OER-CRAFT

How to design your corporate image

BC_3  

 Title:
How to design your corporate image
 Keywords
corporate image, design, business logo.
 Author:
IWS
 Languages:
English
 Objectives/goals:
At the end of this training fiche, you will have enough knowledge on how to design your corporate image. 

 Description:

This training fiche is focused on how to design your corporate image. A corporate image is the way in which a corporation, firm or business present themselves to the public, such as customers and investors as well as employees.  A corporate image is important to present organization, regardless of size, mission or purpose. The corporate image will define you as a company to your customers, partners and the public. Your corporate also sets you apart from your competitors. When your corporate image is effective, it will make you easy recognizable through your designs, actions and communications.  



 Contents

• Review the history, mission and methods: Before you create a corporate image for the public, it is important that you have a clear idea of what your company stands for. Examine your business plan, mission statement, values statement, strategic plan and other corporate documents that can define why your company exists and what makes you different.

• Find out what others think of your company: This is something that you can do via a surveys, ask questions, set up interviews and have a group panel, to gain understanding of how all your stakeholders view your company. After you understand how your stakeholders look at your company, if you feel like you are sending the wrong message, you can start deciding how to change their perception.

• Do research about you competitors: Check out the websites, read testimonials from their customers and visit their social media. By looking at those internet sites you can start deciding and figuring out, what you like and what you don’t like, and how easy or difficult it is to grasp their corporate identities.

• Create your vision for the future: Your corporate image should embrace the goals that you have for the future as well for now. You can include your employees, leaders and partners.

• Design a logo: Put together a team of designers and writers, or hire a consultant if you do not have that kind of creative talent on staff. Get everybody in a room and start thinking about a logo for your corporation. The logo should be designed so it can be immediately recognized. The logo should be clean and simple. Because your logo will only be one piece of your corporate design, a good one will not always have a lot of meaning until it is paired with other design aspects.

• Choose a captivating font: When you create a website, advertisements, or a product's packaging, you need to have a typography that is immediately recognizable and that conveys a certain feeling to people. Choose an appropriate font that is readable and unique.

-A typeface should reflect your corporation's image and beliefs. If your company tends to be conservative, use something like Times New Roman.

• Consider different color combinations: The colors you choose will make a bold statement about your organization and how you run your business. Make sure they convey your corporate philosophy and strategy.

-For example, if you are a corporation tasked with creating environmentally sustainable packaging for products, consider using green as one of your primary colors. Green is synonymous with the environmental movement and also conveys images of the outdoors.

• Portray quality in your design: A company that offers quality products and services has the best chance to bring back clients and repeat business. Quality should be reflected throughout your corporate identity, which includes your design. Think about how consumers will react to the way your website or packaging will look.

• Bring a community together:The overall design of your company should work to bring a specific community together. If you can create a community for your services or products, they will be more likely to come back to your company.

- Handle customer issues in a fair and honest manner.

- Deliver high quality products.

- Ensure your products meet safety standards.

• Forming a communication style: Each company has a different way of communicating to their customers. It is important that you think of how you want to communicate with your customer. You can do this by hiring talented communications specialists, or start creating it by yourself. You only need to keep in mind that how you communicate to your customers, can make your company succeed or fail. Because it does not mean anything if no one knows about it.

• Test your corporate image: Once you have created something that you believe in and thinks it is something solid, you can start testing it in the market. Talk with customers and use focus groups, to find out what they think of the image, you can ask them how they feel about your logo and color scheme, do they want to buy the product? Ask for specific feedback, so is easier for you to analyze the feedback.


 Results

After reading this fiche you will have knowledge about designing image for your own company.



 Indicators

There are not really clear indicators for this subject, because on this topic not everyone develops the same. If you want to know if you are on the right track you can ask yourself the questions below. These questions will give you a clear view about if you are on the right track or that you need to change somethings. 

•    Describe the current perception of the company?
- Why is that the current perception? 
- Are there any stories to exemplify? 

•    What is the difference that makes it better than that of the competitors? 

•    Who do you consider as competitors? 

•    What are the strengths? 

•    What are the weaknesses? 

•    What do your associates think about your company? 

•    What could the company change, to earn more? 

 

Sometimes things go wrong. One of the main issues designers face when creating a brand style guide is believing that everyone just gets the aesthetic that they were going for. False. You need to be able to articulate what that look & feel is all about, so that anyone, anywhere on Earth can apply this identity system and have it be consistent with the original plan. Don’t assume that people know what colors go/don’t go well with this brand, or that your logo shouldn’t be laid on top of a rainbow.



 Learning Outputs
Online learning


 Bibliography

Description     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_identity


   

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Corporate-Identity



Content    
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Corporate-Identity