Visual Insanity in Corporate Identity
Corporate identities look good on paper but are mostly consumed on screens. And on screen they frequently fail, that’s why I’ve made this Digital Sanity Checklist.
Image via Freebie Hero Image
Digital first
I can really enjoy great brands. I love the way they express themselves, both online and offline. I love the diversity in fonts, the texture of a business card, and I even love the funky smell of paper. However, I think digital first, because most customer touchpoints in communication and marketing are digital now.
Barring companies such as AirBnB, Yelp and Starbucks, most corporate communication departments do a bad job at digital marketing & communication. They think their brand is defined by their pixel perfect logo prescriptions and not by their client’s behaviour in the real online and offline world. And often they just lack the knowledge of digital marketing & communication, and are not eager to learn it.
Count your touch points
A lot of touch points between brands and its clients don’t involve an in-detail-designed corporate letter or a big logo sign on a building. Often touch points with clients are on digital media like websites, the corporate Twitter bio or via the Google Maps app on a client’s phone.
We should be asking ourselves: What are the current and future touch points we have with our clients? How many clients are involved in these touch points? What is the intensity and quality of the interactions people have during these touch points? What is the feeling people have after these brand interactions?
The Digital Sanity Checklist
Prevent visual insanity in your corporate identity with these 7 checks:
1. Prescribing or enabling?
Most corporate identities don’t describe the identity of a company, they just prescribe the logo, the font and some colours. Not the feeling a reader or viewer should have after experiencing and processing your media. MailChimp makes a great effort in managing clients feelings via their Voice & Tone guide.
And check the subtle note that Dropbox drops under this visual to say to designers that they trust them to handle their logo well and at the same time giving them some professional room to do their job.
2. Let the logo love your content
Is the logo suitable to put things like visuals of videos behind? The content of websites and apps is more and more the centre of attention, not the logo placed on a white background taking a lot of room on a small smartphone display.
3. No font frenzy
One doesn’t need 5 different main fonts for 1 corporate identity. Offline a different font than online? And for PowerPoints and Word documents a third font? Most interactions are likely consumed on a screen so just go for 1 main font.
Do you use a Google Font for all online media? Yes there is less choice but Google Fonts work on all browsers; so a website looks as it’s supposed to be. And with more productivity suites moving to the browser, an Office 365 document, iCloud Keynote or Google Doc also works with the chosen Google Font.
4. Humane presentations
Today it’s logical to use the widescreen 16:9 ratio for a corporate PowerPoint or Keynote template, not 4:3. Most computer and smartphone screens are widescreen and presentations are more freqently presented on big flatscreens which have a wider screen ratio too. Besides that, this ratio is closer to the natural human field of vision.
The corporate logo doesn’t need to be on every presentation slide. Really it doesn’t. And one doesn’t need a big coloured bar on the top to support the slide title. Give some room for the content please!
I like adding a slide template for the introduction of the employee who is giving the presentation. The presenter is the corporate branding, and this might encourage contact when the presentation is shared, for example via email or socials. And maybe add a totally empty white slide? To challenge people and let them decide for themselves what they want to put on a slide.
5. UX, not colour palettes
Colour palettes look nice, but how are they intended to be used online? Digital media is interactive. For instance, until a while ago, a single button needed multiple colours and forms to provide users feedback:
- The normal state that should seduce the visitor to click.
- The hover state: when the cursor is hovering above the button.
- The active state: when the button is clicked on.
Feedback to the user is given through micro animations in those three states. That’s what defines the feel of clicking that button and thus defines the experience of the brand. So if that button defines your brand, why not give developers at your web agency the complete button in all its states? And colour is for free on the internet, so make some variations!
That’s what companies like Lonely Planet do in style guides like this one. Even the code is displayed to make it extra convenient for the developers.
And hey, the UX guide doesn’t need to be behind a login! All the elements are on the website after all and the idea is that this information spreads. Often it’s shown on a URL like: yourdomain.com/uxguide
Designers don’t always need a big brand portal. They’re just fine with a file with all the relevant assets that are available via a Dropbox link: designer happy and no money spent on expensive brand portals.
Want to make the contemporary digital designer and developer really happy? Give them a Sketch-file with the assets. Sketch is becoming the #1 digital design tool.
Icons are often used in apps and websites: a menu icon, a spy glass to show search functionality and icons alongside text to give people a quick overview. Describe these icons and the use of them. Share icons via the SVG file format or share the icon font.
6. Navigating in the real world
Clients who travel by car to an office tend to use a navigation app. So they’re probably looking at their phone, not at the big corporate logo on your office roof. And what do they see when they are searching in their app for your company name and address? Arrange it here:
- Google Maps: edit it with your corporate Google Account here.
- For Apple Maps edit it here.
- Waze is “powered by the people” so you just have to drive yourself to your address and you’ll be asked to edit the location.
7. Of course there’s more
Do check the bios and descriptions of socials too. Are “opening hours” mentioned and at what times does a brand respond to tweets directed to them? Is there a corporate slogan to add to a bio? Does it support SEO? What is displayed when a client searches on the brand name in the big search engines and platforms like Wikipedia, Yelp & Vimeo?
Brand uniqueness vs practical application
There’s probably a contradiction between the freedom and uniqueness of a brand identity and the practical application. You know where I stand: the practical application.
I’m not interested in the corporate identity guide prescribed by the corporate communication department. I’m motivated by the experienced brand identity of a client. And that can be very unique, despite using a Google Font.
And I’m really convinced that branding (besides the actual product & service) is defined by every click, tick or swipe in an app or website. So the total user experience on your media and other media. Not just a bigger logo in the left upper corner of a corporate website ;)
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed it, please click “recommend” below and you’ll help me to get some attention for my carefully chosen words. Appreciate it!
