Whilst we’ve always contested that a brand is much more than a logo – an approach perhaps best encapsulated by branding guru Wally Olins: “In everything an organisation does, owns and produces it should project a clear idea of what it is. This is achieved by consistency in purpose, performance and appearance.” – we use logos within branding programmes as the signifier, or flag, that an organisation ‘fights’ under, a hark back to the heraldic origins of branding. However, an interesting article in the current issue of Design Week by Simon Manchipp, gives pause for thought; as well as questioning the value of logos altogether, which is debatable, he does make a valid point that ‘brand worlds’ are of growing significance “They add depth to the brand name. They are the Adidas stripes down the side of the shoe or the leg of the tracksuit, at the entrance to the store and on the endframe of the TV ad. They are the O2 bubbles rising from the press ad, the decor inside the stadium, the animation on the mobile phone.” As we do, he stresses consistency and coherence in application and to gain cumulative impact based on use of colour, photography/imagery and typography to create an individual identity “Brand worlds are coherent [not just consistent] universal branding systems…They distinguish a product or service more completely, more deeply than any one-dimensional logo could ever hope to. They are varied, rechargeable, developing tools for brands.”

www.designweek.co.uk