Airey - Identity designed: the definitive guide to visual branding

Photos from Unsplash (clockwise from top left) by Leio McLaren, Yoann Siloine, Hello Im Nik, Antonio Molinari, and Luis Cortes Martinez.

Not every customer is a designer, but were all surrounded by design, and whether or not were aware of it, the ways in which a brand is packaged offer clues to its quality. How a product or service looks must reflect the quality of whats on sale. When it doesnt, theres a disconnect between what a buyer sees and the impression the seller wants to give. Equally, people are smarter than to keep buying something that sets expectations higher than whats delivered. The creation of a fitting brand identity is an investment that can pay off year after year, with a continual increase in value because the more people see a design, the faster they remember it the next time they need the associated product or service.

Consistency is often wrongly associated with sameness, but it can mean consistently distinctive and vibrant.

Great brands are consistent. The same is true of their identities. Consistency is often wrongly associated with sameness, but it can mean consistently distinctive and vibrant. That can be achieved simply by using a single typeface in a variety of ways, combining a distinctive palette with compelling copy, crafting a more extensive unit of complementary elements, and myriad other ways that help to visually ingrain a brand experience to memory.

When used correctly, design helps to turn potential buyers into loyal customers and advocates, and this book has been written to document whats involved in the creation of strong, emotive, and enduring identities. After reading, youll be able to apply the same principles and techniques to your own projects or business ventures.

Im David Airey, and since starting my independent design studio in 2005, Ive specialized in designing identities for companies of all sizes around the world. Despite my years of experience focusing on the topic of this book, the majority of my time in the profession has seen me work independently rather than as part of a larger firm. Although thats helped me to learn about the business of design much quicker than I otherwise would have, its also meant that Ive been less likely to change my waysto fix what isnt broken, at least from my perspective.

From talking to the hundreds of designers Ive made friends with over the years, its clear that theres no single set of rules that eclipses all others when crafting the right brand identity. So instead of writing about how I conduct business, I spent months interviewing a variety of the worlds most talented designers and studios about the processes they follow when helping their clients to achieve their goals. The result is an intriguing insight into how visual identity work is carried out by design firms in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Sweden, Belgium, Ukraine, Vietnam, Singapore, and Brazil. The contributing studios reveal their design process from start to finish, sharing a detailed overview of how they work with clients, as well as walking you through one of their most compelling projects. At the end of each feature, Ive added a brief recap to highlight important points.

Thank you for joining us.

Donald Judd