corporate branding — Design4Users

4 Sophisticated Identity Design Projects by Monotypo Studio

Marina Yalanska — Fri, 12 May 2023 12:40:34 +0000

A new dose of design inspiration is up to catch your eye in our D4U Gallery, and this time it’s all about the sophistication and elegance of identity design. Let’s take a glance at some projects on personal and corporate brand identity design accomplished by Monotypo Studio, a design team based in Mexico. Here we’ve collected four of their projects reflecting their approach to graphic design and presentation for various types of business needs. Enjoy and get inspired!

Cuca Green Fonda

Corporate identity design project for an inn-type restaurant with organic and natural products.

Daniel Barreto Visual Identity

Identity design project for the talented audiovisual and graphic artist Daniel Barreto. The main design objective was to create a corporate identity project that visually reflected Daniel’s audiovisual work, with the creation of a monogram as a Japanese stamp, as Japanese graphic artists used to stamp their work, and a logo that reflects strength, distinction, and dynamism, and integrate the graphic work and the elements of the stationery consistently.

MIES Identity Design

Corporate identity design project for high-line quality gourmet products next to be commercialized in México.

Kiyoshi Sushi & Sake Bar

Kiyoshi is a corporate identity project for a luxury restaurant with a sake and sushi bar, a project carried out for a Domestika course, with the purpose of teaching the basic principles of modifying typography to create unique logos. The concept was inspired by Japanese gastronomy, which sees food as a ritual; the typographic inspiration and the illustration were made taking as inspiration the woodcut Ukiyo E engravings from the Edo period.

Check more projects by this team in Monotypo Studio Behance portfolio.

New D4U Gallery issues are coming soon; keep up with new posts.

For more inspiration, check the sets of other posts from our D4U Gallery, where we gather impressive creatives to share their art with you, for example:

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6 Creative Stages of Design for Branding

Marina Yalanska — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 10:16:54 +0000

Today competition among businesses is rather sharp. To stand out from the crowd, a company needs to be unique and recognizable by customers. A strong brand is what stands behind each successful product. Nielsen’s Global New Product Innovation Survey discovered that nearly 59% of people prefer to buy new products from brands familiar to them, and 21% say they are ready to purchase a product if it comes from a brand they like.

Some people got used to thinking that only marketing specialists do all the job in branding. However, if you say it to professional designers, they’ll tell you how wrong you are. As an American graphic designer Paul Rand said: «Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.» The article tells about the essence of branding as well as the role of design in it. Also, we’ll define the key stages of effective brand creation.

What is branding?

Lately, the word “brand” has been commonly used as some trendy thing, especially in the fashion industry, so many people forget its true essence. According to BusinessDictionary, a brand is a unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combination of these, employed in creating an image that identifies a product and differentiates it from its competitors. In other words, a brand is a visual representation which people correlate with a company or a product. An effective brand identity is the one which customers associate with a high level of credibility and quality.

However, powerful branding depends not only on aesthetic features of brand elements but on the details such as message and emotional appeal standing behind it. To create a proper brand identity, designers need to get deep into the details about business goals as well as do research on the market and its target audience. Here we’ve divided a branding process into six essential stages which designers need to go through on the way of brand creation.

The creative process of branding design for Andre

Stage 1. Business goals and brand personality

Of course, it’s not a designer who sets the goals of a company or defines its personality still it is a foundation for all the branding processes. To receive the expected results, the company has to set the priorities and values at the start point so that the crew working on branding could see which way to go. They do not necessarily need to be defined and used for all the cycle of brand existence. The goals can be modified later during a creative process but it’s vital to have some directives in the beginning.

Moreover, before designers start working on a visual part, they need to identify the character which the company or product wants to present. Designing a brand without this knowledge is like drawing a portrait from a photograph. You can do the copy quite right but the work won’t have an emotion in it. The same is with branding. If the clients didn’t provide a designer with a description characterizing their company, it’s good to ask for it. For example, designers can ask customers to make a list of 4-5 keywords describing their business, or at least what they want a company to be.

Practice shows that not all clients come to designers prepared. They may not think of details and ask only for an attractive visual presentation that will bring success to their business. There is nothing remarkable about it. Clients often see designers like artists creating beautiful pictures and you can’t expect them to know all the peculiarities of designers’ workflow.

In one of our previous articles, we’ve mentioned the role of psychology in design. It can be quite helpful on the way of understanding users’ behavior and their possible reactions to the design. Moreover, psychology principles can help designers establish effective communication with clients. There are many customers who are not certain about their desires and preferences and that’s when psychology assists. If a designer finds proper questions to ask, it will be easier to create a guide based on the client’s wish.

Corporate identity for Binned

Stage 2. Market and user research

When the goals are set and a company’s personality seems clear, designers go to the research work. This step is essential for all kinds of designer’s job, be it a logo or a mobile app. The research helps to immerse into the environment of the future brand and comprehend the peculiarities which may influence its success.

First goes the market research. Designers dig out the information about the market and potential competitors. It’s good to learn from someone’s experience be it good or bad. Having the necessary data experts can create a unique and efficient logo and build a brand identity that will stand out from the competition.

Designers and clients’ preferences should step aside to the needs of the target audience. A brand needs to make a good impression on its potential buyers or users to gain their trust. User research helps to get deeper into the preferences and psychological peculiarities of the target audience.

The design is not pure art. If you rely exceptionally on the sense of beauty and talent, there is a risk of failing the task. Research takes less time compared to doing the job over.

Stickers designed for Reborn

Stage 3. Logo design

Some people often mistake a logo for a brand but it is only one stage in the process of branding. However, it would be wrong to underestimate the role of logo design. It is the basic mark of brand identity, the most prominent symbol of brand image and the foundation of an effective marketing strategy enabling its connection with the target audience.

In our article Creative Stages of Efficient Logo Design, we’ve described essential stages of the creative process in logo design. They are:

setting the task
user research
marketing research
creative search
choice of style direction
choice of color palette
testing in different sizes and environments
creating a style guide setting right and wrong cases of logo use etc.

Logo design for Passfold

One of the aspects the research includes is exploring logos of the competitive companies. It helps to avoid unnecessary similarity with other logos in the sector and make an original brand identity.

When all the core information is gathered, designers move to the more artistic stage – the creative process itself. By the means of various experiments, they choose the style direction and color palette which will work best for a brand.

After the logo is complete, designers start the testing part. The thing is that not everything looking good on a digital screen will be the same in a different environment or variety of surfaces. That’s why it’s vital to test the logo in all possible situations and placements to make sure there won’t be an unpleasant surprise.

Logo design plays a big part in branding, so designers are recommended to pay a big attention to its creative process. A well-thought logo is worth time investment.

Logo animation for Binned

Stage 4. Visual elements of brand

Logo design is not the only visual representation of a brand. Certainly, the major focus will always be a logo but there are some more elements deserving the attention such as mascots and typography.

Companies often look for ways of personalizing a brand and designers have a solution. Mascots are the custom design characters created to represent the brand in a quite symbolic way. They can be created as a part of a logo or exist as an individual brand element. Such characters can establish a connection with users as nothing else. A mascot serves as a tool for communication and interaction with users helping to transfer the message in an unusual manner. People start to see a mascot as a major representative of a company introducing them a product or a service. The efficient mascot guarantees recognizability and memorability to a brand and easily draws users’ attention.

Mascot design for Saily

Another visual element responsible for brand identity is typography. Many logos are created via typography or contain fonts in it but typography doesn’t end here. Banners, business cards, correspondence a company applies should involve brand identity signs as well. You can make fonts also speak for your brand. Designers often create custom fonts for companies to be unique even in such small details. However, it’s not the only option. Experts may choose a combination of regular fonts that will suit a certain brand best. This way users will easier remember a brand because of its consistency in every detail.

Logo design for Reborn

Stage 5. Corporate brand style

When the logo is ready, the color palette is chosen, and other visual elements are prepared, it’s time to unite them into harmonic corporate style. It is required when a designer works on branding for companies providing services. Various attributes can become a branded item depending on the type of company. There are some common brand items which are used by different companies:

Business card. Today it’s a must-have item in business communication so it’s vital to make sure a business card represents a brand properly.

Business cards designed for Binned

Correspondence. Business communication always has a formal style. To show a brand is a reliable partner and service provider, designers need to work on its correspondence presentation. Letterheads and envelopes need to contain brand identity elements showing the professional level.

Envelope design for Reborn

Billboards and banners. They are a core part of branding and marketing so clients often ask designers to work on a creative idea for outdoor adverts and web banners.

Poster designed for Andre

Vehicle branding. Companies that provide product delivery need an effective decoration of the vehicle. Brand identity elements on the company cars or trucks are an efficient way of outdoor promotion.

Vehicle livery designed for Andre

T-shirt and hats. Clothes with brand marks bring the team spirit into a company so employers often take care of these attributes. Branded T-shirts and hats can be a good alternative to a uniform if it’s required or they can be used as presents.

Branded clothes designed for Binned

Stage 6. A style guide

The work is done. The visual material is complete. The last task for the designer is to make sure clients will use all the assets properly. A style guide is a document providing instructions about correct and wrong ways to use the graphics created for the brand. Traditionally, a style guide includes the explanation of the idea standing behind a logo as well as the presentation of a corporate color palette which can be used for different purposes. It can be good to demonstrate examples of incorrect usage in order to avoid poor visual performance.

Styleguide for Reborn

As you can see branding is a complex process. Each step should be well-thought, based on the needs of the target audience and business goals. To see more, welcome to check case studies on recent branding projects. Stay tuned!

Design Case Study: Corporate Branding for Landscape Firm

Marina Yalanska — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 13:34:40 +0000

Branding is never about just visual perception or verbal message. Branding is about the whole image people get hearing the name of a company or seeing its brand identity signs. So, designing the signs and symbols which make a brand recognizable and transferring the appropriate message is a job with great responsibility. Still, there is one more stage of the process when this sort of responsibility gets another shade. It happens at the point of branding redesign.

We have already published case studies with the stories of creating logos and brand identity concepts at the early stages of their business path. However, this time the story will have another flavor as we are presenting you the case of logo redesign for a company that is already recognized and actively operating on the market. The task for Tubik team was to create the new brand identity not breaking already gained links and associations.

Task

Redesign of a logo and creating the corporate identity for a commercial and holistic landscape firm Andre operating in landscape maintenance, tree care and design.

Process

First of all, it was important for the designer to study the conditions and philosophy of existing logo functionality, details about company activities and business goals and customer’s wishes about the redesign process. It should be mentioned that redesign for existing companies and products can have different levels of breakaway from the existing versions: some companies decide upon fully new design which has nothing in common with the current branding, while others keep the track of changes carefully and gradually, with minor alterations eliminating the risk of losing recognizability on the market.

The second approach was taken as a basis for this particular story because Andre is a company that has already won its audience on the market. That means any design change should be done with respect to the company’s history and philosophy as well as brand image grown through the years. Therefore, new design had to take its roots from the existing branding, but offer some refreshment and add some trend.

Certainly, to find the sign representing the brand, the designer needs to know as much as possible about the brand, its business goals and statement. Andre is a medium-sized company based in the USA and providing all sorts of services linked to landscape care and design of any complexity. The company is family-owned so its name origins from the last name of the family. The customers wanted a new logo to be quite classic, memorable, enduring and setting the strong association with land care. So, it was important initially to provide the visual sign that will instantly inform observers about the nature of the business and create positive vibes via the harmonic combination of shapes and colors.

After the market research and getting deep into the requirements and background of the company, the designer worked over the first series of sketches and offered the first version for the redesign. It was based on the round shape and featured green leaves as the central element of the composition. The designer also selected the corresponding version for the name lettering so that it looked readable and harmonic in combination with the image, supporting it but not overloading general visual presentation. The combination of several shades of green with light-blue set the image connected to key concepts of business activities: nature, landscape, plants, trees, sky. The designer applied smooth and rounded lines of different stroke weight and provided the variants filled with color as well as glyph one.

Another concept offered more linear and geometric variant also featuring the leaf motif and using a shape inside reflecting the form of capital A letter.

Although the offered style was appropriate, the customers insisted on applying the mascot in the logo image. The choice was made in favor of a bird and the designer offered the graphic option featuring the bird as a logo image. It also was applying the form of the leaf in the image used separately, but in combination with lettering, the leaf was placed closer to the letters.

One variant of a logo featuring the bird mascot used the image with the shorter beak and an eye featuring the mimic expression of the smile.

The idea of “smiling” positive expression was also tried in the variant in which the bird was inscribed into the circle. The beak directed upwards moved out of the circle setting the feeling of progressive flight, while the wing featured the form and visual marks of the leaf.

The general concept of applying the bird in the logo was set and agreed upon, but the customer and the designer decided on trying another iteration experimenting on simplification of the bird’s silhouette to make the logo not only attractive and meaningful but also clearly visible and legible in any size. This stage of creative search resulted in a new shape combining the visual concept of a bird and of a leaf in one image.

The final choice was made in this direction, which efficiently presented the mascot in clear simple forms, preserved color combination associated with the nature of the offered services and vibes of green and natural background.

Now let’s continue this story to unveil the further process of applying the logo and chosen the stylistic approach for the set of branded items presenting general corporate identity of the brand.

On the basis of this stylistic approach, the designer developed several variations applying the same color palette, typography, mascot and general visual perception for building the consistent and harmonic corporate style presented via different visual details on branded items. For all of them, three core visual elements supported the consistency of performance: the mascot showing the cute hummingbird, green leaves instantly associated with trees and plants and the lettering showing the brand name of the company.

Business Card

The first item to get into the set was a business card. No wonder: in the modern world, the business cards is not a sort of fashion, but a must-have for serious branding and business communication, especially in the domain of services. It is the real sign of respect to the customer. So, it should be not only informative but also stylish and easily readable. The designer provided two options of placement, horizontal and vertical, to set higher level of flexibility for possible goals and wishes that company can have in the future.

Vehicle branding

The next object of design exploration was branding for corporate vehicles. The company uses several options of vehicles which regularly do considerable business routes, therefore, neglecting such an effective advertising carrier would be unreasonable. So, the designer worked over the variants of harmonic placement of catchy and stylish branding elements for different models of vehicles.

Light background provided effective combination with the green palette of identity design presentation and set the high level of visibility and readability, important for this method of advertising.

Correspondence

One more direction of corporate branding for Andre company had to deal with correspondence, both physical and digital. In this field, letterhead and envelope were created for physical letters and also the special template featuring branding signs was designed for corporate emails.

Banner Design for indoor trade show

No secret that branding is not only about the logo and brand name but also the general style of visual components dealing with the brand, such as photos for websites and blog posts, banners of all kinds, posters and so on. One of the design tasks was to create the banner for an indoor trade show. For it, the designer created unique hand-made letting for the slogan copy to add originality for general visual perception and setting the strong emotional associations with a brand.

Jar design

Another object of design was a jar for candies or other stuff of this sort. The concept below shows the monochrome design with high level of readability which could efficiently work for the objects of this kind.

T-shirt

One more task for the designer was certainly connected with corporate T-shirts which could be effectively used as another nice and natural carrier of information enhancing brand recognizability and awareness. Again, the designer chose the light background as the basis of providing the airy and universal solution to the fast and clear presentation of the logo. Still, other variants featuring different color combinations and visual elements placement were offered to the set so that they could be used for a variety of purposes in advertising campaigns and everyday brand presentation.

On the basis of all the design solutions, the clients got the brand guidelines setting all the details of designed solutions as well as wrong variants of using the logo that could harm the perception of the brand image.

This case of a comprehensive design of corporate identity has become another proof that user research, market research, thorough attention to the customer’s requirements, and inspired creative search together make a great basis for efficient, informative, and attractive branding.

If you want to know more about creative stages of the design process for logos, welcome to read our free e-book Logo Design.