Brand Identity · Visual system · Component
The distinctive assets
The elements that carry recognition, identified rather than assumed — because most of a visual system is styling and a small part of it is memory.
The deliverable
What it is
Recognition attaches to a few specific elements rather than to the system as a whole. Identifying which ones is an empirical question and is usually answered by assumption.
The test is whether people attribute the element to the brand when the name is removed. Elements that fail it are decoration and can be changed freely; elements that pass it are assets and changing them costs recognition.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The assets
Each element that carries recognition on its own.
3 attributes: Asset · Asset type · In use for
LearnThe recognition
How strongly the asset is attributed to the brand.
3 attributes: Correctly attributed · Misattributed · Measured
LearnThe protection
What protects the asset, legally and practically.
3 attributes: IP registration · Change authority · Practical risk
Learn
Show the element without the name and ask who it belongs to. Everything that fails is styling, not an asset.
The other components in visual system
The specifications
Colour, type, spacing and construction in values that can be reproduced exactly — because the system will be applied by people who never spoke to anyone about it.
LearnThe application rules
How the system behaves in the difficult cases — small sizes, dark backgrounds, third-party templates — because the easy cases were never the problem.
Learn