Corporate identity design

What makes corporate identity different

A small business identity is usually applied by one or two people. A corporate identity may be applied by hundreds: sales teams writing proposals, departments producing reports, regional teams running events and agencies creating campaigns. The design has to be robust enough to survive all of them, and the organisation needs a clear way to answer the question 'is this on-brand?'

Corporate identity work therefore spends as much time on structure, templates and rules as on the logo itself.

Brand architecture options

How divisions, products and acquired businesses relate to the parent brand.

Everyday corporate systems

How a corporate identity project runs

1. 01

   Audit

   Materials collected from each department and region.

   Output: Inventory and issues

2. 02

   Architecture

   Relationships between parent, divisions and products agreed.

   Output: Brand structure

3. 03

   Identity and systems

   Visual identity, templates and lock-ups designed and tested.

   Output: Corporate system

4. 04

   Governance and rollout

   Guidelines, approval routes and phased replacement.

   Output: Managed rollout

Governance that keeps the identity consistent

Accessibility across the organisation

Corporate documents and websites reach a wide audience, including people with visual impairments. Defining colour pairs that meet WCAG 2.2 contrast guidance, at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, and building accessible styles into document templates means every department produces accessible material by default rather than each author having to remember. Organisations with specific legal duties should check the requirements that apply to them.

Mergers and acquisitions

When an organisation acquires another business, it must decide whether to absorb, endorse or keep the acquired brand. A clear architecture makes that decision quicker. Customer recognition, contracts and staff identity all matter, and a phased transition with clear communication to customers is often wiser than an immediate switch.

Signs an organisation needs corporate identity work

• Several versions of the logo in use

  Different departments have kept old or modified files.

• Proposals look different by team

  Customers receive inconsistent documents from the same organisation.

• Unclear sub-brands

  Customers are unsure which division they are dealing with or how it relates to the parent.

• Growth through acquisition

  New businesses have joined without a plan for their brands.

Why templates carry the identity

In a large organisation, much of the branded material is not designed by designers. It is written by staff in word processors and presentation software. The quality of those templates therefore decides how the organisation looks to many of its customers. Templates with proper heading styles, table formats, chart colours and image placeholders make good-looking documents the easiest option, and they also make documents more accessible because structure is built in.