How To Build A: Visual Identity

How to Build a Visual Identity
Proven practices to get the best from your design team.

Choices We All Have to Make
It's not fair. You have to know what looks good. What sounds good.
What truly represents your firm, its offers, its team. You have to sacrifice
ideas you love dearly so the big message hits home with the customer.
We're very sorry. That's just branding. To help you make the tough choices,
we've distilled the essential best-practices on the following.
 Brand Strategy
 Brand Name
 Logo
 Wordmark
 Buddy Icon
 Colour
 Typography
 Layout
 Paper Stock
 Visual Hook
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ready. set.
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Choose Your Brand Strategy
Target Audience Your Brand Competitors
Your target audience Your brand promise Your brand personality Your brand position A dear and honest
has a need. ﬁlls their need and is the style with makes you no.1 so brand is a barrier to the
reﬂects your passion. which you deliver the audience resolves competition. It helps
your promise. their need with you, you simplify, sell and succeed.
not the competition.
You wouldn't build a house without a blueprint

You shouldn't design a visual identity without a brand©2O19
strategy
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Brand Strategy Examples: Disney Resorts + FedEx
Promise Position Personality
The fusion of our audience’s need with our This is the reason our customers choose This is the style with which we market
passion to deliver. us over other service providers. ourselves to the world.
Disney Resorts Promise Disney Resorts Position ca 2010 Disney Resorts Personality
Memories The only resort with the Disney cast Magical, Family Friendly
of characters
Embodied in the slogan FedEx Personality
"Let the Memories Begin" Disney Resorts Position Today Reliable, Confident, Optimistic, Warm
The only resort with the Disney, Marvel and
FedEx Promise Star Wars casts of characters
Service Excellence
FedEx Position ca 1995
The only express transportation company
with guaranteed overnight delivery
FedEx Position Today

The leader in the U.S. express
transportation market
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Nail Your Brand Name
If you've got a name, we hope it meets the following criteria.
 Short
 Appealing
 Memorable
 Legally protected
 Easy to find via search
Company Co. 
Your name If you're choosing

is your most a name, make sure
important you consider what's
marketing tool on the next page . . .
Nail Your Brand Name
Your name and the letters that constitute Pictured to the left and in the centre, there
it are your best weapons in the creation of are two variations of the same name. To the
a brilliant visual identity. Think about that far right, you'll see the winning name carried
when you take in the designs below. through to creative work.
Ask yourself: what's going to work best in design?
BEFORE: LONG NAME SHORTER NAME AFTER: SIMPLER WORDMARK
JACK.ORG
SIM
now it's
time to
get visual
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Logo or Wordmark?
A LOGO MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU

Many of our customers come to us with
sights set on a cool new logo. They want their
own Nike swoosh or Starbucks mermaid.
That's when we, as responsible branding
professionals, are obligated urge caution.
WHAT IS A LOGO?
A logo is a symbol that can stand in place
of your brand name. It takes a lot of money
to use effectively. Unless your marketing
budget is in the multi-millions, you won't
be able to advertise heavily enough for
your logo to embody your whole brand at a
glance. What most firms actually need is a
great wordmark.
WHAT IS A WORDMARK?
A wordmark is a stylized brand signature
based on the letterforms in your brand name.
Unlike a logo, a wordmark isn't separate
from your name.
WHY ARE WORDMARKS GREAT?

They put maximum focus on your brand
name. They're easier to scale. They're ABOVE PEPSI LOGO + WORDMARK BELOW COCA-COLA WORDMARK
easier to protect legally. Plus, of the
Fortune 100 corporate brands, the majority
are wordmarks.
Give it a Hook
CATCH THEIR ATTENTION

Winning brands have a consistent artistic
hook that is embeded in the visual system. To
be effective it must work big and small. On a
business card or building.
COLOUR AS A HOOK
Hertz is yellow. Coke Zero is black. T-mobile
is magenta. Sprite is green. These brands use
their dominant colour everywhere as one big
identifier.
CHARACTER AS A HOOK
Colonel Saunders. The Green Giant. The
Kool Aid Man. These characters are more
than Ronald Macdonal style maskots. They
are baked into the visual system: logo,
packaging, advertising, everything.
SYMBOL AS A HOOK
Most marketers start believing their visual
identity must include a big symbol. Like a
Nike Swoosh or Apple apple. But those that
take the time will often find this big approach
doesn't work for small businesses. And
that the majority of Fortune 500 brands no
longer use logo symbols as their hook.
ABOVE: HERTZ OFFICE

BELOW: KFC SYMBOL + NIKE SWOOSH
Give it a Hook: Wordmarks vs. Symbols
HOOK IN A WORDMARK
Many savvy brands opt to build a graphical
device right into the wordmark. Amazon is
one of them. When you look at the Amazon
mark, you see a delightful little arrow bolted
to the base. We'll talk more about this in a
minute, but first, let's contrast it with Nike.
THE CASE OF NIKE

Nike has its iconic swoosh logo. Unlike the
Amazon arrow, the Nike swoosh can stand
alone. It means 'Nike' even when the name
itself is absent. It can take a generation and
billions of dollars in advertising to make a
standalone symbol replace a name.
BACK TO AMAZON
Amazon's arrow, on the other hand, is part
of the wordmark. There's no separating the
two. Even in social media, when the brand's
first initial is all you get, the arrow is still
there, fused to the 'a.' Where you never see
this element is floating in space, without
some piece of the wordmark to ground it.
TOP: AMAZON WORDMARK WITH ARROW DEVICE

MIDDLE LEFT: AMAZON A
MIDDLE RIGHT: THE ARROW IS NEVER USED ALONE
BOTTOM: NIKE STANDALONE SWOOSH LOGO
Give it a Hook: Wordmarks vs. Symbols
It comes down to this: Nike has WORDMARKS: THE MA JORITY OF THE TOP GLOBAL BRANDS
hammered their swoosh symbol

into people over decades of
relentless marketing. That comes
with a monolithic price tag. Unless
your resources grow on trees, it's
better to find your hook in colour
like Hertz or a wordmark with built-
in hook like the Amazon arrow.
Billionaires, listen up: Even if you

have no shortage of marketing
dough, a big Nike-like symbol may
not be worth it. That big symbol can
just as easily be distracting to your
audience and dilute your appeal.
LOGOS WITH SYMBOLS: LESS POPULAR THAN YOU THINK
Here's the proof: Take a look at the
Interbrand top 100 global brands.
Only 37 out of 100 have distinct
symbols like the Nike swoosh or
Apple apple. The majority–63–are
either pure type only wordmarks
or wordmarks with secondary
graphical devices.
Make It Iconic, Buddy
COMPANY CO
NOW THAT YOU HAVE A WORDMARK
You need a buddy icon. We'll get into what this is
in about 35 words. But for now, remember: these
days, your wordmark needs to live in some pretty
small places. Specifically, it needs to work nicely
YOUR WORDMARK SHOULD
within the confines of mobile devices and social
BE DESIGNED WITH YOUR
media. Enter the buddy icon.
BUDDY ICON IN MIND
WHAT IS A BUDDY ICON?

Popularized by social media, a buddy icon is the
C
screen execution of your wordmark. It's square,
it's small and, though it doesn't have to feature
your wordmark in full, your buddy icon should
display the most recognizable part. Remember,
CO NAME V E R Y LO N G N A M E
your brand name will affect your wordmark, and

that will affect your icon.
IT'S BEST TO FEATURE THE A LONG BRAND NAME WILL
MOST MEMORABLE DETAIL DRASTICALLY REDUCE THE
A BIT MORE ON BUDDY ICONS
FROM YOUR WORDMARK IMPACT AT SMALL SCALES
Did we mention that a good buddy icon needs to
work at a small scale? Just kidding, we did. But we
didn't specify how small. Ideally, your buddy icon
will work at the near microscopic size of 16 x 16
pixels. These are the dimensions of the icon that
appears in your browser tab.
Remember, your name affects this!

So pick a good one. Your creative resources will thank you.
Show Your True Colours
Start with colour strategy. The colours you choose for your brand are as
important as the actual message. Use colour to evoke emotional, subconscious
responses, and to differentiate from your competitors.
If the other guys are blue, be the opposite of blue: orange. If they’re green, be
red. The more you can start to think like this, the better. Especially when it's
time to sign off on your team's design work.
PURITY + PEACE + LOVE + WARMTH + LUXURY +

SIMPLICITY INTELLIGENCE EXCITEMENT FRIENDLINESS RICHNESS
Show Your True Colours
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
It's no secret that colour plays a vital role in a
great visual identity. It seems simple, but it isn’t.
Your identity needs to look consistent in multiple
colour formats for screen and print.
KNOW THE FORMATS

Screen and digital media use red, green and blue
(RGB). Four-colour process printing uses cyan,
magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Spot colour
SCREEN: RED GREEN BLUE (RGB)
printing uses the Pantone colour matching system
(PAN) for premium results.
GET THE RESULTS

RGB achieves repeated colour fidelity most easily
because, here, colours are produced with light.
Print is more difficult, especially when it comes to
secondary colours like purple and orange. (Don't
get us started on orange.)The more complex the
colour formulation, the more difficult and costly it
is to reproduce.
WE'RE NOT QUITE DONE YET

Commercial applications use industrial paint, vinyl PRINT: CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK (CMYK) PRINT: PANTONE SPOT
and other synthetic materials matched to CMYK
and Pantone values. To nail colour reproduction
here, bring a keen eye and a swear jar.
Don't forget
*
RGB = Screen
CMYK = Print
Pantone = Spot colour print
FYI
Your visual identity also

needs to work in pure black,
greyscale and halftone.
Be a Font Fanatic
Our display
DISPLAY MESSAGES
First things first. You need a display font, a
headline typeface that makes people go "wow!"
Display fonts entice a person to read more. They
make announcements. They set the mood.
HEADINGS
You also need primary and secondary heading
message style.
styles. These can hail from the same font family
Our Primary
as your display text, but they should be styled
differently using size, colour or case. Headings
help you scan for information.
PARAGRAPHS
Heading Style
Last but not least, you need a solid paragraph font.
Good paragraph fonts don't call much attention
to themselves. They have been designed to OUR SECONDARY HEADING STYLE
perform best between 6 and 14 pt. They need to Our paragraph style.
be highly readable.
{
PRINT FONTS
Desktop + commercial
Fonts Are Finicky print applications
Your fonts are affected by applications. Print fonts Must Haves OFFICE FONTS
Sharing on products
may not be available for web and vice versa. Neither
like Microsoft Office
print nor web fonts may work in PowerPoint.
WEB FONTS
Display on devices
Be a Font Fanatic
Type says a lot about you. It's one

of the most viewed elements of
your identity. Smart brands use
Here's a bad
fonts that embody the strategy,
and that work for print and web. font hierarchy
We're combining
Don't get too excited. For a clean
look, keep fonts to a minimum:
fonts willy nilly

one or two. While we're on the
subject, keep font sizes carefully
under control, with no more than
three sizes in one space.
AND WE BET IT'S LOST YOU

By the time you get through these headings – by the time you realize that your eye is gravitating
towards the sub-headis before the display text – you have stopped reading.
The Hidden Costs of Type
HERE'S A NICE FONT

Double Whammy!
You'll have to get separate Interstate
licences for desktop and web (and the
cut won't quite be the same). Ouch.
If it's any conciliation, your designer

can easily make Interstate your
principal font in Microsoft Office.
Only thing is, they may forget to

mention that you need to buy a
license for every user at $100 a pop.
Ouch ouch.
WHY ARE WE SHOWING YOU THIS?
Designed in the 90s by Tobias Frere-Jones, and
licensed by Font Bureau, Interstate has been
used by Lamborghini, the US Army, The Weather
Channel and countless other brands. If you're
thinking you want to use it too, stop right there.
FYI
Typography is an art, even when

it comes to letter spacing. Letter
spacing includes tracking, the
space between characters, and
leading, the space between lines.
Both need to be ultra consistent.
Speak the Language of Layout
YOU'RE SO CLOSE!
You've got your wordmark. You've got your
hook. Your colour palette and font hierarchy
go together like dark chocolate and
raspberry. Now you need them to look great
on a web page, a business card, a sales sheet
and an outdoor print ad. How do you make
sure this happens effectively across all these
applications? How do you stay consistent?
KNOW YOUR LAYOUT OPTIONS

The dimensions of applications can seriously
vary across print and digital media. That's
why your brand designer needs to create
deliberate conventions for your layouts,
which should conform to different canvas
sizes without breaking the overarching
look and feel. You want every touchpoint to
embody the same design logic. Wordmark,
tagline, image and message should always DISTILITY 'S FIRST CLIENT: AUTOSHARE PRINT COLLATERAL SYSTEM (2001)
be in the same zone, and size relationships

should be baked.
Speak the Language of Layout
HOW ABOUT A GRID SYSTEM?

A grid system will help you define and
enforce clear rules for every design. The
grid your designer uses can be adapted to

incorporate things like photography and
illustration. It can also be rejigged to suit
various sizes and aspect ratios. But watch
out. Your brand's layouts have to give the
impression that the same hand is at work.
That means your grid system can only be
so accommodating before it's off brand.
ALWAYS BE GROUPING
When reviewing designs, make sure that all
elements – wordmark, display text, image,
body copy and call to action – are nicely
aligned. They should follow a clear hierarchy

that's consistent with other brand collateral.
And then there's the information itself, which
needs to be properly grouped.
Here's what we mean: If a list of product

benefits sits close to a block of contact
information, each should feel like its own DISTILITY CLIENT EMPIRE COMMUNITIES
unit. That way, your design will be easy to GROUPING + ALIGNMENT
scan. And let's be honest, we all love to scan.
Pick Your Paper Stock
DON'T SKIMP ON THE STOCK

No print job will look better than the paper
it's printed on. That's a fact. When the time
comes to print, it's a good idea to get the best
possible materials. Keep in mind, that doesn't
always mean the most expensive materials. It
simply means the right stuff for the job.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

OTHER THAN COST
• Thickness, measured in pounds per 500

sheets; standard printer paper is 20 lbs
• Texture: felt, linen or something else?
• Brightness, based on the amount of
bleach in the product
• Finish: glossy or matte?
• Folding: the thicker the stock
the harder it is to fold
• Composition: percentage of virgin DOMTAR PAPER PRODUCTS
to recycled material
What's that saying about the medium again?

The medium is the message. Or the mess, if your paper©2O19
stock 1 6 Dbelongs
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Pick Your Paper Stock
YOU'LL NEED A COUPLE WEIGHTS

Be Consistent Across
First, you need to consider the paper
stock for some basic brand infrastructure. All Media
Applications that benefit from different stocks
are letterheads, business cards, brochures Back in the day, everything was
and folders.
printed. Today, you need to think
KNOW WHEN TO CHANGE IT UP about multiple display formats.
It's good to use the same paper stock for multiple
applications, say a letterhead and a sales sheet. A sales sheets is a great example of
But when something has a distinct function or something you need both print and
feel, it may be time to change it up.
screen ready. No matter the media,
REMEMBER: LOW TOUCH, your applications should share the
LOW CONFIDENCE same look and feel.
Ever been handed a business card so flimsy you
could've sworn it dissolved a bit in your grasp?
Or a sales sheet so thin it could've passed for the
skin of an onion? Not too confidence building.
If a brand pays no attention to materials, it can

feel like there's no concern for your journey as a
potential customer. If, on the other hand, a brand
takes pride in how it presents, it feels like a high-
touch experience is headed your way.
Bring It All Together for the Win
REMEMBER THE IDEA OF THE HOOK?

This is where we expand on it. Again, don't hate
us, but your brand's visual hook does not have to
revolve around a swoosh in your wordmark. It can
be driven by any of the stylistic elements we've
covered in this ebook.
BUT WHY ?
A visual identity isn't just one thing. It's an
amalgam of text, form, colour, imagery and layout.
All of these ingredients have to be there. But one
or two of them can drive the identity's hook.
LOOK AT COKE ZERO

If there's one element Coke Zero leads with, it's
colour. Admittedly, this product has the classic
Coca-Cola wordmark going for it. But the brand
makes a serious point of dominating the shade
black in the soft drink space.
COKE ZERO LEANS ON BLACK
Bring It All Together for the Win
FEDEX IS ANOTHER GOOD ONE

The shipping giant has a simple wordmark, but it's
genius. Why's that? Well, the space between the
'E' and the 'x' is shaped like an arrow. Plus, the 'Ex'
is a different colour for every corporate division.
For these folks, typography + colour = oomph.
That's why, even at its barest bones, the FedEx
brand stays eye catching and memorable.
IF YOU'RE NOT FROM CANADA

Our Canadian readers will tell you that TD
Canada Trust bank has used the same green
leather chair in its photography for over a decade.
Talk about a hook with legs!
FEDEX USES COLOUR + TYPOGRAPHY TO BRAND MULTIPLE DIVISIONS
TD CANADA TRUST LEADS WITH COLOUR + CHAIR APPEAL
A great visual identity can
associate positive feelings
with your brand over time.
It's your job to settle on one
that's authentic, compelling
and unique. Make us proud!
Before You Go
Remember, This Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

There's a lot more to a brand than what we've covered
here. Designing a brilliant visual identity takes
someone with years of experience and lots of talent.
The reality is that more firms get it wrong than right.
Getting it wrong comes with costly inefficiencies and
wasted market share. Who needs that!?
Avoid an Identity Crisis
There's No Need to Overcomplicate Things
We’re big fans of the simplest approach that works.
With some best practices in your
To that end, we champion clean, flexible visual identity
systems that are driven by strategy. Regardless back pocket, you're set to lead
of your firm's goals, your identity should drive better discussions about your
brand awareness and equity. To endure, it has to be
visual identity. Get your team
streamlined, it has to scale and it has to stand out.
on the same page. Send them this
Contact Us ebook and start the conversation.
Find out how we can get your brand in gear, starting
with our accelerated brand strategy workflow.
Speak to us directly at 417 413 7777 x1 or email us at
hello@distility.com
     
Image Credits
All trademarks, service marks, trade names, trade dress, product names and logos appearing in this ebook are the property
of their respective owners including, in some instances, Distility. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.
brandfolder.com
https://brandfolder.com/blog/shared-story/biggest-branding-mistakes/
cocacolaportugal.com
http://www.cocacolaportugal.pt/19201201/jopt/post_images/standard/detail_lbITzYnZakM0pchLQsx9frA8wmHFdO.png
businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/hidden-meanings-in-tech-company-logos-2014-6
logok.org
http://logok.org/nike-logo/
pantone.com
https://www.pantone.com/fashion-home-interiors-color-guide
en.wikipedia.org
By no machine-readable author provided. GearedBull assumed (based on copyright claims). [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1656999)]
domtarblueline.com
http://domtarblueline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/feature_all_products-1.jpg
Image Credits Continued
coca-colacompany.com
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/coca-cola-unbottled/sports/2015/coke-zero-brings-drinkable-commercials-to-football-enters-third-year-with-espns-college-gameday/_jcr_content/
articleBody/par1/image/promoImage.resize.w_584.h_329.jpg/rDJGb7LjkJ7kwDlatCCp2w/1441391736278.jpg
coca-colacompany.com
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/journey/us/en/global/2013/03/coke-zero-final-four-march-madness-604-604-337-9effa9ff.jpg
lbITzYnZakM0pchLQsx9frA8wmHFdO.png
fedex.com
http://about.van.fedex.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/FedEx-solutions-people.jpg
brandchannel.com
http://www.brandchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/td-banking-can-be-this-comfortable-600.jpg
Get Ready. Get Set.
WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN?

Graphic design is the practice of combining
text, colour, imagery and layout to communicate
an idea or create an experience. Though it is very
much an art, graphic design is nothing without
logic and problem solving. It's visual planning.
WHAT IS BRAND DESIGN?

Brand design is the practice of developing
a brand's visual identity based on its brand
strategy. It's a highly specific discipline, and
it demands a firm grasp of brand design and brand
strategy dos and don'ts.
WHAT IS A VISUAL IDENTITY ?

A visual identity is the visible embodiment of
a brand strategy. It's the end product of the
brand design process. A good visual identity is
compelling, scalable and clearly differentiated
from the competition. It's a system. In other
words, it has rules.
WHAT IS AN APPLICATION?
It's a fancy way of saying "thing you need to
brand." Classic applications include business
cards, letterheads, brochures and websites.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE!?

This ebook focuses on the basic elements of an
effective visual identity, and the best practices
you need to follow to ensure its success.
2
3
FYI
Commercial applications use

industrial paint, vinyl and other
synthetic materials matched to
CMYK and Pantone values. To
nail colour reproduction here,
bring a keen eye and a swear jar.
Don't Forget the Wayfinding
THE SIGN OF A GREAT BRAND

What good is any of this stuff if your location doesn't
also embody your brand? When it comes to your
environment, you've got to design a wayfinding system
that goes great with your space as well as your brand.
WHAT IS WAYFINDING?
First coined by architect Kevin Lynch in his book Image
of the City (1960), wayfinding is "a consistent use and
organization of definite sensory cues from the external
environment." In other words, it's the visual and
auditory cues that show you where you are, where you
want to be, and how to get from A to B.
GO ALL THE WAY

A good brand has clear wayfinding that embodies
the brand strategy. A great brand uses wayfinding to
heighten the experience of the space. Either way you
slice it, wayfinding should never be an afterthought. It
should be built into your brand design from day one.
About the Authors
Axle Davids is the founder of Distility. Kalan Vuksanovich is creative lead at Distility.
He has over 20 years of experience building and With years of experience as a brand strategist
marketing brands. He created Distility in 2005 to and copywriter, he helps guide brand strategy
make the branding process smoother and faster development while overseeing all things written.
for industry innovators.
After a client goes through our brand strategy
For each project, Axle leads brand and business process, Kalan crafts their brand message and
strategy development. He makes sure every develops their voice. Then he works with our
client has the clarity they need to launch their design team to bring it home in winning visual
brand with confidence, and with their whole identity systems.
team on board.
Connect with Axle on LinkedIn
See how Distility gets branding done If you would like to discuss your brand with
the Distility team, feel free to contact our
Just head over to distility.com office at 416 417 7777 x1
Make it Iconic
SO WHAT'S A MONOGRAM?
A monogram is a motif of one to four letters. It's
typically a person's initials, interwoven or otherwise
combined in a decorative design. It often identifies a
personal possession. Some brands have monograms.
WHY A MONOGRAM IS DIFFERENT

A monogram isn't the same as a buddy icon. It can be
more stylistically driven, and it isn't necessarily a detail
from the wordmark.
WHERE YOU MIGHT SEE ONE

Imagine a high-end restaurant. It has a clean, ultra
modern wordmark on the sign out front. But when you
sit down, the menu presents something else. Something
that makes you feel sophisticated and exclusive: a
monogram! Get the picture?
THE POINT
A monogram can reinforce the feeling of a brand
after the customer has already been exposed to the
wordmark. This is not always true of a buddy icon,
which may be someone's first encounter with a brand.
So a buddy icon *must* be an application of the
wordmark. And the wordmark has to be designed with
this in mind. Not every brand needs a monogram. But a
buddy icon? You've got to have one of those.
Are We on the Same Page?
WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN?

Don't Forget
The practice of combining text, colour, form
and layout to communicate an idea or create an This ebook focuses on the basic
experience. Though it's very much an art, graphic
design is nothing without logic and problem moving parts of a visual identity, and
solving. It's visual planning.
the best practices surrounding them.
WHAT IS BRAND DESIGN? It doesn't teach you how to design
The practice of developing a brand's visual an identity. It gives you the tools to
identity based on its brand strategy. It's a highly
specific discipline, and it demands a firm grasp of
evaluate one.
brand design and brand strategy dos and don'ts.
WHAT IS A VISUAL IDENTITY?
The visible embodiment of a brand strategy.

It's the end product of the brand design process.
A good visual identity is compelling, scalable and
well differentiated from the competition. It's a
system. It has rules.
WHAT IS AN APPLICATION?
A fancy way of saying "thing you need to brand."

Common applications include business cards,
letterheads, brochures and websites.
© 2 O 1 6 D I S T I ©2O19
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How To Build A: Visual Identity

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How To Build A: Visual Identity

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How to Build a Visual Identity

Proven practices to get the best from your design team.

Target Audience Your Brand Competitors

You wouldn't build a house without a blueprint

Promise Position Personality

FedEx Position Today

If you've got a name, we hope it meets the following criteria.

Your name If you're choosing

Ask yourself: what's going to work best in design?

BEFORE: LONG NAME SHORTER NAME AFTER: SIMPLER WORDMARK

A LOGO MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU

WHY ARE WORDMARKS GREAT?

CATCH THEIR ATTENTION

ABOVE: HERTZ OFFICE

THE CASE OF NIKE

TOP: AMAZON WORDMARK WITH ARROW DEVICE

hammered their swoosh symbol

Billionaires, listen up: Even if you

WHAT IS A BUDDY ICON?

your brand name will affect your wordmark, and

Remember, your name affects this!

PURITY + PEACE + LOVE + WARMTH + LUXURY +

KNOW THE FORMATS

GET THE RESULTS

WE'RE NOT QUITE DONE YET

Your visual identity also

Fonts Are Finicky print applications

Type says a lot about you. It's one

fonts willy nilly

AND WE BET IT'S LOST YOU

HERE'S A NICE FONT

If it's any conciliation, your designer

Only thing is, they may forget to

Typography is an art, even when

KNOW YOUR LAYOUT OPTIONS

be in the same zone, and size relationships

HOW ABOUT A GRID SYSTEM?

Here's what we mean: If a list of product

DON'T SKIMP ON THE STOCK

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

• Thickness, measured in pounds per 500

What's that saying about the medium again?

YOU'LL NEED A COUPLE WEIGHTS

If a brand pays no attention to materials, it can

REMEMBER THE IDEA OF THE HOOK?

LOOK AT COKE ZERO

COKE ZERO LEANS ON BLACK

FEDEX IS ANOTHER GOOD ONE

IF YOU'RE NOT FROM CANADA

TD CANADA TRUST LEADS WITH COLOUR + CHAIR APPEAL

Remember, This Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN?

WHAT IS BRAND DESIGN?

WHAT IS A VISUAL IDENTITY ?

WHAT HAVE WE DONE!?

Commercial applications use

THE SIGN OF A GREAT BRAND

GO ALL THE WAY

Connect with Axle on LinkedIn

WHY A MONOGRAM IS DIFFERENT

WHERE YOU MIGHT SEE ONE

WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN?

WHAT IS A VISUAL IDENTITY?