Company Visual Identity — A Guide

Visual identity (corporate identity) is a set of colors, shapes, signs, and typefaces used in an appropriate combination to ensure brand recognition. Online, the visual aspect is the first stimulus that provides an image of our business; the use of appropriate colors, shapes, and their repeatability creates our unique identity.

Logo/Logotype

A logo, along with our business name, is the primary distinguishing mark. A logo can be a graphic symbol, consist solely of a typeface, or be a combination of these two variants. Depending on its intended use, it's worth considering its form and color scheme, and above all, the complexity of both these factors. Logos used only online, such as app logos, portal logos, or blog logos, can easily contain multiple colors, gradients, and consist of many elements, provided they still look appropriately good. Logos for offline businesses that are often printed, engraved, or embroidered should, from a practical standpoint, contain fewer elements and colors.

Color Scheme

When designing our company's visual identity, it's worth considering what color scheme, color combinations, and shades will suit the business. This is highly significant in brand association; subconsciously, people assign colors to many aspects of life. Some combinations are immediately associated with a specific brand, others with seasons, holidays, flavors, or emotional states. The desired effect is that when a person sees a unique color from our identity and sees it again, they associate it specifically with us.

*color combinations of well-known brands.

Shape

Both the logo and any decorative elements in our identity are of great importance for recognition. Often, seeing a particular shape brings a specific product or brand to mind; this is a difficult effect to achieve, but we can attain it by appropriately repeating the graphic elements of our identity. These are elements that will be repeated on all company stationery, online advertisements, social media posts, and on our website. Such graphic elements can literally adorn everything that belongs to our business.

*combination of colors and shapes giving a clear hint as to who we are dealing with.

Consistency

When selecting subsequent elements of our identity, we should focus on all the aforementioned elements and thoroughly consider each one. Once we have a ready concept, we must concentrate on the repeatability and coherence of our image. It is worth investing in a visual identity manual (Brand book), which contains all the necessary information regarding the logo/logotype, color scheme, typeface, appearance of products and their packaging, the graphic design of promotional materials, and even the appearance of buildings or distinctive interior design. This is essential to ensure that our identity remains consistent if marketing work is ever outsourced to another company or agency.

If you lack experience in such endeavors, it's worth seeking help from agencies specializing in logo creation or visual identities, supported by their portfolio and experience. Remember that the first impression on the recipient depends on this, so it's not worth postponing it or doing it on the cheap.