Corporate Identity & logo design is concerned with the visual aspects of a company's presence. Corporate Identity should interpret the brand identity into its design using corresponding colors, packaging, all the way down to the type of paper you use for your letterhead.
Brand identityis the promise it makes to consumers. It may consist of features and attributes, benefits, performance, quality, service support, and the values that the brand possesses. The brand can be viewed as a product, a personality, a set of values, and a position it occupies in people's minds. Brand identity is everything the company wants the brand to be seen as.
Brand image, is how the consumer interprets the brand identity, which may or may not coincide with the brand identity. Companies have to work hard on the consumer experience to make sure that what customers see and think is what they want them to.
Brand identity is basically what you want the consumer to think about your company, and brand image is what the consumer actually thinks about your company. A company has to work hard at making sure that their brand identity becomes their brand image. Corporate Identity is one of the tools that helps this happen.
What is the role of the logo in your Corporate Identity? The logo plays a pivotal role in your Corporate Identity. It is often, and should always be one of the first things your customer/client sees and often is part of what you leave with them. Consider your business card, stationery, business signs, brochures, all of these items have or should have your logo on them. That is why a logo design is so important to your Corporate Identity, it essentially is your signature, your idea of your company that you want them to remember.
The best examples of how a logo design is successfully integrated into the Corporate Identity are, the golden arches of McDonalds, the green mermaid seal of Starbucks Coffee, and the swoosh of Nike. All of these companies can be recognized by their logo, with or without the accompaniment of their name. This shows how powerful a logo can be, mind you a logo design cannot be the only part of your Corporate Identity, it's the entire package, marketing, advertising, slogans and tag lines that all come together to make it possible that the logo can be seen separately from the name and still trigger the same feelings and results.
