Creating a logo is not enough to communicate the values of a company, but it is certainly a fundamental phase that brings great benefits if well managed and accompanied by other strategic steps.
A fundamental factor of a marketing strategy is the construction of a coordinated corporate image that represents the mission and vision of the company.
Let’s take a closer look at the role of the logo within the brand identity.
What is Brand identity?
When you rely on a communications agency to develop your company’s brand, you begin to become familiar with terms that are essentially synonymous : brand identity, branding, coordinated image .
These words describe something that goes beyond just the “logo”, because they are made up of various elements whose aim is to give customers a concise and effective representation of the company .
In the eyes of a person, a brand is not just an icon that appears on the smartphone or a symbol on an item of clothing, but it is a lifestyle, a series of values, a way of seeing the world and, yes, even a series of products.
By saying coordinated image, the need for homogeneity in the representation of the company brand is further underlined .
When creating a brand it is important that each communication channel is coordinated and carries the same textual and graphic messages.
It is not possible to imagine that a company has different logos or symbols that appear without logic on the company website, on social media, on business cards, at the bottom of emails.
A company must communicate what it is with a single face and a single voice. Once it has been established what the logo, graphic elements and pay-offs are, they must be reported consistently.
How to create a corporate identity
To build a brand that truly represents the image and message of the company, you need to dedicate time and attention to each phase of construction.
The fundamental steps of this technical and creative process can be summarized as follows:
- Identification of company values and the message you want to communicate
- Creation of the brand draft
- Definition of brand colours, fonts and shapes
Even before entrusting the creation of the brand to a specialized agency, it is necessary to hold meetings within the company to establish without a doubt what things you want to communicate , those that really represent the work that is carried out and the products that are created. .
This first phase could be challenging, because the ideas will not be unique, but it will provide the basis for having a perfect brand.
The second step is the one in which we study the logo and the pictogram of the brand, i.e. the writing that represents the name of the company or the product and the symbol that distinguishes it.
There are brands that only consist of a logo (e.g. Google, Facebook, Coca Cola) and others that also have a pictogram (Nike mustache, Twitter bird, Apple apple).
To further strengthen these two elements there can also be a slogan , technically defined as a pay-off , which can highlight a broad and engaging message in just a few words.
Graphic design must take into account how colors, shapes and fonts can influence the audience. Each brand is well recognizable precisely through these elements, so it is necessary to carry out tests to obtain the ideal result.
The tests must also concern the different supports on which the brand must be displayed . A clearly visible logo on a PC screen can be unrecognizable on a smartphone, in the same way a clear symbol on a poster can become a small shapeless stain on business cards.
