+ WHAT IS BRAND DESIGN?

Brand design is the process of creating branding or a brand identity for a company or individual.

+ WHAT IS A BRAND IDENTITY?

A brand identity is sometimes confused with a logo or brandmark, in fact it’s a whole lot more than that. A brand identity is a holistic system that projects how a company or organisation is perceived by its audience, across as many touchpoints and outlets as needed. This system involves a set of materials including a logo/brandmark, business cards, a website, etc., but also a tone of voice, style guide and often content that isn’t directly about the brand itself, but stuff that its consumers care about.

Today it’s just as much about how a brand behaves and engages its audience as how it looks. Young consumers (I’m not going to use the M word) don’t want to be bombarded by sales messages, they want meaningful connection. They also want to know that the brands they buy into are trying to do the right thing. This will become more and more important as brands are increasingly held to account by their audience; Think palm oil, sugar and employee exploitation.

+ HOW DO YOU CREATE A BRAND IDENTITY?

Creating a brand identity is a simple process but it takes time, hard work and a little magic. For a new brand it starts with questions and research - why is your brand different and how will it engage your audience? Who are your key competitors? From there it’s possible to create a strategy around the brand‘s core truth or reason for being. This strategy or holding idea will then form the basis for how the brand will look, feel, sound, taste and perhaps even smell. After that it’s all about ideas - how can the brand be brought to life in a unique and interesting way that it’s audience will engage with. A brand identity should have a solid idea at its heart that will hopefully last forever.

For an existing brand it’s a case of asking why it needs a new direction. What isn’t working and what can we learn from it? Is it better to throw everything away and start again or can some things be salvaged or repurposed?

+ WHAT IS THE BRANDING PROCESS?

At ATTFIELD our branding process can be summarised in six steps: 1. Initial meeting. 2. Questions and research. 3. Brand strategy. 4. Creative concepts. 5. Development of creative concept. 6. Finalisation and supply of digital and physical materials.

+ WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BRAND AND A BRAND IDENTITY?

A brand is a company, individual or organisation and a brand identity is how it projects itself to the world.

+ WHAT DOES BRANDING INCLUDE?

Branding or a brand identity can include a number of different things. It will always include a brandmark or logo, a tone of voice and a core idea or brand strategy. Often it will include a slogan or mission statement, business cards, letterheads, brand or style guidelines, a website and templates for advertising, presentations or online/printed materials (e.g. posters or web banners). In some cases it may also include designs for livery, building signage, interior design, promotional items or brand films/animations.

+ HOW MUCH DOES IT COST FOR A BRAND IDENTITY?

This depends on who you are and who you choose to create your brand identity. If you are a huge multi-national brand, your needs are going to be a lot greater than a small start-up in Bristol. Pepsi spent a cool $1 million on their new identity in 2008, whilst the 2012 London Olympics brand identity cost £400,000. Of course Google and Microsoft’s recent updates cost them both relatively little as they were created by internal design teams.

At ATTFIELD we only work for small and medium sized companies which means that our prices are a lot lower. We also have low overheads and a very small team with bags of experience, which helps too. Prices will still vary depending on the project: some clients require a complex branding system with materials across multiple touchpoints, whilst others need a simpler solution.

+ WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN?

Graphic design is the art of creating visual concepts, by hand and/or computer, to communicate ideas that inspire, inform and engage consumers.

+ DO ALL GRAPHIC DESIGNERS WORK IN BRANDING?

No is the short answer - there are many different types of graphic designer. At one end of the spectrum there are conceptual graphic designers and at the other layout artists. There are many more in-between too - some designers specialise in one area and others will cover five or six. It can be a little confusing but the best thing is to look at a designer’s website. If you are looking for a new and inspiring brand identity that engages your audience you need a conceptual designer or company (we are here for you - give us a call). If you would like someone to design a brochure for your company, based on an existing brand identity, a layout artist or brochure designer should work just fine.