1
Design For
Your Business
Lesson 4: Summary Notes
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Contents 3
4
Introduction
Creating a corporate identity
5 Logo types
10 Idea generation
12 Steer clear of clichés
13 How to avoid clichés
14 Create your logo
16 Create your email signature
17 Poster design
20 Conclusion
21 Bibliography
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Introduction
Welcome to lesson 4 of How to start a business. Our
lesson today entails some practical input as we will
be focusing on creating our own corporate
identity. Now, we will be making use of the jewellery
design business, Silver Tree from the previous lessons
as an example but take heart, these tips, tricks, and
steps can apply for whichever business you have in
mind.
And don’t worry, you do not need to be a professional
designer as I will show you exactly how to put your
unique fingerprint on your business’ designs. Before we
dig into our lesson, I would like to share the following
with you: Design is not simply a matter of making
something beautiful. Design is a way to help solve
problems visually.
I want you to understand that graphic design is about
applying visual communication in a practical manner.
In this lesson, I would like to teach how you can solve
your visual communication problem with the designs
we will be creating. At the end, you do not only want
your design to look amazing but to communicate
effectively as well.
4
Creating A Corporate Identity
Our focus for today’s lesson is on creating a corporate identity for your business. We will look at concept
and idea generation for our corporate identity. Then, with the ideas we generated, we will create a logo with some
handy tools that I will familiarise you with. An email signature is the equivalent of a business card and serves as a
tool to provide your client with the most important details. Finally, I will teach you a full proof technique to create
effective poster or flyer designs for your new business.
What Is A Corporate Identity?
A corporate identity can be defined as the visual representation of a brand or company. In other words, how
the brand or company presents itself to the public. It encapsulates the personality, qualities, and culture
of the business in a consistent manner ensuring that the brand will be recognisable and remembered for
this exact same reason.
A corporate identity consists of all the visual aspects of the brand or company; from the company logo, stationery
like pens and letterheads, printed documents, website design, email signature, display advertising, packaging,
employee uniforms, vehicle branding and basically anything that is visual either in print format or digitally.
Understanding that a corporate identity is applying the same style to all elements within a brand or company, we
will look at how we can apply these principles to our corporate identity we will be creating today.
5
Logo Types
I’m sure most of you have thought of names and ideas for your company. Some might have already
established a name and some of you are perhaps still struggling. One thing we all can agree on is that this process
is not as easy as it seems. Kicking off with our logo design, we need to understand that there are a variety of
different types of logos and they are also used for various reasons.
They are:
• Symbol/Icon
• Wordmark
• Letter mark
• Combination mark
• Emblem
Symbol/Icon
A symbol is also known as an Icon. These
logos consist purely out of an icon that
resembles the company or brand in a bold,
abstract manner. They normally convey a
symbolic meaning behind the company’s
values and products, or services offered.
Icons can be tricky when it comes to
small, new companies since the symbolic
meaning can be quite abstract, so hence a
combination mark, which we’ll get to now
would be a better option. A characteristic
of a symbol is that they are normally very
simplistic with only one image and very
few colours. Examples include the Nike
logo, Apple, Shell, and Mercedes Benz.
Nike logo: A simplistic symbol or icon
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Wordmark
Wordmarks are typeface-based logos that
spell out the company’s name. The use of
a typeface is thus particularly important
when it comes to wordmarks as it not
only needs to encapsulate the values of
the company but should also be unique.
Familiar wordmarks include the Google
logo, Disney, and Coca-Cola (which were
converted into typefaces afterwards),
Facebook, and Nescafé.
Google logo: Consisting only out of type, it
is known as a wordmark
Letter Mark
Like a wordmark, a letter mark consists of
type. It normally uses the company’s initials
or the brand’s first letter. The reason for
companies to use a letter mark is perhaps
the fact that the company’s initials or first
letter might graphically depict well, or the
name might be very long or difficult to
pronounce. Think about the HP logo.
HP logo: Letter marks are used if a company
name is long or difficult to pronounce
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Combination Mark
A combination mark normally combines
an icon and wordmark (or any other
logo elements) and allows the company
flexibility in the sense that they can either
use the wordmark or icon. This is a versatile
choice as you can use both the wordmark
and icon or either and both should be
recognisable.
The wordmark and icon can overlap or
stand next to each other and thus allows
for great versatility. These include the
Unilever logo, Adidas, Lacoste, Burger
king and BP. Most logo’s I personally can
think of consist of a combination mark
and I believe this is also the safest for new
businesses.
Unilever Logo: The Unilever logo can be
used with only the icon or the wording,
making combination marks quite universal
to use.
NOTES
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Emblem
Our last type of logo is called an emblem.
Emblems are the exception in that they
contain a lot of detail. The norm usually
is that a logo needs to be as simplistic
as possible, but emblems mostly ignore
this rule. If applied successfully, they can
be incredibly unique and sophisticated.
Emblems are usually found in the form
of a crest with a combination of letters or
words and icons.
Since emblems consist out of so many
elements, this type of logo must be
researched even more when it comes to
legibility, especially when viewed really
small. Emblems however add a sense
of quality, reliability and longevity to a
brand and are traditional in appearance.
This type of logo is normally found in
formal institutions or organisations like
governmental institutions, schools, sport
teams and even vehicles. Examples are
the Starbucks logo, Harley Davidson, most
universities, and college’s logos as well as
Porsche.
The Bentley Logo: Emblems are normally
quite busy and should be very well designed
to make sure all details are visible in small
and large format
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Keep It Simple!
One fact that I would at least want you to take away from this lesson is to keep your logo as simple as possible.
Instead of asking “what should I add to my logo?”, rather ask “what can I take away”. Your logo should be
recognisable when printed as small as your thumbnail and as big as a building. Don’t add too much detail – keep
it simple!
The conclusion we can make is that simply coming up with a great design concept doesn’t just happen. You need
to determine your business’ objectives, who your target market is, gather some ideas and inspiration and make
that part of your design concept. I would like to apply all this to come up with a logo concept for your business. I
will be showing you how to apply this for our business, Silver Tree.
Let’s take the Hyundai logo as example.
It is simply the letter H encircled, or
does it have a deeper meaning?
Doing some research, you will soon find
that this letter H has a more remarkable
connotation. The H is also a silhouette
figure of two individuals shaking hands,
or coming to an agreement. The one
individual represents the customer and
the other individual is the company’s
representative. The handshake is a
symbol of trust and satisfaction between
the customer and company and the
colour blue in the logo reflects reliability,
excellence, and supremacy.
If we consider the creation of the Hyundai
logo, it will make sense to apply your
company values to come up with a
unique looking logo. Also consider the
use of colour as colour psychology plays
a massive impact on your audience. You
are more than welcome to check out my
Professional diploma in Graphic Design
if you would like to get more insight with
regards to colour psychology.
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Idea Generation
When generating ideas, you will look at various design concepts you might want to use as inspiration.
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to come up with a brand-new idea that has never been thought
of as it is virtually almost impossible.
We will always be inspired by something, just don’t copy it verbatim and rather make it more personalised.
Once you have gathered enough research and inspiration, you can start to conceptualise ideas. I normally
keep a small booklet at hand where I doodle all my ideas. But where do we get our ideas from? Well,
wherever you find inspiration!
Take heart that finding inspiration in unusual ways might make your ideas more unique but to give
you some guidelines, the following usually helps to get inspiration:
Pinterest
Pinterest is probably one of the first sources creatives go to and even though there are some amazing
ideas, take note that because it is so popular, you might get the same ideas as others.
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Album Covers, Film Titles & Book Covers
Another source is to make use of album covers, film titles, book covers – all accessible digitally nowadays
Group brainstorming sessions are probably one of my favourite resources to go to. Don’t limit this to only
creatives but involve others as well.
If you have not heard of the website protobot.org, please visit it after this lesson. Not only will you laugh
at some of those ideas, but it will actually make you think. The ideas generated on Protobot are quite
absurd but I find it helps to stimulate my creativity.
Be open to critique and input from others – never think you have it all figured out. Reading might not
directly link to design ideas but will definitely stir you creatively.
Social media is a great tool accessible to everyone to simply follow influencers. Perhaps consider influencers
within the design field.
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Steer Clear Of Cliches
I want you to steer clear of any cliché ideas when it comes to creating a corporate identity for your
business. First, we need to look at what a cliché is. A cliché can be defined as an idea that is unoriginal
and overused. Something not unique.
The reason why so many people make use of cliché ideas is because their familiarity makes them appealing
– it’s almost like a guarantee that you won’t be misunderstood.
Clichés are generally hard to critique because, essentially, there’s nothing wrong with them, but they are
simply not special.
People tend to like clichés but forget that their business’ aim is to rather stand out. It is thus your
responsibility to make sure your design conveys the correct message but still stands out. In other words,
your design should speak plainly but still leave a mark on its audience.
Clichés are like junk food – available everywhere, easy to consume but they don’t really have any
nutritional value.
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How To Avoid Cliches
Make Use Of A Visual Riddle
This is where you make use of an element of surprise. Your concept is not too obvious so you want to
spend some time on your design in order to decode the image’s message. One trick you can try here is to
try and state your message without the use of type.
Don’t Be Critical
Understand that you don’t visualise the final design at the start of the design process. It takes time!
This process entails drawing ideas & inspiration. Draw and write down associations of the subject matter
– draw it quickly and don’t be critical.
Get Them Out Of Your System
Let clichés happen to get it out of your system as part of the brainstorming phase. This is the evolution of
your idea and the starting point might as well be a cliché concept.
Use A Sketch Book
Lastly, when drawing and writing down your ideas, rather make use of a sketch book than a computer.
The reason being that a computer has a particular set of tools & this pushes you into a certain direction
whereas drawing is free and there are less limits.
NOTES
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Create Your Logo
I will be making use of a free online tool to create our logo for Silver Tree. If you have not heard of www.
vecteezy.com, today is the day that will change your life. Vecteezy is an extremely handy and user-friendly
tool for those that are not professional graphic designers. Even though you will be limited in comparison
to working with Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw, which are professional illustrator tools, Vecteezy delivers
exceptional results.
NOTES
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Please refer to video lesson
and bonus video for this demo.
Logo creation in vector format
making use of www.vecteezy.com
NOTES
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Create Your Email Signature
The email signature is the modernised version of a business card. Its advantage is that you don’t have any
printing costs, so if for example your address changes, you can simply update your email signature. Since
we are quickly moving into a digital era, it is essential that your email signature should look professional.
Now, like Vecteezy, there are some awesome tools to assist you here. One such tool I like to make use of
is https://mysignature.io/editor and it is free to use. The paid for version obviously has a lot more to offer,
but you will still be able to create a decent looking design.
Now, the reason why this is such an amazing tool is that it creates your signature in HTML format which
means that your links within your email signature will be clickable. Like your phone number and website.
Please refer to video lesson
video for this demo
Email signature created with
mysignature.io
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Poster Design
I would like to teach you a great technique that will help with almost any type of design. This technique is
taken from the book - White space is not your enemy by Kim Golombisky & Rebecca Hagen and is full of
graphic design theory and teaches beginners the essentials in a fun and interactive way.
The technique that I would like to share with you is inspired by White Space is not your enemy and is
called the “Works-everytime-layout”. It is called this because it does really work every time! The Works-
everytime-layout can be divided into 6 steps and these steps. If you’re ever stuck in a creative rut, the
works-everytime-layout is your go-to solution as well.
So, why does it work every time? Simply because of the way we read and perceive things. Since human
beings are visual and the fact that westerners read from left to right and top to bottom, this layout has
been a success.
The 6 Steps Are:
Step 1: Margins
Start your document by creating generous margins first - these will aid as a guide for all elements that
should not be cut off.
Step 2: Columns
Then, simply add columns. The number of columns differ depending on the size of your layout. As we tend
to read shorter sentences more easily and it creates the illusion of reading less, columns are a great way
to retain your viewers’ attention
Step 3: Visual
Have a visual at the top of your layout. Remember that we are visual beings, so this is a good way to
attract your audience.
Step 4: Headline
The headline refers to the topic of your document. It should be right under the visual and be bold and
exciting as this is the 2nd element your viewers would see after your visual.
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Step 5: Copy
This refers to the text that will fill your document. Your copy can be placed in the column guides you
created in step 2.
Step 6: Tags
A tag refers to additional information such as logos and contact details. Place this at the bottom right,
where your viewer will exit the page.
Please refer to video
lesson for demo
NOTES
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Flyer design in Adobe Spark
considering the works-everytime-
layout
I want you to see how I was able to apply the works-everytime-layout to my poster design created
in Adobe Spark.
• First, we started off with generous margins – this is evident in that none of my type is too close to the
edges of my design.
• Next, I created two columns, which serves as guides for my two legs of body text
• I have an interesting visual at the top, along with my company logo
• The headline, being in a bold and exciting typeface is just under my visual.
I have a subheading that indicated the date and time of the grand opening event.
• My body copy is placed inside the two columns we created in step 2.
A good width for columns is anything between 5cm and 12 cm (this is approximately 2 icnes x 5 inches).
• Lastly, your viewer is greeted with the contact details if they would like to get more information.
Full-proof and always communicates effectively, you can never go wrong with the works-everytime-layout.
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Conclusion
I hope that you have gained some valuable information in this lesson. To briefly recap on what we did,
we explained the idea generation process to help you come up with a unique and professional business
identity.
After this we had a demo in Vecteezy, a free online tool that aided us in creating a logo for our company.
We learnt that your email signature should not only be fantastic looking, but that its functionality is just
as important. We then created a practical email signature in MySignature
We ended off by creating a flyer design for our new business, applying a works-everytime-layout approach.
I can’t wait to see the ideas you came up with and I hope that you have learnt some awesome design tricks
in today’s lesson.
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Bibliography
Cube, R. 2018, What is the meaning behind the Hyundai logo? Accessed on 7 April 2020 from https://
www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-behind-the-Hyundai-logo
Digital Synopsis, n.d. 27 Famous Logos With Hidden Meanings. Accessed on 7 April 2020 from https://
digitalsynopsis.com/design/famous-brand-logos-hidden-meanings/
Ellis, C. 2020, The best free alternative to Adobe Illustrator 2020: free vector editors. Accessed on 6
April 2020 from https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-adobe-illustrator-alternatives
Wikipedia, 2020, Business card. Accessed on 7 April 2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Business_card
NOTES
