What is a brand identity? What it includes and how it gets built

A brand identity is the set of rules that makes a brand recognisable in the same way everywhere. The logo is its most visible part, but without colour, typefaces, image style, tone of voice and the rules for using them, a logo alone does not keep a brand consistent.

What does a brand identity include?

• Positioning and tone of voice: who the brand speaks to, what it says and how. Every visual decision rests on this.
• Logo: the primary logo, horizontal and stacked versions, and a simple mark for small screens.
• Colour palette: primary and secondary colours, with their screen and print values.
• Typography: typefaces for headings and text, with size and spacing rules.
• Image style: the language of photography, icons and illustration.
• Brand guidelines: a document that shows right and wrong use of all of the above.
• Applications: first uses such as business cards, presentations, social media templates, catalogues, trade show stands and the website.

Logo design versus brand identity

The logo is the brand's signature; the identity is how that signature is used everywhere. Brands that commission only a logo often find, within months, the same logo used with different colours, typefaces and spacing. An identity system prevents that drift from the start.

The order we build an identity in

• Discovery: we talk through the brand, its audience and its competitors.
• Strategy: we write down the positioning and tone of voice.
• Design: we present a few directions for the logo and visual language, then refine the chosen one.
• Guidelines and rollout: we deliver the guidelines and first applications, and carry the identity into digital channels.

We use AI actively at every step, so more options get explored in less time. The decisions stay with our team and with you.

The identity has to work on screen

Today a first encounter with a brand usually happens on a website, in an app or on social media. So we build identities for the screen as well as for print: a logo that reads at small sizes, colours with accessible contrast and typography that works in digital products. When the team that designs the identity also designs the website and app, the brand holds together on screen.

How to tell an identity is working

• Different people on your team make the same presentation, and it still looks like one brand.
• A new supplier can produce the right material from the guidelines without asking questions.
• Your social posts are recognisable before anyone sees the logo.

If you are building or refreshing your identity, see our brand identity page, and how an identity carries into social media on our social media management page. You don't need a finished brief: an intro call is a good place to start.