If you want to know what is brand identity in plain terms, this is it: the set of choices that make your business recognisable at a glance and in a sentence.
01 / NOTE
The short definition.
Brand identity is everything the outside world uses to identify your business. It includes the name, the marks, the colours, the typography, the voice and the way you present yourself in space and on screen.
Notably, it is not your logo alone. A logo is one output of the identity, not the identity itself.
02 / NOTE
Identity, strategy and brand.
These three words get mixed up. Brand strategy is the thinking: who you serve, what you promise, how you are different. Brand identity is the expression of that thinking. Brand is what people actually feel about you.
Our brand strategy service handles the first layer, so the identity has something to express.
03 / NOTE
The parts you actually need.
A working identity for a small business usually contains: a name, a primary logo, one alternate mark, two or three colours, one or two typefaces, and a short voice document with real example sentences.
You do not need illustration systems, pattern libraries and mascots to launch. In fact, that stuff often comes later, once you know how customers describe you.
04 / NOTE
Where identity lives.
An identity that lives only in one designer’s files is fragile. Store it in a shared library that anyone touching the brand can open.
Our brand library keeps the marks, colours, type and voice examples in one place, and pushes them straight into your website and social posts.
05 / NOTE
How to know it is working.
You know an identity is doing its job when three people describe you in almost the same words. That takes time and repetition.
To move faster, keep every touchpoint tied to the same source. See how GPF projects work for the flow.