Seminar Group Meetings and Mind Maps

Design Studies: Assignment 1

Corporate Identity and Design

Corporate Identity is the persona of a company or corporation expressed consistently through out their branding and trademarks made up from a variety of different visual elements such as their logo, typeface, colours and slogan. It is a unique visual statement to communicate the ethos, aims and values of the business and to make the corporation clearly distinguishable from their competitors.

A corporation’s corporate identity can be used as a powerful visual symbol of communication, used to demonstrate a clear sense of direction, to build awareness and to strengthen their global brand; it represents how they view their self and how they want to be viewed by others.

It is incredibly important that the corporate identity and values of a corporation must be all embracing, encompassing all that it says and does (Olins 1989). The products it produces, the buildings and factories it trades from to their communication material must honestly represent their aims and values. An important non-visual element to a corporate identity is how the organization behaves towards their staff and customers, as this will have a huge impact on how they are viewed. (Olins 1989)

Gillette and Holiday Inn are two highly recognisable global corporations who understand that an identity must be consistant throughout their brand.

History

The roots of corporate identity can be traced as far back as thousands of years ago from the marks made on the bottom of earth ware pots by potters to distinguish their work from other potters, to religious organisations such as Christianity and Islam who have recognisable visual identities and symbols that have developed and grown over centauries. (Brown 1998)

During the Industrial revolution, identity in the form of trademarks and logos became popular with businesses and factories. The concept of corporate image as we recognise it today was not invented until the twentieth century however there are clear links with today’s corporate identity and the business practice conceived during the industrial revolution. Today the logo serves as one visual element that makes up a corporate identity. (Napoles 1988)

Identity plays a large roll in national symbolism, from the design of bank notes, the colours and imagery in flags to the uniforms of the armed forces all have to be created and designed to show the nation’s ‘persona’, distinguishing them from other nations and to clearly communicate with their people a sense of belonging. (Olins 1989)

During history there has been many examples of nations having their identity changed and their traditions reinvented especially through the use of symbolism and propaganda to help manipulate and sway people. (Olins 1989)

During Napoleon’s rain as French Empire from 1840, he understood extremely well how to use these techniques of manufacturing symbolism and using it to his advantage, creating new government positions, monuments, uniforms and badges, he even commissioned artists to paint propaganda. All of this was used to help sway people, making them aware and helping them to understand what his ‘organization’ was all about.

Many techniques used by Napoleon and other leaders throughout history to create their ‘corporate identity’ are mirrored in modern day corporations. The main issues are still the same, how to motivate people, how to clearly put across your objectives and aims, how to instil a sense of belonging and win people over while getting them to understand the spirit of the corporation. (Olins 1989)

However corporate identity as we know it today was first conceived around sixty years ago as a result of companies beginning to understand the importance of communicating their business values and aims in the growing global market. Globalization increased competition of market-share and as the need for recognition became progressively more intense the importance of a well-designed, efficient and successful corporate identity became essential. (Lubliner 1994)

Design and Corporate Identity

The roll of a designer is incredibly important when creating a corporate identity, in our worldwide market place the design of a corporate identity cannot be left to chance, it is not about simply creating a pretty logo and stationary, designers have to do extensive research and work closely with board members and executives to create an identity that encompasses all the corporation’s main objectives which should then be clearly demonstrated and applied throughout every aspect of it’s design.

The use of symbolism is incredibly important within an identity to successfully create an atmosphere where people feel like they belong, wither it be the colours and slogans used, the values imparted or monuments erected all must emphasise and constantly confirm what the corporation stands for.

Today, in the globalized world we live in identities must be designed to cut across cultures and languages, to be recognizable all over the world and essentially be highly distinguishable from their competitors. If an identity is not coherent and consistent then their key aims and strategies will not be met. (Lubliner 1994)

Things that a designer should constantly think about when designing an identity are ‘who is the company?|’ and ‘what does it do?’ (Lubliner 1994)

In the early 1980s Aston University in Birmingham was run down and was perceived as a second rate university. It lacked a coherent identity; it did not have a clear sense of values or aims, which was contributing to low staff moral and poor student grades. However a new Vice-Chancellor wanted to change the image of the university and hired corporate identity consultants who through research identified the main problems. They went on to design Aston University a corporate identity which included, a new logo which was applied to everything, landscaping the grounds, campus building work, signage and other graphic materials so that the university’s aims and values could be clearly expressed and it’s persona could become apparent.

Ultimately they created a new image and vision of the university, which has continued to expand and grow; now making Aston one of the leading universities in the country for information technology. (olins 1989)

This is a brilliant example of how good, well researched and considered design of a corporate identity can help an organization achieve it’s goals, strengthen it’s name and improve it’s credibility to the wider world. Proving that a well designed corporate identity is linked with business success, and demonstrates why corporations embrace the power and influence of symbolism that a corporate identity can provide.

Bibliography

Author Unknown . (2008). Graphic Design Dictionary. Available: http://newyorkgraphicdesign.info/graphic-design-dictionary.html. Last accessed 6th Oct 2010.

Author Unknown . (Unknown). Audio Branding Academy: Glossary.Available: http://audio-branding-academy.org/abaweb_en/abaweb/?page_id=24. Last accessed 6th Oct 2010.

Brown, Jared & A. Miller, (1998). What Logos Do and How They Do It. pp. 6-7.

Lubliner, M. J (1994) Global Corporate Identity, the Cross Border Marketing Challenge. Rockport Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 1-56496-110-9

Napoles, V (1988) Corporate identity design. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN:0-471-28947-7

Olins, W (1989). Corporate Identity, Making business Strategy Visible Through Design. Thames and Hudson. ISBN:0-500-01472-8

Travel Poster Love!

If like me you've got a bit of a thing for vintage travel posters then you can imagine my delight when I came across this site. It has loads of links to various vintage clip art at really good resolutions but most excitingly look at all these iconic vintage American travel posters!

See more here.

Glad to be back!

Me on Tower Bridge, London

Here I am back at uni, sitting in a deserted media lab after a very long break. So what have I been up to?

Not long after breaking up from uni my boyfriend and I jumped on a train (first class no less!) down to London for a long weekend as a belated birthday celebration. We went to the transport museum, where I would of bought as many cool vintage travel posters as I could if Lee hadn't dragged me away and thankfully prevented my from spending all my money at once (I settled for a couple of postcards). We paid a visit to the London Museum and Tower Bridge museum and greatly enjoyed just wandered around soaking up the atmosphere doing many other touristy things on route.

A highlight was going to see Avenue Q, which I had wanted to see last time I was in London but it was taking a break. It was hilarious, they had the whole theatre in fits of laughter and gasps of "OhMyGoodnessCanYouBeliveTheyJustSaidThat?!". Brilliant, it was like watching a grownups version of Sesame Street, well worth the money. And as always when I go to a musical I was humming the songs for days and days after, although this time I was getting a few funny looks...!

And then I was off to Rome (Yes, another birthday present...!) with my Godfather. We spent a very relaxing week in the Italian countryside halfway up a mountain before hitting Rome. It was so rural we were the only tourists for miles and miles, quite a culture shock having spent a few days in London. The food and scenery were to die for. Rome was superb but far far to busy for my liking, I had a great time but would love to go back in the off season for a proper visit and to see the city a without feeling I am being swept along with the crowd.

Then I was off to Northumberland camping with my parents, a little less glamourous and a little damper than Rome or London but good fun all the same. Especially getting a fish supper and and ice cream in Seahouses. Yum.

And a spot of knitting on the beach...?!

When all my gallivanting was oven it was back to work in Rocket Cafe at Churchill (Morningside) in Edinburgh, which keep me busy very. It's a lovely little cafe and they do really good coffee, it was also very very busy!

More excitingly, I have also been working on a 'proper job', designing a website, which I will reveal a little later.

And a very good childhood friend had her first baby, a lovely little girl called Lily. As a birth present I designed and got printed thank you cards for her.

So I’ve been kept busy but am super happy to be back at uni.

Voice artists, integral to a brand...

The other night as I was drifting off to sleep I was listening to a programme on Radio 4, it was a documentary about voice artists. I wish I hadn't been so tired and fallen asleep half way through as what I remember of it was very interesting. (I tried and failed to find it on iPlayer)

One part of the programme was talking about companies using voice to enhance part of their brand not only within their advertising but as a whole, using the same voice artist for their radio ads and for their internal staff memos. Therefor increasing and creating consistent brand values throughout every aspect the company.

I found this so interesting because as a graphic designer it is integral for me to realise what a brand is, (not just a logo!) and I had never thought about how important a voice might be to a brand. Although it seems so obviously important now, the programme highlighted that it is often the last thing to be considered by the advertising industry too.

There is also great skill needed to be a voice artists, not just being able to read off a script. (although I think that might play a big part in it!) Often they have to fit vast amounts of information into only a few seconds, condensing their voice but not the quality.

Malcolm Gladwell Lecture

Birthday present round two commenced last sunday evening when I went to the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh to see Malcolm Gladwell give a lecture supporting his new book, What the Dog Saw.

I have only read one of his books, The Tipping Point as a university assignment but enjoyed it and found it very interesting. So although I wasn't sure what to expect I was looking forward to hearing what he had to say.

His chosen subject for the lecture was serendipity, concentrating on the roll serendipity plays in science, focusing on the story of two friends who worked to develop cancer fighting drugs.

I did not come away from the evening feeling overwhelmed with new theories or innovative concepts, I did not feel like it had changed my life or I would carry what he had said with me for years to come. When you pay to see an influential author I think you may expect to come out with some of these boxes ticked.

However he was a very talented speaker and story teller, he kept everyone engaged and interested. And I came away with an insight into how hard it is to bring medication to market, how rigorous the testing process is and although it seemed there was no obvious significant information imparted to us, on further reflection there are definitely underlying and subtal messages that can be taken from the lecture.

And it was delivered in an entertaining way.

(Also for some reason, he didn't look how I imagined him to!)

You Can't Stop the Beat!

My 21st birthday is approaching and as a gift I went with some of my family to see the musical Hairspray yesterday in Glasgow. It was superb, I had such a good time. I saw the film version with John Travolta which I enjoyed but this was 100x better, Michael Ball is hilarious- the chemistry between him and Les Dennis was great, they look like they're having so much fun. Here are a couple of photos of me and my mum after the show.

It's coming to Edinburgh in December and I've already decided I'm going to see it again!

Playing with After Effects

One of our recent projects from uni was learning how to use After Effects. I created a short ident animation for my blog. I'm not very happy with the end but hopefully it's not too bad for a first attempt!