Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team

by Alina Wheeler

Praise for previous editions of Designing Brand An inspiring and powerful toolkit. The Marketer Alina Wheeler provides a practical structure for the brand building process. Al Ries, coauthor, Positioning Wheeler's book offers a cogent description of how strategy and design meet in the real world among world-class companies. Marty Neumeier, author, The Brand Gap A valued reference book for all members of the branding team. Communication Arts

Genres: Design, Business, Nonfiction, Art Design, Art, Reference, Creative

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 2003

About the author

Author, speaker, consultant. Alina's business focus is managing perception. Her service is strategic imagination. Her passion is brand identity. Wheeler reinvents the marketing textbook, demystifies branding, and illuminates best practices and tools.

Reviews

[Toni Conn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was required for the Corporate Identity class for a Graphic Design degree. I am not impressed by this book. I skipped to page 102 to get to the more interesting pieces that I could use as exercises in creating a brand. The first part is terminology to make sure that your team is all on the same page. I am a solo business owner so I did not need to read the large introduction section.

The layout of this book is terrible. There is very little content on the pages. Most of the book is unnecessary graphics that could have been replaced with more in-depth content.

Overall, it's a good starting point but you will need to look elsewhere for other resources if you're looking for a step-by-step guide to creating a brand.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. As a recovering marketer, this was a fun read. I believe anyone could benefit from the insights in Alina's book, business or non-profit.

Some takeaways:

Unify. Simplify. Amplify.

It is never too late to be what you could have been. George Eliot

Brands have three primary functions:
1. Navigation: Brands help consumers choose from a bewildering array of choices.
2. Reassurance: Brands communicate the intrinsic quality of the product or service.
3. Engagement: Brands use distinctive imagery, language and associations to encourage customers to identify with the brand.

Victory belongs to the most persevering.

Lincoln said character is like a tree, reputation is like its shadow. Many believe their job is to manipulate the shadow rather than tend to the health of the tree. In this world of transparency and democratized media, it is increasingly difficult for organizations and individuals to lead double lives. There can be no image management without behavior management. Jon Iwata IBM

If you believe the brand = culture, then it's vital to equip employees to understand the unique and enduring character of the brand - so they can embody it in everything they touch, create, think and do. Keith Yamashita

Authenticity, for me, is doing what you promise not being who you are. Seth Godin

A strong brand binds us internally and differentiates us externally.

Change almost never fails because it's too early. It almost always fails because it's too late. Seth Godin

Six career secrets: 1. There is no plan. 2. Think strengths, not weaknesses. 3. It's not about you. 4. Persistence trumps talent. 5. Make excellent mistakes. 6. Leave in Imprint.

Look into a microscope with one eye and a telescope with the other.

The secret to great work is passion, persuasion and perseverance.

[فادي · Rating 4 out of 5]

لا أعمل في مجال التصميم بشكل مباشر، لكني أحبّ فهم آلية العمل واختيار الألوان والترتيب للماركات والشعارات العالمية والفلسفة التي ورائها.
هذا الكتاب مهم ومفيد لكل مصمم، كاتب محتوى، ناشر، ليعرف التقنيات المتبعة في تصميم الشعارات.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Designing Brand Identity is an enlightening and helpful resource on the branding process. Its author, Alina Wheeler, is a brand consultant and branding speaker with an obviously exhaustive knowledge of her field.

Trouble is, she is just that: a brand consultant/speaker, not a writer. That may sound harsh, but one read through her book will justify my position. Designing Brand Identity is not written in the typical, straight-forward prose fashion one might expect. Rather, each two-page spread consists of an introductory paragraph, a usually poorly designed graphic, and then lists. My God, the lists. Wheeler creates lists on every topic presented in the book, from "branding imperatives" to "qualities of an effective name" to the project management process. Each of the lists contains so much information, and so much overlap with other lists, that the reader is left with a profound sense of inundation. These lists do at least help to inform the reader of the branding process, but surely a more straightforward prose approach would have been far more accessible and pleasant to read.

I mentioned overlap in information presented in the lists. This is also true of the topics presented in the book. Without clearly defining individual terms she uses, Wheeler recycles similar language for a number of subjects, blurring the line between them and making it difficult to understand exactly what, for example, the exact difference between brand positioning, brand value, and brand message are. As these are fundamentals of branding, her lack of clarity in explaining them proves detrimental.

To make the reader's understanding even less cohesive, Wheeler starkly separates information in the one area in which it could use more overlap and integration: examples. "Part 3" of the book presents case studies of companies whose branding processes exemplify the best practices she details throughout Parts 1 and 2. However, the book would benefit immensely from integrating these examples into Parts 1 and 2. Instead, Parts 1 and 2 present abstracted theory about branding, without grounding it at all in real-life examples, and thus again make it difficult to understand how these theories are to actually be applied.

All that is not to say that the book is useless. On the contrary, I found that Designing Brand Identity greatly enhanced my understanding of the entire branding process. However, this was likely due to my relative ignorance on the topic; thus, the book may only be useful to those with a similarly novice understanding of branding. Furthermore, the book is a difficult read for anyone from novices to branding experts due to the reasons given above. While I read David Airey's "Logo Design Love" (an infinitely more cohesive guide to designing logos) in two days, reading Designing Brand Identity took roughly 1.5 months. Wheeler would do well to read Airey's book for a stellar example of how best to present a design-related topic in a way that doesn't overwhelm and frustrate the reader.

[Olya Zakharyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so glad I found this great guide just on time! it’s definitely helpful as the processes of brand building are described clearly. and I’ll surely get back to some parts of the book many, many times in the future.

[Wrenaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a great and helpful book to reference, but not very conducive to reading straight through. There are lots of lists and examples throughout the book which is great for quick digestion but not easily retained if going through large chunks of the book at a time. The writing style is rather dry/corporate-like, but lays out the branding process clearly and thoroughly.

In short, it's an excellent reference to add to your design collection and come back to whenever you need a refresher on brand process.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the examples provided in this book were really interesting, and I enjoyed the organization and nuance into what goes into a typical branding process. I did however find the writing style to impede on my comprehension. I found it strange that there were random key words on the side, with the main body text disjunct from this. Overall, I was able to see a more holistic perspective on branding, but I'm left with a bit of a headache for doing so.

[Ahmad Badghaish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it’s one of the best books I’ve read in visualizing brand identity. However, the content of the book isn’t technically deep, but enjoyable.

[Márcio Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foi um livro que levou algum tempo a ser lido, pois de tempos em tempos tornava-se uma ferramenta de trabalho. É uma boa fonte de consulta, para quando (no meu caso) necessitava a reflectir sobre o processo de design. É um bom complemento de informação, embora na sua forma sucinta. Aconselho a qualquer designer que esteja no começo da sua estada pelo design, neste caso mais particular, do design de identidade.

[Alexander K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using this book as my main reference during a brand architecture strategy shift.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a guide, but a scrapbook of trite lists and excessive quotes. Chock full of empty business-speak and devoid of any attempt to actually teach anything.

[saraanshauthor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is enough to explode your mind and surprisingly bring tears in guilt with elevated knowledge, methods and case studies on the branding process. This book is divided into three parts: Basics, Process and Best Practices.

The first part might have been heard, observed or searched from social media and your respective workplaces.

The second part will shake you to realise that learning about branding stands you nowhere. Process and planning takes a great bandwidth.

The third part will bring ease in understanding the second part. It's okay. The process may get wrong, slow, change or just get successful.

NON FICTION BOOK TOUCHED MY HEART

I went through mental trauma when I was fresher in the corporate world after graduation in 2020. I had heard about marketing, but not about branding until I joined an internship in the Marketing firm, but soon I realised that I might be incapable of serving the marketing companies.

However I was not clear about why I felt this way.

I was broke, but I couldn't stop to find the right answer. I found some answers through other job experiences and connecting with the book community, but this book brought a more clear image

This book reminded me of my past experience and environment. The second part of the book taught about team work and the creative process.

I was wrong there, but I guess only employees are not supposed to be freshers, employers are too.

UNEASINESS TO PAY ATTENTION ON

This book is organised, but still bombarded with guidance and information as branding covers multidimensional concepts. Thus, the reading experience is not easy and memorable. It is a comprehensive book, but her writing style can't help you to attain all the teachings forever and at once.

You can't just read and left it. You need to carry this book at every step for your office project or for your personal project until you naturally become good to design a blueprint for the future of his/her vision.

I read the 4th edition (2013) and this book keeps revising. Probably, the examples of the first part of the book, old logos(which are updated currently) and case studies of the third part may elevate.

WHO CAN READ THIS BOOK?
Graphic designers with serious career planning, any employees who want to educate themselves for working with the creative team and business owners/entrepreneurs must read this book to understand that a single person cannot run a business.

[⭐Hiroko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an incredible tool for the aspiring brand professional, small business or really any person or entity working to create a plan around branding and logo identity. It has many visual examples and is a good book to pull ideas from. Reads a bit like a text book, but it helps to securely reinstate what I already know about the fundamentals of design. I've been using it as a reference material, but it can be a super quick/easy study guide for anyone to understand the basic concept of what makes strong branding identity and how to make it successful.

[Melaniee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely helpful and has a lot of insight on the topic. There are many real life examples, questions you could ask yourself at the current stage you're at at the designing process. However it's not an easy read, i don't know if it's me but at times i kept losing focus. The language that it's written in it's not a language one might expect ( straight-forward prose type of language).
By any means i'm not saying this book is bad, all i'm saying is keep this in mind when u decide to pick up the book.
It was definitely a useful one and i will come back to it whenever i need some tips and tricks.

[Anca Barbu · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Form and counterform. Light and tension. Expanded meaning that is not exhausted at first glance”

[Danah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great and valuable resource. I keep this around me because it's that type of book that you go back to when you need help or specific information. It's a step-by-step guide on how to create a successful brand. It has great brand development strategies (that actually work) so it's perfect for anyone who's willing to start a brand from scratch and anyone who's involved in the brand cycle. I also highly recommend it to the beginners in the industry because it gives you an overall view into the field and it covers most aspects of business.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book with lots of pictures and examples and formatted in an interesting way! kind of felt like a manual/guide. but it wasn't what I was looking for, hence the 3 star rating. I wanted a graphic design theory book but got this by accident XD

[em_wemily · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

It only took me half a year to finally finish this...
I found this far less useful to me than I had hoped for due to the following reasons:

This is less of a how-to book for entrepreneurs who are trying to design a brand and more for school students that are trying to learn about the branding industry. The definitions and examples in here are far more applicable in a corporate environment than in a start-up one. There was talk of CEOs and stakeholders, project managers and design teams, etc.

The organization of this book felt strange, specifically the page design. The texts and images were scattered across the pages with little to no uniformity in their presentation throughout the book. There were large quotes that split some pages in two and images of varying size whose positioning constantly seemed to change. Each pair of pages, which fell under one unifying theme like "color" or "typography," felt like a collage of words and images that all related to the theme but had no real cohesion beyond that.

Then there were sections that contained fluff information or just strange tips, like on page 45, where Wheeler wrote "Not every culture has a nationality," which wasn't even advice from Wheeler herself but a quote taken from an HSBC advertisement. And that brings me to my next point:

This book overflowed with quotes. I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing to include quotes from industry leaders, but there were also quotes from "anonymous." And regardless of where the quotes came from, their constant appearance gave me the sense that Wheeler opted to copy-paste a bunch of relevant resources rather than curating the information for her book. I felt like this again when she provided a list of "ephemera" that one might give out at a trade show, including some pretty odd stuff like flying saucers, lint removers, stones, and piñatas. She took this list from the "Advertising Specialty Institute."

That said, there were some things that I found useful for someone hoping to apply principles of good branding on a much smaller scale, including:
- characteristics of memorable logos
- the thought process used to make such logos
- different types of good logos (& examples)
- Starting points when brainstorming good brand names
- considerations when scouting competition
- the importance of color theory in good branding

Another positive was that everything in this book was clear, albeit a little boring.

Overall, this reads like a textbook for a hypothetical "Intro to Branding" class. I found some parts of it useful, but I would not recommend this to entrepreneurs looking to improve their business tactics, unless they were specifically looking to use one particular section as a reference. I definitely would not recommend reading it cover to cover the way I did.

[Atul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brand is the gut feeling about the product, service, or company. Brand creates perception. Without perception, there is no brand. Brand is not just a logo. It's how the business or company is looked as or perceived as by the people.

Want to create a brand? Start by asking these questions:
Who are you?
Who needs to know?
Why should they care?
How will they find out?

The major function of brand are:

1. Navigation: Brand helps customers choose from extravagant amount of options
2.Reassurance: Brand communicates the intrinsic and extrinsic values of the business and product to the customer and reassures customers on their purchase
3. Engagement: Brands help customer to engage and identify with the brand.

This book is undoubtedly packed with tons of information about design and branding process, and fundamentally tries to answer the question, Why does it takes so long to create a solid brand identity?

I learned a lot from this book, especially from the last chapter about the case studies of the branding process of Fortune Top 100 companies and figures.

My only issue is that the author, Alina Wheeler, is a great brand strategist but not a great writer. The book is difficult to read and the formatting is blizzar. The first two chapters, although informative, is very boring to read. I would suggest that the case studies and examples of chapter 3 should be incorporated with the earlier chapters so that readers like myself can have a holistic experience reading the book.

All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone, who is interested in branding or connected to branding process somehow.

[Stefanie Sugia · Rating 4 out of 5]

So... recently I've been reading design books as reference for my thesis, which is why I've got less time to read fiction books. While I feel guilty with the lack of review posts on this blog, I thought why not review some of the books I read for my thesis? These are also books, anyway. So here goes the first one ^^ Designing Brand Identity is a book written by Alina Wheeler and the first edition has been published since 2003 (I think). Over the years, she added new things and republished the book into a new edition. This one I'm reading is the fourth (and newest) edition, published last year - so the content is very updated. Thankfully, my campus library has this one available, so I can save money while gaining knowledge (because it's so expensive). And now, let's talk about the book.

Basically, the book is divided into 3 parts:

Part 1: Basics.
Presents the fundamental concepts needed to jumpstart the brand identity process and create a shared vocabulary for the entire team.

Part 2: Process.
Presents a universal brand identity process regardless of the project's scope and nature. This section answers the question "Why does it take so long?"

Part 3: Best Practices
Showcases best practices. Local and global, public and private, these projects inspire and exemplify original, flexible, lasting solutions.

Read the full review here:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2014/0...

[Dmitry · Rating 1 out of 5]

(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)

О, да! Эта книга «прекрасна». Все знаю, что такое Coffee Table Book? Я думаю, многие видели подобные книги в местах ожидания. Такие книги несут минимум информации, но зато имеют множество разных фотографий и/или графиков (инфографика). Я никогда не думал, что можно создать такую вот Coffee Table Book на тему брендинга. Однако оказалось, что это возможно и данная книга является наилучшим примером.

Честно сказать, я шокирован таким количеством положительных оценок как на сайте GoodReads так и на сайте Amazon. Такое ощущение, что мы читали совершенно разную книгу, ибо книга совершенно пустая. Да! Я хочу подчеркнуть, книга абсолютно пустая, в ней нет никакой ценной информации. Мне даже жаль, что на издание этой книги ушло некоторое количество деревьев. Определённо их можно было сохранить, как сохранить моё время, что я потратил на чтение этой недокниги.

Ну, начнём с того, что как заметил один читатель, автор чуть ли не специально подбирала самые сложные слова, чтобы с помощью их выразить простые, в общем-то, идеи. Поэтому даже то небольшое количество текста, что имеется в книге, написано так сложно, что бросить читать хочется уже через 5-10 минут. Выбранный автором стиль написания книги напоминает мне корпоративный стиль, который так часто используется на сайтах компаний и презентационных материалах. Такой компаративистский стиль изложения как будто специально используется корпорациями, чтобы отбить всякое желание читать и вдаваться в подробности того, что корпорация хочет сказать. То же самое справедливо и в отношении этой книги.

Второй момент заключается в том, что книга представляет собой словарь маркетинговых терминов. Каждые две страницы посвящены какому-то одному термину. Например, дифференцирование, бренд, эмблема, социальные сети, видео, маркетинговые исследования, удобство пользования, App, частные марки, цвета, упаковка, униформа (для сотрудников) и так далее. На каждую такую тему отводится где-то от 4 до 9 предложений. Всё остальное занимают красивые фотографии, графики, логотипы и прочая инфографика. Плюс, на каждой странице автор публикует цитаты людей, коими зачастую являются никому не известные CEO и прочие сотрудники различных компаний. Эти цитаты, типичные фразы типа «Pay as much attention to the process as to the content». Т.е. по существу, красивые, но пустые фразы, которые забываешь сразу, как только прочитал их. Да, внедрены эти фразы и вся инфографика в каждую страниц довольно качественно. Если книгу не читать, а просто листать, рассматривая картинки, коих в книге больше чем текста, то создаётся ощущение высокого качества книги. Т.е. создаётся иллюзия, что книга чем-то ценна, что она стоит тех денег, что за неё просят. Это иллюзия. Книга подходит только в качестве бесплатного раздаточного материала на какой-нибудь международной конференции по маркетингу!

Третий момент, книга не способна научить ни брендингу, ни дизайну. Да и цели такой у книги нет. Это просто красивая пустая рекламная брошюра.

P.S. Рецензия написана на 5 английское издание этой книги. Российское издание этой книги за 2009 год является переводом со второго издания книги.

Oh, yes! This book is "wonderful." Does everyone know what a Coffee Table Book is? I think a lot of people have seen books like this in waiting areas. These books have minimal information but have lots of pictures and/or graphics (infographics). I never thought it would be possible to create such a Coffee Table Book on the subject of branding. However, it turned out to be possible, and this book is the best example.

Frankly, I am shocked by so many positive reviews on both GoodReads and Amazon. It feels like we have read a completely different book because this book is completely empty. Yes! I want to emphasize, that the book is completely empty, there is no valuable information in it. I'm even sorry that it took some trees to publish this book. Definitely, they could have been saved, like saving the time that I spent reading this quasi-book.

Well, to begin with, as one reader noted, the author almost purposely chose the most difficult words to express simple ideas with them. That is why even the small amount of text in the book is so complex that you want to quit reading after 5-10 minutes. The author's chosen writing style reminds me of the corporate style so often used on company Web sites and presentation materials. It is as if such a comparativist style of presentation is deliberately used by corporations to discourage any desire to read and go into detail about what the corporation has to say. The same is true of this book.

The second point is that the book is a glossary of marketing terms. Every two pages are devoted to one term. For example, differentiation, brand, logo, social media, video, market research, usability, App, private label, colors, packaging, uniforms (for employees), and so on. There are somewhere between 4 and 9 sentences per subject. The rest is taken up by beautiful photographs, charts, logos, and other infographics. In addition, on each page, the author publishes quotes from people who are often unknown CEOs and other employees of various companies. These quotes are typical phrases like "Pay as much attention to the process as to the content. That is, essentially beautiful but empty phrases that you forget as soon as you read them. Yes, these phrases and all the infographics on each page are implemented quite well. If you don't read the book, but just leaf through it, looking at the pictures, which are more in the book than the text, you get the feeling of a high-quality book. That is, it creates the illusion that the book is worth something, that it's worth the money they're asking for it. This is an illusion. The book is only suitable as a free handout at some international marketing conference!

The third point is that the book can teach neither branding nor design. Moreover, the book has no such goal. It is just a beautiful, empty advertising brochure.

P.S. The review was written for the 5th English edition of this book. The Russian 2009 edition of this book is a translation from the second edition of the book.

[Simon Håkansson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filled to the brim with marketing wank and business-speak to appeal to the clueless CEO demographic; every page is peppered with smarmy quotes from CEO's and marketers that have nothing concrete to say. The circle-based diagrams found throughout the book look like something out of a boardroom powerpoint presentation.
If you ignore all of the corporate fluff the tome does contain quite a bit of useful information, but it could easily have been reduced to a much neater handbook with no actual loss of instruction (but it wouldn't look as impressive on the CEO's desk).

[ریچارد · Rating 5 out of 5]

راه حل سریع برای اینکه بدونید برند رو چه کار کنید

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Wheeler's approach to the subject and her ideas about aligning organizations behind a common goal/message. A good book for this topic.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A terrible amount of vague management language, a lot of repetition, and random (inspirational) quotes. But if you can sift through that, there are some nuggets of wisdom...

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhhhhh. Some valuable info buried underneath a lot of corporate bullshit. It used the word "synergy" multiple times without irony. Lots of jargon, perfect for the "big ideas" guy in every meeting.

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

complete guide on how to make a brand, from the research process until how to publish. Would read again, but I lend it on a library which makes me unable to have this all the time sigh.

[Amir Noferesti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team is a book written by Alina Wheeler, a branding expert, and author. The book provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and implementing effective brand identity design strategies to create a consistent and compelling brand image.

The book begins by explaining the importance of brand identity and its role in creating a strong brand. Wheeler then delves into the key elements of brand identity design, including logo design, typography, color, and imagery. She also provides strategies for creating a consistent brand identity across all touchpoints, including packaging, digital, and physical environments.

One of the strengths of the book is its practical approach, with a wide range of real-world examples and case studies used to illustrate the concepts discussed. The author also provides a variety of tools and templates that can be used to develop and implement brand identity design strategies.

Overall, Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team is a valuable guide for anyone working in branding, design, or marketing. It provides a thorough understanding of the key concepts and strategies necessary for creating and managing effective brand identity design and is an excellent resource for both experienced professionals and students of design and branding. The book is well-organized and easy to follow, making it a great reference guide for anyone looking to understand the process of creating a brand identity.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Brand is not what you say it is. It's what they say it is." - Marty Neumeier

"A brand becomes stronger when you narrow the focus." - Al Ries and Laura Ries

"Good social media is the difference between teaching a class and hosting a great party." - George Eberstadt

"Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought." - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

"Look into a microscope with one eye and a telescope with the other." - Blake Deutsch

From researching the competition to translating the vision of the CEO, to designing and implementing an integrated brand identity programme, the meticulous development process of designing a brand identity is presented through a highly visible step-by-step approach in five phases.

I'm not sure what I was expecting with this book. It was interesting and beautifully presented, but it felt like a guidebook that would have been hugely beneficial to utilize in a step-by-step practical branding process. It wasn't exactly riveting reading for learning without that practical element. The lists and laying out of each process felt redundant and exhausting at times, but again, I think this would be more helpful as a guidebook for a project.

[Ionut Decebal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incredibly shallow... It tries to cover a lot of concepts, but in doing so it fails to explain properly any of them. I wouldn't recommend it really. It will either leave you feeling satisfied if you're just looking to feel a bit smarter short term and say you've read another branding book, but it will leave you very frustrated if you are looking for real value and understanding. You won't gain any real understanding of any of the concepts mentioned in the book, and you will have a hard time trying to research a lot of them as she doesn't use industry-wide terms. I'm sorry for my negativity, but I truly think you should look somewhere else if you really want to learn about branding as the writing and planning in this book is very sloppy.

The only reason for the 2 stars, is that the book is mildly visually interesting, and it could be useful if you are looking for a super quick list of what a branding identity is.