Logos, Trademarks and Corporate Identity

Closely related to branding, corporate identity encompasses the symbol and/or typography which serves as the business trademark or logo in addition to a consistent presentation of select marketing attributes which together represent the organization's persona.

What's in a name?

When businesses are born, the owners or board of directors are usually the ones who dream up the company name. Unfortunately, these are usually the people least likely to realize what an important task this is, from the standpoint of successful long-term marketing success. Not only because they are too close to the subject to be objective, but also because they usually are not marketing experts, the name they agree on often is too long, too obtuse or too cute.

While it may be our right to try to explain the problems with some names, it is usually our job to try to work with a business name the best we can because clients tend to come to us after the incorporation process is complete and name-changing is generally not an option.

Before you can do business, you need a smart, memorable, appealing way to showcase your business name. Perhaps you may benefit from a graphic symbol to represent the purpose of the business but you may not necessarily require one. Many businesses operate very successfully with stylized typography alone, which in essence becomes the business logo, symbol, or trademark. Think IBM, for instance. This logo will appear on practically everything which represents the business including the tiniest application on company checks, for example, to enormous renditions on signage, billboards or company trucks. While the most common appearance will include business stationery, the logo will also be used in all sizes and types of advertising and collateral material, as well as promotional items, gifts, clothing, packaging and merchandise, if applicable.

Anticipating the countless ways in which the logo will be used is one reason a professional logo designer is needed. In addition to accurately representing the business name, purpose and style, it also needs to compete on the global, national, regional or local stage as a uniquely memorable symbol of your business, now and for many years going forward. This is not an easy task.