Creating a Brand Identity: A Guide for Designers: (graphic Design Books, LOGO Design, Marketing)

A brand is also far more than the name, logo, symbol or trademark that highlights its origin; it is imbued with a set of unique values that defines its character and works as an unwritten contract, promising to deliver satisfaction by providing consistent quality each time it is bought, used or experienced.

Consumer culture theory argues that people buy one brand over another because they feel it reflects their own personal identity, or one that they wish to create.

Understanding why people buy and the triggers that make them choose one item over another is key to designing appropriately and successfully for today’s brand-savvy consumer.

If successful, a branding strategy will create the perception in the mind of consumers that there is no other product or service on the market quite the same.

‘The primary function of brands is to reduce our anxiety in making choices. The more we sense we know about a product, the less anxious we feel.’

Superlative. This defines the market position as top of its category, for instance BMW’s ‘The ultimate driving machine’.

‘There is a fundamental shift taking place in the way that brands build relationships with consumers, driven by the combined forces of social and mobile technologies.’4 The Internet has provided the perfect platform for two-way communication between individuals and brands, with instant opportunities for consumers to capture ‘real time’ experiences

Imperative. Usually a command or direction for action, such as Nike’s ‘Just do it’.

A successful brand identity is made up of a series of interlinked elements that all aim to communicate the values of the brand. Alongside the brand icon or logo, the most memorable is perhaps the strapline – also known as a tagline or slogan. (The word ‘slogan’ comes from the Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, the war cry of Scottish clans.) Made up of a few wo