A thoughtfully articulated Corporate Identity is an essential part of any organisation today.
The effects of a well-articulated Corporate Identity document are transformational to a business.
As a company specialising in crafting and implementing Corporate Identities for our clients, we’ve seen first-hand how our work transforms businesses suffering from a lack of internal identity, purpose, and value awareness.
With a clearly defined corporate identity; organisations are positioned to dominate their market, ignite their growth potential, simplify internal communication and adopt a guiding compass to execute their Purpose. Teams understand their place and impact within the organisation, begin to operate more harmoniously and act with greater autonomy.
Your Corporate Identity Document is the articulation of the value, experience, knowledge and creative skill, unique to your organisation.
However, The Words That Make Up A Corporate Identity Are Less Than Half Of The Story
The visual component of a Corporate Identity is fundamental to the successful execution of your identity across your organisation.
If you don’t include visual definitions of your corporate identity, then the overall intent and message behind your internal communications are not going to have the full impact you’re after.
As an Identity Development Agency, we often get asked: “Why does my internal corporate identity require visuals?”
The fact is, that the Visual component is the most important aspect of the Corporate Identity. The visual component brings the Corporate Identity from words on the page to being embraced as the shared corporate language.
Quite simply, If you can’t see it, then you can’t fully engage with it or live it.
In this article, we’re going to delve into why a complete Corporate Identity document requires not just words and definitions, but also visual elements like brand colours, fonts, and photography.
“It’s A Corporate Identity. It’s Internal. If It Isn’t Audience-Facing, Why Do We Need Visuals?”
As an agency that specialises in developing comprehensive corporate identity documents, this is a very common question we get when we mention the visual components.
It’s easy to assume that defining your purpose and internal culture is just about putting together a framework of words for everyone to learn and memorise.
You may also be thinking, “Visuals like pictures, logos and colours are only for our customers and our external brand.”
While that’s true, your internal teams (just like your external audience) are humans. Both need messaging and visuals for an identity to truly be acquired and embraced.
So, our answer to this common question is: Words alone don’t make up your voice, they don’t add tone or expression to your culture or the way you engage.
Roughly 80% of how people absorb information comes from their visual perception.
If the people in your organisation can’t visualise your Corporate Identity, they can’t mirror or mimic the desired behaviours, and they can’t reflect in them the values, value proposition and organisational affinity required to transform your organisation.
After all, that’s why you develop a corporate identity in the first place.
Remember, Your Employees Are As Much An Audience As Your External Customers.
No matter how compelling or well-crafted, a page covered in words isn’t going to compel someone to read and remember them.
If you stick exclusively to the words alone, as noble as your intentions are, those documents will stay in the top drawer. So, just as you aim to connect with your public audience with visuals, you also want to lift that corporate messaging off the page too.
That’s Where The Visual Articulation Of Your Corporate Identity Comes In
The true power of a well-defined corporate identity comes when you can connect with teams and inspire them.
This means you need to use every opportunity to engage with these stakeholders, so they not only retain the information but also have a helpful aid to reinforce the message. In this regard, words are not enough.
You Cannot Credibly Articulate Your Corporate Identity Without Visual Expression
Like most organisations, you will already have some form of the words you want to use.
For instance, the fundamentals of a corporate identity document often have worded definitions for elements like:
- Unifying central position
- Corporate mission, vision and purpose
- Associated objectives and negative associations
- Corporate pride
- Corporate culture
- Corporate differentiators
- Corporate social responsibility
From here, it’s about amplifying those words with a visual reflection to make the messaging truly memorable and relatable to your employees.
To give you an idea, the visual components of a typically cover elements like:
- Colour, font & graphic elements
- Corporate imagery
- An organisation-wide visual tone
- A corporate collateral expression
- An internal communication tone
- A collective visual expression;
- Even down to the way you brand your offices and meeting rooms
As you can see, visually representing who you are, what you stand for and how you behave will help make your purpose clearer to all stakeholders.
How Does A Company Use Visuals Within The Corporate Setting?
Now that you understand why visuals are essential to a complete corporate identity document, let’s discuss how to implement them.
As an example, your Corporate Identity might define that your team is highly collaborative and that you value the benefits of working closely together to produce great results.
In this instance, you may then choose imagery to show actual photos of your real team, working together in a natural setting. Now, your HR team has guidelines on how to show your team how you value inter-team collaboration.
But, not just the imagery, it’s the setting, the tone of the expression, the unspoken messages between the participants and the messaging overlayed on the imagery.
This is then communicated and mirrored back to the organisation and reinforced in a variety of ways:
- value cards
- screen savers
- extranets and website
- collateral around the work environment
- pro forma slides in internal training and communication documents.
Anything that serves the sole purpose of taking the identity from the page to the subconscious of your employees so the desired behaviours are not just understood but are reflected by everyone.
The words you use are important. But visuals are essential to making your corporate identity three-dimensional.
If you need help articulating your corporate identity and enabling your employees with a deep understanding of your organisation’s purpose, then reach out to us at Font and Swatch.
Talk To Our Font & Swatch Corporate Identity Experts
Your Corporate Identity is a strategic foundation for your organisation to articulate its purpose, unite your team and provide a stronger sense of purpose.
At Font & Swatch, our expert Corporate Identity Developers drill down to the core of why you do what you do and unlock the true essence of your organisation.
From the words that describe the key tenets that drive your business to the visuals that amplify them, our team will craft an authentic Corporate Identity that encourages unity and loyalty among staff, stakeholders and customers.
Our Corporate Identity Developers will ensure that your organisation thrives in this ultra-competitive, high-stakes commercial world by building a meaningful, purpose-driven line of communication with customers and stakeholders alike.
At Font & Swatch, We Work To Unlock The True Power Of Your Brand. Let’s Make Your Brand Remarkable.
- An initial discussion is exactly what you need to set you on the course to success. Mail us at create@fontandswatch.com
- For more information and to get the results your enterprise deserves, contact the team at Font & Swatch today.
