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Logo Design, Branding, Corporate Identity Development and Trademarks – What's the Difference?
There is no shortage of confusion (even within the logo design and branding industry) about branding and the many terms used to describe its related yet different facets. Here's a concise primer.
Logo:A distinctive graphic design element (or group of elements) that
identifies an organization, brand name or product
Wordmark: a stylized, text-only treatment of a product or company name.
Think FedEx, Kellogg's or Sony.
Symbol or Icon:the graphic element that often accompanies a wordmark. In some
cases, a symbol becomes so strong a brand can dump the name
entirely with no loss of recognition value (McDonald's, Apple or
Nike)
Trademark:can refer to a logo, but most often means a graphic, words,
colour, sound or even scent that are legally owned and ensured
exclusive usage
Identity:the combined package of a logo, visual standards such as fonts,
colours, illustrative and copy styles working in harmony to
achieve unique and identifiable messaging. Canadians might
visualize the Telus ads with cute animals on ample white space -
whether a frog, duck or hippopotamus.
Brand:contrary to what many people (even in marketing) believe, brand
is not synonymous with logo or identity – but often includes
one. A brand is not a tangible thing created by a graphic design
firm, but represents how the public perceives an organization,
as well as its people, its philosophy and its offerings. Your
brand is the combined net effect of all your products and
services, advertising, signage, public relations and actions.
Exceptional examples of positive branding are Google and Apple,
with raving fans many or whom dream of working for these
companies.
At GRAPHOS, we help plan, design and grow brands. That's why a
logo design must be a significant and serious undertaking. It's
possibly the most visible and enduring possession a company or
product has - the most valuable asset Kellogg's or eBay own.
Without their logos, visual identities and brands, they're just
a whole lot of oats and binary code.
Strong brands are built on a solid foundation of knowledge. This
means intimately understanding who and where your customer is,
what the competition is doing, and why you're the clear choice –
and why your brand will be the one they'll grow to love.
Study the logo designs at the heart of the most successful
brands and you'll be impressed at their simplicity. None
remotely attempt to convey everything there is to say about the
company or product, yet most have precisely the right feel. They
reproduce well in a million different ways, and have been
designed in various formats optimized for media potentially
ranging from web browsers to embroidery, stencilling on burlap,
or flashing on enormous backlit signs. Think of how the uses of
these could vary:
Your brand may not be a Nike (yet), but it's important to
consider all the applications your identity may eventually see.
When we develop a corporate identity package of any size, a logo
usage manual is an integral part of the project scope. For
smaller clients, this might take the form of a one-page PDF
file, and for larger ones it can be a binder with a hundred
pages specifying exactly how to manage the brand to ensure its
integrity on signage, uniforms, stationery packages,
merchandise, vehicle wraps, online and in a wide range of other
uses.
Visit our D-Lab portfolio site to learn more about GRAPHOS and
our successful track record designing logos, creating strong
corporate identities - and building brands in Edmonton, Calgary
and across Canada.
All trademarks shown are for illustration purposes and are the
property of their respective owners.
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