Week 4
13/10/08
DESIGNING BRAND IDENTITY
Why do people love this brand? Why are they so loyal to it? What does this brand mean to them? Why? Why? Why!
Branding Research
'A logo is a point of entry into a brand'
I've been concentrating a lot this week on trying to read a bit more about brands. I found a few references to sites and people through Wikipedia and stumbled across Alina Wheeler. She is a designer and consultant that specialises in branding. I found she had created a similar diagram to the one Chris showed us in the lecture.
It was a brand identity diagram and featured 5 stages compared to the 4 in Chris'. If you click on the image below it'll take you to her site. She also has a pyramid diagram similar to the one in Friday’s lecture. Do I see a pattern here? :)
There is also a section on brand touchpoints which features a useful diagram with them listed on it.
JEAN-NOEL KAPFERER
I came across this man’s site when I was looking for brand identity diagrams. Apparently he is recognised as one of the worldwide leading specialists on brands. First I've ever heard of him though. He designed the brand identity prism.
PAUL RAND
During the lecture when Chris asked had anybody heard of Paul Rand I didn't put my hand up. When I got home I knew I had heard the name before but couldn't remember when. It finally came to me. We talked about him in second year when we were doing branding. I remembered some of his work such as the famous IBM logo. I Googled him and checked out his site. He is considered the father of coporate identity.
I personally found that a lot of his work was very similar. Maybe I'm being very critical but a lot of his logo designs all seem to be in the shape of a circle or square. I realise these were all obviously done by hand so I can let him away with it. If i'm half as good as he was I'll be happy.
BRAND MARKS
I've searched each of the different types of brand marks into Google but found very little relating to any of them until I came across a site called PositiveSpaceBlog. It's a blog from a graphic designer called Anthony Zinni. It has over 100,000 readers per month and features a wide range of topics.
I came across an article called, ' Logo Design Basics: The Five Types of Marks.' It gives a definition of each type and shows some examples. It was very helpful in helping me understand the term brand marks a bit better.
Wordmarks
Below are some wordmarks that immediately let you know what the brand is.
Letterform Marks
Below are some brands that use letterform marks.
Pictorial Marks
Below are some brands that use pictorial marks.
Abstract/Symbolic Marks
I'm not 100% sure on this type yet. I think I understand what brands use this type of mark but not completely. Here are a few exmples anyway.
Books to Read
Some books that I plan to purchase or read in the coming weeks:
Naomi Klein - No Logo
David Powers - PHP Solutions
Site of the Week
We talked about Si Scott's work in a previous lecture and I found another site that features that type of spiral design and calligraphy. Some of the designs are amazing. Definately worth a look.
