The design process is crucial to any business, whether it is creating a simple company logo, or the design of an entire corporate campaign.
Once your business is up and running, any form of corporate identity will act to represent the company visually creating a brand. If you look at big corporate companies you will notice company branding stands the test of time for many years before it is appropriate to re-develop.
Many companies never change their logo design dramatically but only make the smallest of changes to keep the design looking fresh.
It is worth taking time and not rushing a company logo or corporate identity design as your design will represent your company and be around for a very long time.
Logo design is creating a unique symbol / graphic to reflect your companies image and vision. A successful logo becomes a symbol of your companies identity, shows your professional and should be used on your on business cards, letterheads, compliment slips, vehicle signage or website.
When you choose to have a logo designed ask for a few different designs to choose from, each logo should have its own character and style. Giving you the best options to suit your needs.
Your logo design should be professional and prove to be a statement of your business to new / existing clients, suppliers and staff, your logo design needs to easily identify its purpose and values of your company and bring instant credibility.
If you own a small company, with a well-designed logo your business will look big. It will look more professional inspiring confidence to your customers.
A striking logo is paramount for the image of any business, small or large. The design creates a starting block for a companies corporate identity, the right colours, fonts and is of great importance when starting to design business cards, compliment slips, letterheads and a website, keeping all styles consistent throughout creating your brand identity.
Logo design types
High / Low resolution
If you are looking at starting a new business, you will need a logo. All logo designs should be unique to your business, no templates, no free graphics or clipart, just bespoke designs for your company.
Below is a break down of the different types available:
Logo designs for onscreen
Low resolution RGB 72dpi
Ideal for websites, emails, PowerPoint presentations and general onscreen viewing only. Because of the small size they can be downloaded very quickly but are not suitable for print.
Logo designs for print
High resolution CYMK 300dpi
High Resolution Logo Design
Must be use for printing high quality material e.g. letterheads, business cards, compliment slips, banners, posters etc. This means your logo will be clear and crisp when printed, if a low resolution logo is used it is likely that the end result will be blurred, blocky and illegible.
Logo design - redraw and enhancement
Alternatively, if you do not require full logo design service, you could re-design, redraw or enhance your existing logo for print or website use.
By Ben Smith
website design somerset
April 08, 2008
Corporate Identity…Explained
What your customers or potential customers think about your company reflects the impression they have in their minds about your company. This impression is created by your product positioning, client servicing, your attitude towards customers and society in general, your marketing campaigns, third party sources such as newspaper articles etc. This impression is called corporate identity.
While the corporate logo helps people remember the company it stands for, it does not help in creating an identity for your company. It is your actions and your conduct as a company which decides how you are perceived.
Take the case of Tata, the Indian corporate powerhouse and Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest producer of steel controlled by billionaire Laxmi Niwas Mittal. Both Tatas and Mittals were involved in high profile mergers. While Mittal took over steel behemoth Arcelor, Tata bought Ford's two premium luxury auto brands - Jaguar and Land Rover. But where as the takeover of Arcelor by Mittals was bitterly opposed by the company's labor unions and even some political parties, the Tatas' story was that of smooth transition. In fact Tata were recommended by the labor unions.
Why this difference particularly when Mittal's are a well known success story in UK while Tata's till recently were relatively unknown entity there. The Tata corporate house came into the limelight only after it bought Tetley.
The difference actually lies in the manner in which the two corporate houses are perceived by people. The Tatas are renowned for their social responsibility and values, where as Mittals were viewed as ruthless operators who can go to any lengths to cut costs.
Clearly, corporate identity has a major role to play in strategic matters. Let's now discuss it…
Corporate identity
Corporate identity is reflection of what a company is and how it is perceived by outsiders. It is the set of values and principles held by the firm. It is also the way these values are communicated - whether verbally, in writing, visually in the form of marketing and third party media, or graphically as corporate logo and brand colors. All these elements together project the image of the corporation - its corporate identity.
If crafted and communicated well with help from reputed branding firms specializing in branding corporate identity, the corporate identity gives life to the company's brand equity, its marketing initiatives and its range of products or services offered.
Not just that, a well crafted and well communicated corporate identity wins you loyal customers. It provides the much desired niche for your products or services. And if Tata's case is anything to go by, it goes a long way in winning you partners that relate to the aspirations articulated by the identity.
Effectively, your marketing costs come down drastically if your target customers know about you - did you notice Microsoft hardly ever needs to advertise itself?
Building corporate identity
The following five points are keys to successfully build and manage your corporate identity:
1. Project the personality of the corporation: This projection should be authentic and believable, and it should reflect in the daily conduct. Take the case of Starbucks - they claim to be environmentally conscious and their corporate practices actually are.
2. It should be spontaneous. If McDonald's project themselves as a fun place to have a snack, their mascot actually looks like he is having pots of fun. This example buttresses the need for messages, logos, mascots, even products or services taking cue from the established corporate identity.
3. Go back to the drawing board: Don't imitate. You as a company are unique. Go to the drawing board, unlearn all the things that are already out there, find your uniqueness and go all out to communicate that uniqueness.
4. Don't waiver: Once you have determined the values and the principles you want your company to adhere to, stick to them whatever the lure or situation is. Don't get attached with products or services which do not gel with your identity.
5. Be there, always: Whatever you do should communicate your corporate identity. If Apple say they are next generation, everything they do - products and services offered, people working with them, their stores, even their press releases are next generation, if not better.
Finally, find one or a handful of words which besides being descriptive and meaningful should convey your identity. Take the case of Hewlett Packard which has built its corporate ID around the word "invent" or Jaguar which has its corporate identity around the word "gorgeous" - a true reflection of its cars.
Jennie Williams is advertising professional who has keen professional interest in branding corporate identities. He is working with one of the largest branding firms in Sydney.
While the corporate logo helps people remember the company it stands for, it does not help in creating an identity for your company. It is your actions and your conduct as a company which decides how you are perceived.
Take the case of Tata, the Indian corporate powerhouse and Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest producer of steel controlled by billionaire Laxmi Niwas Mittal. Both Tatas and Mittals were involved in high profile mergers. While Mittal took over steel behemoth Arcelor, Tata bought Ford's two premium luxury auto brands - Jaguar and Land Rover. But where as the takeover of Arcelor by Mittals was bitterly opposed by the company's labor unions and even some political parties, the Tatas' story was that of smooth transition. In fact Tata were recommended by the labor unions.
Why this difference particularly when Mittal's are a well known success story in UK while Tata's till recently were relatively unknown entity there. The Tata corporate house came into the limelight only after it bought Tetley.
The difference actually lies in the manner in which the two corporate houses are perceived by people. The Tatas are renowned for their social responsibility and values, where as Mittals were viewed as ruthless operators who can go to any lengths to cut costs.
Clearly, corporate identity has a major role to play in strategic matters. Let's now discuss it…
Corporate identity
Corporate identity is reflection of what a company is and how it is perceived by outsiders. It is the set of values and principles held by the firm. It is also the way these values are communicated - whether verbally, in writing, visually in the form of marketing and third party media, or graphically as corporate logo and brand colors. All these elements together project the image of the corporation - its corporate identity.
If crafted and communicated well with help from reputed branding firms specializing in branding corporate identity, the corporate identity gives life to the company's brand equity, its marketing initiatives and its range of products or services offered.
Not just that, a well crafted and well communicated corporate identity wins you loyal customers. It provides the much desired niche for your products or services. And if Tata's case is anything to go by, it goes a long way in winning you partners that relate to the aspirations articulated by the identity.
Effectively, your marketing costs come down drastically if your target customers know about you - did you notice Microsoft hardly ever needs to advertise itself?
Building corporate identity
The following five points are keys to successfully build and manage your corporate identity:
1. Project the personality of the corporation: This projection should be authentic and believable, and it should reflect in the daily conduct. Take the case of Starbucks - they claim to be environmentally conscious and their corporate practices actually are.
2. It should be spontaneous. If McDonald's project themselves as a fun place to have a snack, their mascot actually looks like he is having pots of fun. This example buttresses the need for messages, logos, mascots, even products or services taking cue from the established corporate identity.
3. Go back to the drawing board: Don't imitate. You as a company are unique. Go to the drawing board, unlearn all the things that are already out there, find your uniqueness and go all out to communicate that uniqueness.
4. Don't waiver: Once you have determined the values and the principles you want your company to adhere to, stick to them whatever the lure or situation is. Don't get attached with products or services which do not gel with your identity.
5. Be there, always: Whatever you do should communicate your corporate identity. If Apple say they are next generation, everything they do - products and services offered, people working with them, their stores, even their press releases are next generation, if not better.
Finally, find one or a handful of words which besides being descriptive and meaningful should convey your identity. Take the case of Hewlett Packard which has built its corporate ID around the word "invent" or Jaguar which has its corporate identity around the word "gorgeous" - a true reflection of its cars.
Jennie Williams is advertising professional who has keen professional interest in branding corporate identities. He is working with one of the largest branding firms in Sydney.
Companies That Pay You To Work From Home - Can It Be True?
Everyone wants to work from home, to have ample time to spend with your family or friends and yet able to make a good living by working from home, its just a dream come true for everyone. This idea is not a dream anymore as there are companies that pay you to work from home, its true and it exists.
One such example would be Clickbank, an online companies that pay you for selling digital products. For those who never heard of Clickbank before, its Internet's leading retailer in digital product, where you can sell /buy or even promote products for commission. But for today, we will cover the "promoting product for commission" part as this is the easiest and yet profitable at the same time.
Clickbank is a product suppliers, there are many products under its listing and it ranges from flower arrangement guides, affiliate marketing guides, fitness guide, etc. To promote others product for commission, you have to be their affiliate first and it not a complicated process. Just by signing-up with Clickbank, you can be affiliated with any number of products you want, there's no contract and you don't have to buy anything.
As an affiliate, its your task to presell/promote products to people and when they make a purchase through your recommendation, you get a commission. The reason why this industry is so profitable is because the affiliates are very highly paid and with Clickbank, you usually get 70-80% of the sale's profits!!
Now the above scenario may sound easy but there's a slight catch, do you even know how to market a product in the first place?
Yes you can be an affiliate and you can start promoting a product 10min from now, but do you know how to go about doing it? Its certainly not an easy task, in fact, most affiliate marketer started out by buying guides and affiliate program to learn.
Do you know that affiliate marketer get 70-80% of the profits for every sale? Learn how you can be an affiliate marketer @ www.squidoo.com/companiesthatpayyoutoworkfromhome
One such example would be Clickbank, an online companies that pay you for selling digital products. For those who never heard of Clickbank before, its Internet's leading retailer in digital product, where you can sell /buy or even promote products for commission. But for today, we will cover the "promoting product for commission" part as this is the easiest and yet profitable at the same time.
Clickbank is a product suppliers, there are many products under its listing and it ranges from flower arrangement guides, affiliate marketing guides, fitness guide, etc. To promote others product for commission, you have to be their affiliate first and it not a complicated process. Just by signing-up with Clickbank, you can be affiliated with any number of products you want, there's no contract and you don't have to buy anything.
As an affiliate, its your task to presell/promote products to people and when they make a purchase through your recommendation, you get a commission. The reason why this industry is so profitable is because the affiliates are very highly paid and with Clickbank, you usually get 70-80% of the sale's profits!!
Now the above scenario may sound easy but there's a slight catch, do you even know how to market a product in the first place?
Yes you can be an affiliate and you can start promoting a product 10min from now, but do you know how to go about doing it? Its certainly not an easy task, in fact, most affiliate marketer started out by buying guides and affiliate program to learn.
Do you know that affiliate marketer get 70-80% of the profits for every sale? Learn how you can be an affiliate marketer @ www.squidoo.com/companiesthatpayyoutoworkfromhome
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