Visual identity.
A visual identity is neither a logo nor a matter of taste. It is the set of decisions that makes everything you publish recognisably yours, whoever produced it.
By Alexander Larsson · Founder & Strategist· Published · Updated Our view
Rules someone else can follow without asking. If they cannot, it is a design job.
What a visual identity is.
A visual identity↗ is the collected set of decisions about how a company looks: logo, colour, typography, imagery and how the parts sit in relation to each other. The decisions are made once and then used every time something is produced, from a business card to an advert to a website.
The practical test is handover. Can a new supplier, a new hire or a freelance designer produce something that looks right without asking anyone? If the identity survives that, it is finished. If it does not, there is no identity, only a design that happened to be used a few times.
The difference shows up in ordinary work. A deck someone put together quickly should still read as your company even without the logo in the corner. The identity does that, not the logo.
What a visual identity includes.
Scope varies with how many surfaces a company appears on, but five parts recur in almost every identity:
- 01A logo with rules of use: which variants exist, minimum size, the clear space around it, and what may not be done to it
- 02Colour with stated values: hex for screen, Pantone↗ or CMYK for print, and which colour is primary rather than supporting
- 03Typography↗ with hierarchy: which typefaces are used, in which weights, and how heading levels relate to body text
- 04Imagery: what the pictures should show, how they are cropped and treated, and what does not belong
- 05Layout principles: margins, grid, spacing and how much air to leave between elements
The list is a floor, not a ceiling. A company that advertises heavily also needs ad templates, and a company with a large website needs a palette that clears the contrast requirements.
Identity, logo or brand.
The words get used interchangeably and the industry does not agree. Here is how they differ in practice:
- The logo is one element of the identity. It is the most visible part, but it is a part and not the whole
- Visual identity and graphic identity mean much the same thing. Some reserve identity for the broader expression and guidelines for the written rules, but the line is soft
- Brand identity is broader. It also covers what a company says, how it sounds and what it promises, none of which shows up in a colour palette
- The brand↗ is broadest of all: the picture in the buyer's head. The identity shapes that picture but does not own it
Sorting the words out is not academic. Anyone who orders a visual identity and receives a logo has paid for the wrong thing, and only finds out when the next brochure needs producing.
A visual identity in practice: ours.
The page you are reading is built on a documented identity. It looks like this:
- Type: IBM Plex↗ Sans for headings and body, IBM Plex Mono for labels and figures. Two cuts from one family give variation without clashing
- Background: a warm off-black, hex 0e0d0c. Chosen to sit well with the orange and rust in the photography, not because black looked dramatic
- Accent: a single orange, hex ff5a1f, carrying buttons, links and focus states. One accent is enough, and it gets stronger for being alone
- Text: f5f5f4 against that background, borders in 27272a. The contrast is checked against the contrast requirements rather than judged by eye
- Motion: every animation is zeroed out for anyone who has asked their system for reduced motion
What makes this an identity rather than a matter of taste is that the values are written down in one place. Anyone building a new page inherits them, and nobody has to guess which orange is the right orange.
Brand guidelines: the identity written down.
Brand guidelines are the identity in document form. They can be a PDF, a page on the intranet or a set of variables in code. The format matters less than that they exist and can be found.
The guidelines have one job: someone who was not there when the identity was made should be able to follow them. That means stated values instead of descriptions. A hex code, not our blue. A point size and a weight, not slightly larger heading.
There is also an ownership question that is easy to miss. An identity that lives only in the designer's head, or in the designer's files, is a lock-in. You cannot change supplier without starting over. A written identity is an asset you own, and that is the difference between having bought work and having been handed a file.
What a visual identity costs.
Price follows scope, not hours. Three things drive it most: how many surfaces the identity has to cover, how much has to be documented, and whether the logo is redrawn or kept.
A company that needs a logo, colours, type and short guidelines sits in a different order of magnitude from one that needs ad templates, packaging, signage and a design system for the web. Comparing quotes without comparing scope therefore tells you nothing.
Ask instead what the delivery includes and in what format you receive it. A quote that does not say whether you get the source files and the right to use them is hard to value, whatever the number. If the question is how the work is run in practice, we describe that under graphic design.
When to redo a visual identity.
An identity ages through use, not through years. As long as it can be followed and still describes the company, it is not old, however long it has been around.
Three reasons usually hold. The company has changed what it does or who it sells to. The identity does not work in the channels that have become important, often because it was drawn for print and now has to carry a website and moving image. Or it has stopped being followed, and the material has drifted far enough apart to stop being recognisable.
One reason that rarely holds is that someone internally has grown tired of it. You see your own identity every day. Your market sees it a few times a year, and changing too early means it never sticks.
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Send URL →Common questions about visual identity
What is a visual identity?
A visual identity is the written set of decisions about how a company looks: a logo with rules of use, colour with stated values, typography, imagery and layout principles. The point is that everything the company publishes should be recognisable, whoever produced it.
What is the difference between a visual identity and a logo?
The logo is one element of the identity. The identity is the whole rule set: colour, type, imagery and layout beyond the logo. A company with only a logo has no identity, and finds that out the moment something has to be produced that a logo alone cannot carry.
What does a visual identity include?
Five parts recur: a logo with rules of use, a palette with hex and print values, typography with hierarchy, imagery direction and layout principles. Companies with many surfaces often add ad templates, presentation templates and a design system for the web.
What does a visual identity cost?
Price follows scope: how many surfaces are covered, how much is documented, and whether the logo is redrawn. An identity with a logo, colours, type and short guidelines is a different order of magnitude from one that also covers packaging, signage and a web design system. Compare scope before comparing numbers.
What are brand guidelines?
Brand guidelines are the identity in document form. They have to be followable by someone who was not there when the identity was made, which calls for stated values rather than descriptions: a hex code instead of our blue, a point size instead of slightly larger.
How often should a visual identity be redone?
There is no interval. An identity should be redone when the company has changed direction, when it does not work in the channels that have become important, or when it has stopped being followed. Someone internally growing tired of it is rarely reason enough.