2. Area of Study - Branding
Why branding?
• Branding is everywhere and is a big area within graphic design.
• I have chosen branding as my area of study as it is an area within graphic
design I enjoy designing in.
• I have an interest on how branding becomes successful and what helps
makes a brand successful in terms of design.
3. What is Brand/Branding?
• The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers
mind with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated
presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.
• You could describe a ‘brand’ as an organisation, service or product with a ‘personality’ that is
shaped by the perceptions of the audience. A designer cannot “make” a brand – only the
audience can do this. A designer forms the foundation of the brand.
• A brand can be the name that distinguishes an object. Giving a name to a product allows it to
go from the no-named to the named, the same and a name identifies a person.
• Branding is seen everywhere and is used for; branding clothes, branding books, branding
electronics, branding is even used to brand places.
“A brand is a set of perceptions that are driven both by communications and experiences. It is a
distinctive sign, symbol, and a source of added value” Brigitte Borja De Mozota (2003)
4. Types of Branding
• Corporate branding - Corporate branding involves marketing various products or services
under the name of a company. Similar to place branding corporate branding is important to
be consistent in terms of the visual design element.
• Product branding - Product branding is a marketing strategy wherein a business promotes
and markets an individual product without the company name being front and centre in the
advertising campaigns or even on the product labelling.
• Place Branding - Visual elements collectively form the cornerstone of a place-based brand
(usually a logo) The visual design components of place-based brands are usually used on
products that range media and scale, from large-scale constructed design elements such as
street furniture and “you are here” map kiosks, to large scale environmental graphic design
installations like street signage and wayfinding signage, to smaller-scale print materials such
as publications, to virtual applications such as websites and video productions.
5. Identity in Branding
• One major role in the ‘brand’ or ‘corporate image’ of a company is its identity.
• These guidelines that make up an identity usually administer how the identity is applied
throughout a variety of mediums, using approved colour palettes, fonts, layouts,
measurements etc. These guidelines ensure that the identity of the company is kept
coherent, which in turn, allows the brand as a whole, to be recognisable.
• The identity or ‘image’ of a company is made up of many visual devices: I.e business cards,
letterheads, websites. Anything that is visual that represents the business.
• All of these things make up an identity and should support the brand as a whole
From this research I began to recognise how consistency is an important part of building a brand
to help it become recognisable to the consumer
The identity of a brand is;
• The sum of all of the characteristics, tangible and intangible, that make the offer unique
• The elements of brand identification (e.g., name, symbol, and colour) by which an offer can
be identified.
“Consistency in design, look and tone is vital in building credibility” Cass, Jacob, April, 2010
6. Graphic Design in Branding
• Links between design and brand are not limited to the design of a sign or logo
• Design penetrates all of the assets that make brand value: Mission, promise, positioning,
expression, and quality.
• There is graphic design in the brand name and symbol, product design, packaging design,
advertising, and environmental design in the retail setting.
• Examples of good graphic design within branding are logos such as; Nike, Ralph Lauren and
Starbucks as they all offer a brand essence or vision.
• Both Google, and Twitter have become so successful that the American lexicon now includes
“googling” and “tweeting” as verbs. Brands & strong visual identities help this happen.
“In the global market place, visual symbols have greater potential than words”
Brigitte Borja De Mozota (2003)
7. Two examples showing that
branding goes way beyond just the
logo and is involved in clothing,
packaging, product design and
more, all helping to drive the brand
forward and help become
recognisable to the consumer.
8. Some questions I have thought about for my
independent study
How consistency contributes to the build of a brand?
• Integrating the logo into all corporate communication elements, including media relations,
information packets, brochures, website, social media etc is an important part of building brand
identity
• could maybe look into how a brand that uses; letterheads, brochures, website etc uses consistency
in its design by maintaining its aesthetics to drive to brand forward and become a trustworthy
symbol to consumers.
Can a brand be built successfully using inconsistency?
• Research for brand/companies that have used inconsistent branding and find out whether or not
they have been successful.
How designers begin to convey a brand into a certain stereotype or push towards a certain
audience using their identity?
• Although I designer relies on the audience to ‘make’ a brand can he influence the people who
decide to make it a brand?
• Armani – pushed their brand towards a certain type of audience through design in branding
• Apple - Pushed their brand to any type of person through design in branding
