Turning your business image into a corporate identity

by Chaten Parmar
Guest Blogger and owner of Conceptstore
http://www.conceptstore.co.uk

Whats a corporate identity? Think of it as your brand in a visual form or at the most basic level anything with your logo on it. Yes anything! From your business cards to the giant sign on your office building, they’re all elements which compose your corporate identity, a way of communicating your brand.

As a small (or smaller business) you may not have a giant sign on your office building, you may not even have a fully fledged office at all so how can you maximize the potential of your business image and turn it into a corporate identity?

The most important aspect will be your logo. Make sure it’s professionally designed visually, technically and ethically. Remember that it’s a representation of your brand which should communicate your company values. After the final vectorised logo has been created you should have the essence of your business in a visual form which will set a benchmark for your corporate identity. (a vectorised logo will be very important in maximizing the quality and accessibility of your brand)

That’s the first and most important part done. It’s a good start on setting your business out from the rest but what else can you do?

Whatever size business you are, think about your assets. What can you place your logo on and why should you want to place your logo on it. The next step should ideally be your stationery, electronic or hard from, it will be used extensively and given out to all clients/potential clients, suppliers and anyone connected to your business.
Some businesses have everything matching (letterheads, comp slips and bus cards) but the stationery does not have to be exactly the same. Letters are used as a formal communication where as comp slips and bus cards can be used in different ways so just be sure that they all contain a consistent theme (do they look like they are from the same company?). Using matching or consistent stationery makes your business easy to recognize and essentially builds brand awareness as well as providing a professional and credible image. The same goes for the paper used. Its another element to your corporate identity so make sure the paper choice matches one another and stay within your theme.

Now you have a hard format of your business image and you are forming a corporate identity. What’s next? The rest of your corporate materials.
Everything which displays your logo should reflect the theme that you’ve already created. From car livery to shop signage, promotional gifts to websites and emails to TV, you have a recognizable theme which reflects your business because it has become your corporate identity. You can alter the theme slightly according to a specific purpose but you should always be identified as the company you are, hence, “corporate identity”.

The corporates – You may not be a corporate enterprise but its good to see what they do and how you can take their actions into consideration. Some corporates tend to keep their logo and brand consistent but change the coroporate idenity elements according to the current marketing campaign they’re running. Some keep the company logo in the background whilst their product logos are propelled forward. There are reasons for each decision to maximize the potential of their cause.
Corporate manuals are issued as a guide to how their presence should be regulated. The guides will consider everything, even the way there office buildings are designed, inside and out.

An example
Premier lodge use a distinct colour scheme which makes the hotel instantly recognisable when driving past. The colours are streamlined throughout their assets from uniforms to the interior design of the hotels themselves, (they all look the same). The buildings are widely located outside of a town centre (although there are the exceptions) and each one has a family orientated bar/restaurant attached.

All in all this creates a strong and consistent identity affecting the business in and externally. In return the result builds a brand which we become familiar with and can trust unconsciously.

Maximise your business image to build a strong corporate identity. People will recognize you, become familiar with you and eventually trust you.

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About the Author:

Chaten Parmar is the owner of Conceptstore Design Solutions, a design and brand development agency which fuses the disciplines of graphics design, web design and brand development into one service.

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