Let’s dispel a common myth firstly. A brand is a corporate image, an overall experience as perceived by anyone who has an interaction with it, sometimes described as a brand when discussing a company or organisation and its personality. i.e. Coca Cola or Apple are spoken about as “brands” often, probably because they have been around in our consciousness for so long but mainly because they invoke an emotion when they connect with their consumer.

A logo is simply the mark, badge or icon that identifies and sets apart that business or organisation and builds in the memory. It should be clarified that a designer can design a logo and, working with the client, build an identity but a brand is formed, grown and nurtured by the actions and behaviours of the company or organisation and any customer interaction with it. The users and customers help form the eventual brand perception and memory.

A clear difference.

A brand’s identity is the sum of the parts that the brand uses to illustrate and project its personality. This could include statements, imagery, colour and specifics like typefaces and use of space or other graphics. This is something a creative agency or designer can help build and manage. Hence the term brand management or brand identity design.

An identity can include, business cards, stationery, brochures, presentations, workwear, vehicle livery, office branding or signage, packaging and labelling, video or audio, marketing assets like flyers and handouts or merchandise. Anything sensory really - visual, audible and beyond.

Just to throw some last-minute confusion in, the term “branding” describes the creation and potential management of a logo and brand identity and I suppose that’s possibly where the common myth or confusion could come from? In our defence, we usethe branding title as a singular descriptor in our services menu as this is the only single word that seems to fit.

In summary then, your brand is not your logo and your logo is most definitely not your brand.

Contact us on the form on this page. We can help you with your logo design, its management, its alignment and elements of the brand identity.