I’ve been delving on brand strategy for crafting visual identities, but it feels like an overwhelming topic. The visual aspect of a brand is a whole area, and building the foundations of said visual identity with strategy is another whole specialization.
Can you be a brand strategist AND a visual identity graphic designer at the same time without loosing your mind? Are there any books that help with this both strategy and how to translate it to the visual area?
Visual branding is a subset of a more comprehensive approach to branding that involves huge amounts of market research, the kind that various specialists do. I’ve been involved in several of these bigger branding projects, where, in addition to designers, we contracted with survey and polling companies, other companies to conduct focus groups, and people with advertising, marketing, and business degrees. We even hired a psychologist for one project.
All this and more is clearly beyond the ability of one person. I think a good designer could lead an effort like this, but they would find themselves in roles more akin to project leaders and producers than designers.
On the flip side, there are clients who only want a logo, and that’s about it. There’s also a middle ground of strategic visual identity that’s more than creating a logo and determining brand colors but less than a full-blown brand development project where design is only one component of the project.
I think every designer should approach even the simplest visual branding projects with strategic goals in mind. Depending on budget and needs, this strategic approach can be relatively simple or more in-depth.
You asked about books. David Airey (the guy who wrote Logo Design Love) has a new book out titled Identity Designed, The Process. It delves into how to take a more strategic approach to visual design and its implementation. Coincidentally, I read it about three weeks ago.
Amazing insights! Strategy not only seems like a whole area, it’s a entire world of knowledge! Maybe I shouldn’t lean too much on it. I do agree that having some strategy foundations are very much needed, to know what to do with that information and translate it into the visual identity. That book seems like good starting point, thank you!