than just a piece of artwork, colour and typography.
They are the thoughts, the determination, the self-confidence, the drive, the ambition, the doubts, the character, the products and much more of a company.
The Values.
If a mechanic is poor at his job, delivers lately and is not value for money but has paid a top designer to give him the best possible brand identity.
Guess what? His identity will fail because himself as the business is not strong enough.
Think about it: we trust brands.
Would we really drink a certain type of cola if it tasted bad.
Still, it is true that visual identities are cool and quirky and we all have our favourites, however, our favourite brands are just that because of their strength within the market place.
Remember we are all advocates to our favourite brands.
Mainly, in part, because we trust them.
I have been asked countless times to produce identities for small start up businesses who do not have a business plan.
How can I produce an identity for a business who doesn't even know its brand? Designers cannot dream up your brand for you.
There is so much that goes into a brand and its identity that I would need to write a book, however, now that the basics are covered I shall crack on a write a little about brand identities and logos.
Beware of imitations.
With computers and software being so powerful it is easy for the amateur graphic designer to make his work look professional.
However, it will probably not do the job you're hoping for.
Unless you know the elements into building a successful brand identity, you will never be able to tell.
Brand Identity includes corporate: a Brand Identity involves lots of work.
It is important to understand this when you hire a graphic designer to undergo your brand identity project.
Every graphic designer offers brand identity as a service but, unfortunately, we do not learn the aspects in art school.
It is through ones passion for brand identities that we seek further studies.
This is why it is probably better from the outset to seek a designer who specialises in brand identity.
As a brand identity designer you must be able to portray the brand's persona, values, missions, ethos and goals.
A logo is just an element within the brand identity.
A business should be able to take a logo away and yet still be recognisable to their customers.
You should be able to look, see, feel and, sometimes, even smell a visual identity.
Clever designer's touch upon all of this.
Just look at the biggest identities.
Do you notice how simple they are? How they deliver one message; how they use different elements to portray their message.
One's Identity should be simple.
It should have touch points that lead a customer to remember just one thing about it.
When we read a page from a book, we may remember a paragraph but never the whole page - unless we study it.
The famous saying: "less is more" really couldn't be truer when it comes to identity design.
The hardest part of a graphic designers job is taking away elements to make their design as simple as possible.
Graphic designers who specialise in identity work will spend hours upon hours crafting a logo that is simple and memorable and also portrays the brand's values.
From the logo, the designers will spend longer on colour theory and psychology and gestalt theories.
Final thought.
A brand is a business and their mission, ethos and vision.
A brand identity is the graphic language that portrays that brand, whether that is typography, colour, logos, marks, smells etc.