Revised and updated sixth edition of the best-selling guide to branding fundamentals, strategy, and process.

Its harder than ever to be the brand of choicein many markets, technology has lowered barriers to entry, increasing competition. Everything is digital and the need for fresh content is relentless. Decisions that used to be straightforward are now complicated by rapid advances in technology, the pandemic, political polarization, and numerous social and cultural changes.

The sixth edition ofDesigning Brand Identity has been updated throughout to address the challenges faced by branding professionals today. This best-selling book demystifies branding, explains the fundamentals, and gives practitioners a roadmap to create sustainable and successful brands. With each topic covered in a single spread, the book celebrates great design and strategy while adding new thinking, new case studies, and future-facing, global perspectives.

Organized into three sectionsbrand fundamentals, process basics, and case studiesthis revised edition includes:Over 100 branding subjects, checklists, tools, and diagramsMore than 50 all-new case studies that describe goals, process, strategy, solutions, and resultsNew content on artificial intelligence, virtual reality, social justice, and evidence-based marketingAdditional examples of the best/most important branding and design work of the past few yearsOver 700 illustrations of brand touchpointsMore than 400 quotes from branding experts, CEOs, and design gurus

Whether youre the project manager for your companys rebrand or you need to educate your staff or students about brand fundamentals,Designing Brand Identity is the quintessential resource. From research to brand strategy, design execution to launch and governance,Designing Brand identity is a compendium of tools for branding success and best practices for inspiration.

Alina Wheeler is a branding consultant who engages enterprises in a dynamic process to build their brands and embrace best practices. Wheeler inspires the whole branding team to seize every opportunity to design compelling customer experiences at every touchpoint. Her best-selling book,Designing Brand Identity, published in 11 languages, was the first book to deconstruct the branding process into a universal, five-phase methodology. She is a past Board member of AIGA and a member of the advisory council for The Dictionary of Brand. She speaks frequently to executives, practitioners, and students around the world. She is also the co-author ofBrand Atlas: Branding Intelligence Made Visible.

Rob Meyerson is principal and founder of Heirloom, an independent brand strategy and identity firm. His specialties include naming, brand strategy, brand architecture, and messaging, and past clients include Adobe, John Deere, Disney, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Prior to Heirloom, Rob's previous roles included head of brand architecture and naming at HP, director of verbal identity at Interbrand in San Francisco, and director of strategy at FutureBrand, Southeast Asia. Rob is the author ofBrand Naming: The Complete Guide to Creating a Name for Your Company, Product, or Service and has published articles about brand strategy and naming inHarvard Business Review, Business Insider, The Guardian, TechCrunch, andEntrepreneur.

Basics

Part 1 presents the fundamental concepts needed to kick-start the branding process and creates a shared vocabulary for the entire team.

Brand Basics

2 Brand

4 Branding

6 Brand identity

8 Brand strategy

10 Why invest

12 Stakeholders

14 Organizational culture

16 Brand experience

18 Brand architecture

20 Visual identity

22 Messaging and voice

24 Brand governance

Brand ideals

26 Overview

28 Vision

30 Meaning

32 Authenticity

34 Coherence

36 Flexibility

38 Commitment

40 Value

42 Differentiation

44 Longevity

Brand Elements

46 Names

48 Brandmarks

50 Wordmarks

52 Letterform marks

54 Pictorial marks

56 Abstract marks

58 Emblems

60 Dynamic marks

62 Taglines

64 Characters

Brand dynamics

66 Overview

68 Social justice

70 Sustainability

72 Global and local

74 Artificial intelligence

76 Big data analytics

78 Social media

80 Digital interfaces

82 Mobile apps

84 Evidence-based marketing

86 Private labeling

88 Brand licensing

90 Certification

92 Crisis communications

94 Personal branding

Before and after

96 Overview

98 Brandmark redesign

102 Packaging redesign

104 Renaming

Process

Part 2 presents a universal process regardless of the projects scope and nature. This section answers the question Why does it take so long?

Process basics

108 Overview

110 Managing the process

112 Brand initiatives

114 Measuring success

116 Collaboration

118 Decision making

120 Intellectual property

122 Design management

Phase 1 Conducting research

124 Overview

126 Defining the problem

128 Market research

130 Usability testing

132 Marketing audit

134 Competitive audit

136 Verbal audit

138 Findings report

Phase 2 Clarifying strategy

140 Overview

142 Narrowing the focus

144 Positioning

146 Brand brief

148 Naming

Phase 3 Designing identity

150 Overview

152 Identity system design

154 Look and feel

156 Color

158 Typography

160 Iconography

162 Sound

164 Other senses

166 Trial applications

168 Presentation

Phase 4 Creating touchpoints

170 Overview

172 Content strategy

174 Website

176 Collateral

178 Stationery

180 Product design

182 Packaging

184 Advertising

186 Branded environments

188 Signage and wayfinding

190 Vehicles

192 Uniforms

194 Ephemera

Phase 5 Managing assets

196 Overview

198 Changing brand assets

200 Launching

202 Building brand champions

204 Online brand centers

206 Guidelines

208 Guidelines content

210 Brand books

Best Practices

Part 3 showcases best practices. Local and global, public and private, these projects inspire and exemplify original, flexible, lasting solutions.

Case studies

214 AC Milan

216 Adventr

218 Airbnb China

220 Algramo

222 Batiste

224 Better Place Forests

226 Bcg X

228 Campbell

230 Chobani

232 City of Vienna

234 Deloitte

236 DonorsChoose

238 DuPont

240 Eames Institute

242 Eat Curious

244 82nd Street Partnership

246 Filthy

248 Folx

250 Fremtind

252 Gentari

254 Gsk

256 Helen of Troy

258 High Street Market& Deli

260 Hootsuite

262 Hopscotch

264 Human Rights First

266 Italicus

268 Jodrell Bank

270 KatKin

272 Kia

274 Lavish Pizza

276 Lego

278 Longfu

280 Lucid Motors

282 Lumanity

284 The Mellon Foundation

286 Oli!

288 oLiv

290 OneTen

292 Pan-Afrikan Design Institute

294 Papier

296 Perth Airport

298 Petbarn

300 Piedmont Art Walk

302 Saga

304 Salehiya

306 Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

308 Sense

310 Spotify

312 Sun Day Carwash

314 US Open

316 Viva