Corporate identity: Tips for making a lasting first impression. (Graphic Arts).

Creating or redesigning a corporate identity is about more than an eye-catching logo. That image needs to be marketed to customers, investors and employees in a way that will make them remember your company. Many factors must be taken into consideration.

"The first thing we need to do is to get to know the company through its executives and mission statements," says Mike Hayes, president of JMH Corp., an Indianapolis design firm.

"We have some questionnaires we give to the senior management group that they can respond to in writing or in an interview." A company needs to do some self-discovery to determine what aspects of the business should be reflected in its corporate image.

"What makes you stand apart?" Hayes asks of clients. He suggests taking into account the company's purpose, its services, audiences and clients, as well as its short-term and long-term goals.

"Is there a cue from the standpoint of something inherent in what they do that should be expressed graphically?" asks Thom Villing, president and owner of Villing & Co. in Mishawaka. "Is there something inherent in their history?"

John D. Wilson, president and co-owner of Marketing Impact, Fort Wayne, suggests taking into account the kind of character the executives want the company to have.

"How do you want to be positioned?" he asks. "What kind of personality do you want to have in the marketplace?" A company's personality can mean deciding whether it's traditional or contemporary, or whether it has a global reach rather than a local flair.

The logo is the starting point for developing the complete corporate identity. "It should convey a sense of what kind of business you're in," says Randy Lientz, president and owner of AXIOM Marketing & Advertising in Evansville.

The logo for a company does not necessarily have to be iconographic--it can be as simple as text in a certain font consistent with the persona of the company. However, Lientz says, a logo containing an icon--such as the golden arches associated with McDonald's--has a better chance of being remembered by the public.

Besides deciding whether to include an icon, a company needs to examine the various materials on which the logo will be printed. For instance, if a logo contains a half-screen, or lighter area, it should be designed solid as well. Half-screens don't reproduce well embroidered on a shirt or on a fax.

"Sometimes people design a logo and they love the way it looks on the artboard, but they don't think of how it would look on letterhead, reduced on business cards, how it will fax, what it will look like huge on a sign," Coleman says.

Whether it be full-color, a script font or any other design detail, each has implications on how the logo will reproduce. AXIOM's Lientz says that legibility is very important to ensure accurate name recognition by the public.

"A person who knows nothing about you has to be able to quickly and easily read it and get it," he says. "There has to be no question how your name is spelled."

The selected font not only can make a difference in the logo's legibility, but also the impression it gives about the company it names. A script font can be perceived as traditional, while a bold, sans serif font may appear more contemporary, for example.

Color can have an impact on the public's perception of the company as well. Wilson of Marketing Impact notes that a law firm would probably not choose bright, primary colors for the logo, but deeper, more conventional tones.

Coleman of SPG says a company has to think carefully before designing a full-color logo. The cost can be high when reprinting to billboards or trucks. "Unfortunately, when you do it on a big sign or every time you run an ad, you can't afford to do it full-color every time you place the image," she says.

It may be wise to have the image designed in black and white as well. "A logo must work well in black and white and small before it looks good large and in color," Lientz says.

If black and white is not considered in the beginning, the image can end up reprinting badly without full color. "I've seen some beautiful full-color logos that look horrendous in a newspaper ad," Villing says.

Hayes of JMH says that, fortunately, it is getting easier to be more creative with logo design. 'Today's technologies, in terms of quality of reproduction and fidelity, have made it possible to have a logo that is a little more ambitious with a little more detail," he says.

Designing the logo is only the first step in developing a corporate identity. "A logo and icon alone will not convey everything there is to know about that company," Lientz says. He notes that it is the marketing tools--such as brochures, business cards faxes, packaging and signage--that get the logo out to the public.

"The choice of what channels or media to use is driven by the market and, of course, what kind of budget can be put behind it," Hayes says. The options are vast for things on which to put a logo, even down to a golf ball marker.

Some companies such as Marketing Impact offer packages to smaller businesses, where the logo design and reproduction are included. Its First Impression product line includes corporate stationery, letterhead, envelope, business card, presentation folder, brochure, premiums--such as pens and coffee cups--an announcement letter, and press release.

Packages such as First Impression help companies on a budget develop a high-quality corporate identity for a reasonable fee, which can be very important to businesses just getting off the ground.

Wilson reminds clients that a corporate identity can add lasting value to a company or organization. "When someone decides to make an investment in corporate identity, they have to not only look at cost, but also look at the long-term impact of the corporate identity," he says.

If done right, corporate identity can add actual monetary value to the company's worth, important if the company is later sold. Wilson notes, "How valuable is the word 'Coke'?"

It is important for a company to take great care in the design of their corporate identity by hiring a professional and experienced graphic designer as well as carefully thinking through the way they want their company presented. A poorly designed corporate identity can injure a company's ability to succeed by giving a misrepresentation to the public.

In addition, the client needs to avoid micromanaging the process, but must also take extra care to provide input throughout the project. "It has to be a very collaborative effort, so that the designer listens to the client and that the clients listen to what the designer brings to the table," Hayes says. It should be kept in mind, the more people within the client company are involved, the more difficult it may be to create a succinct design for a logo that incorporates everyone's opinions.

"Everybody has an identity whether good, bad or indifferent. An image poorly done and managed can cost the company market share, it can cost them profits, it can cost them awareness," Wilson says.

A corporate identity's success can also depend on how well it's managed once created. A logo will have to be printed on numerous items, numerous times, by numerous people, and the more this happens, the greater the chance for error in its reproduction. Guidelines for reproduction and use are important to make sure the identity remains consistent.

Marketing Impact offers a digital-identity manual to all of its clients. The Web-based manual assists not only internal staff but also vendors in how to use the corporate identity. Its content can be managed and updated, and it's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week with tutorials. Wilson says that such specifications answer the question: "How do we communicate all these standards?"

On the other hand, Villing warns, too many guidelines and requirements can be problematic as well. "If you get too rigid, it can be frustrating to the people who have to use it in a more creative environment," he says. Maintaining consistency, while allowing some room for adjustments, can lead to a successfully executed corporate identity.

"In a way, these projects are sometimes the most difficult design projects we take on--capturing a company's personality in a single image," Hayes says.