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KS4J834 R094 TA1 and TA2 26 min read 10 question quiz 15 exam marks

R094 TA1: Visual Identity and Planning

Interpreting the brief, researching, developing a visual identity and planning the graphic properly. Internally assessed, so this is about what the criteria reward.

What visual identity is

Visual identity is the set of visual elements that make an organisation recognisable and that communicate what it stands for.

ElementWhat it covers
LogoThe primary mark, plus any variations: stacked, horizontal, icon only, single colour
Colour paletteA primary colour, one or two secondaries, and a neutral range, defined as values
TypographyA heading face and a body face, with the sizes and weights used
Imagery styleThe kind of photography or illustration, and how it is treated
Tone of voiceFormal, playful, premium, plain spoken
Spacing and layoutThe grid, the margins, and the clear space kept around the logo

Logo types worth naming

  • Wordmark — the name itself, styled. Google, Coca-Cola
  • Lettermark — initials. BBC, IBM
  • Pictorial mark — a recognisable object. Apple, Shell
  • Abstract mark — a shape with no literal meaning. Nike, Pepsi
  • Mascot — a character
  • Combination mark — a symbol beside or above the name, which is the safest choice for a new brand because the symbol can later stand alone
A logo has to work at both extremes

Legible as a favicon at 16 pixels, and sharp on the side of a van. If it only works at one size it is not finished, which is why detail is removed rather than added as a logo develops.

The components of a visual identityA visual identity has four components and one thing that earns the marks. The logo is the single mark that must work at any size, in one colour, and be recognisable in a second. The colour palette is chosen for what the colours mean to the audience, so blue reads as trust and stability, and it must be checked for contrast. Typography is usually one display face and one readable body face, chosen so the tone matches the brand. Tone and consistency mean the same rules are applied across every product, from poster to website to social media. What separates a high band answer is justification against the brief: saying a colour was chosen because you like it scores nothing, while saying blue was chosen because the brief asks for a trustworthy and professional feel is the whole difference.What a visual identity is made ofLOGOWorks at any sizeWorks in one colourRecognisable in a secondMMsame mark, any sizeCOLOUR PALETTEChosen for associationBlue reads as trustChecked for contrastTYPOGRAPHYOne display faceOne readable body faceTone must match the brandHeadlineand the body text beneath itTONE AND CONSISTENCYThe same rules everywherePoster, web, social, printOne identity, many productsone identity across every productWHERE THE MARKS ARE"I chose blue because I like it"scores nothing"Blue because the brief asks for a trustworthy, professional feel"justification against the brief is the whole difference
R094 is marked on justification. Every choice you make needs a sentence tying it back to the client brief.
Six kinds of logoSix kinds of logo, each drawn with a note on what it asks of the audience. A wordmark is the organisation's name styled distinctively, and it needs a memorable name to work. A lettermark uses initials, which only functions if the audience already knows the organisation. A pictorial mark uses a recognisable real object, which needs the object to be genuinely relevant. An abstract mark is a shape with no literal meaning, which takes years of marketing spend before it means anything. A mascot is a character, which reads as friendly but is harder to scale down. A combination mark pairs a symbol with the name, which is the safest choice for a new brand because the name teaches the audience who you are and the symbol can later stand alone. Whichever type is chosen, the mark has to remain legible at sixteen pixels and in a single colour, which is why logos lose detail as they develop rather than gaining it.Six kinds of logo, and what each asks of the audienceKERNFORDWordmarkthe name, styled: needs a memorable nameKFLettermarkinitials: needs people to know them alreadyPictorial marka real object: needs a relevant oneAbstract marka shape with no meaning: needs years of spendMascota character: friendly, harder to scale downKERNFORDCombinationsymbol plus name: safest for a new brandWhichever you choose, it has to work at 16 pixels and in one colour.That is why logos lose detail as they develop rather than gaining it.
A combination mark is the safest first logo, because the name does the teaching until the symbol can stand alone.

Interpreting the brief and researching

Interpreting the brief

Write down, in your own words, what the brief actually requires:

  • The purpose of the graphic
  • The audience, in detail
  • The message it has to carry
  • The content that must appear: name, strapline, contact details, legal lines
  • The deliverables and their formats and sizes
  • The constraints: deadline, house style, print or screen, budget
  • The implicit requirements the brief does not state

Research that counts

TypeWhat to do with it
Competitor analysisThree or four direct competitors, analysed for colour, type and tone, with a note on what each is doing and what gap that leaves
Sector conventionsWhat the audience already expects from this kind of organisation
Audience researchWho they are, demographically and psychographically, and what they respond to
Visual researchColour, type, texture, photographic style, from anywhere relevant

The assessment rewards analysis, not collection. A screenshot with no comment is worth nothing; a screenshot with "this uses a cold blue and a geometric sans to look clinical, which suits a lab but would feel unwelcoming for a children's nursery" is worth a great deal.

Ideas generation

  1. Mind map to open the possibilities up
  2. Mood board, annotated, to fix the look and feel with the client
  3. Thumbnail sketches, at least six, quickly, before judging any of them
  4. Develop three distinct concepts, genuinely different rather than three versions of one
  5. Choose one, and justify the choice against the brief, the audience and the research
One idea is the most expensive mistake in this unit

Marks are explicitly available for exploring alternatives. A single polished concept with no alternatives caps the grade however good it is, and it also produces worse work, because the first idea is rarely the best one.

A worked, annotated mood boardAn annotated mood board for a bakery brief, headed 'established, hand made, not a chain', version 2. Six image tiles are laid out across the board, each with a note saying why it is there: a close shot of sourdough crust chosen as texture rather than as a product shot; a panel of dark green painted wood, which is the primary colour found rather than invented; a hand holding a paper bag, because hands appear in every shot to signal hand made; morning light on a counter, establishing that every shot is daylight; an unbleached paper swatch, which is the actual packaging stock; and pale leaves on white as the single accent, used sparingly. A palette strip gives four colours as hex values with their roles: 2F4A3A primary, D9CBB4 ground, 6B4A2F ink and 8C9C84 accent. Two typefaces are shown set rather than named: a high contrast serif for headings, chosen because every chain on the high street uses a geometric sans, and a humanist sans for body text set generously at a 16 pixel minimum. Underneath, what makes this a document rather than a scrapbook: images chosen for one stated quality each; colour given as values rather than as the word green; type shown set at a real size; texture and material included; one stated direction at the top that the whole board argues for; an annotation on every item saying why it is there and what it rules out; and a version and date, because the second board always differs from the first. An unannotated mood board scores almost nothing, because the annotation is the assessed part.Mood board: Northgate Bakery · v02 · “established, hand made, not a chain”Sourdough crust, closetexture, not a product shotDark green painted woodthe primary colour, foundHand holding a paper baghands in every shot: it is hand madeMorning light on a counterevery shot is daylightUnbleached paper swatchthe actual packaging stockPale leaves on whitethe one accent, used sparinglyPALETTE#2F4A3Aprimary#D9CBB4ground#6B4A2Fink#8C9C84accentTYPE, shown set rather than namedNorthgateheading: a high contrast serif, because every chain on the high street uses a geometric sansOpen from sixbody: a humanist sans, set generously, 16px minimumWHAT MAKES IT A DOCUMENT AND NOT A SCRAPBOOKImageschosen for one stated quality each, not because they are niceColouras values, never as the word “green”Typeshown set, at a real size, not named in a listTexture and materialpaper stock, paint, surfaceA stated directionone line at the top that the whole board argues forAnnotation on every itemwhy it is here, and what it rules outVersion and datebecause the second board always differs from the firstAn unannotated mood board scores almost nothing. The annotation is the entire assessed part.
Six images, four colour values, two typefaces set, and a reason beside every one of them.

Planning the graphic

The visualisation diagram

One per concept, annotated well enough that somebody else could produce the graphic without asking a question:

  • Canvas size and orientation, in millimetres for print or pixels for screen
  • Every colour as a value, #02848B or C92 M26 Y25 K9
  • Every font by name, weight and size, "Poppins SemiBold 42pt"
  • Position of every element, with measurements where they matter
  • Bleed and safe margins for anything printed
  • Annotations explaining the intention, not just labelling the parts

The asset table

AssetTypeSourceFormatDimensionsLicence
logo-markVectorOwn workSVGscalableOwn work
hero-photoRasterUnsplashJPG4000 x 2667Unsplash licence, commercial use permitted
heading-fontFontGoogle FontsWOFF2—SIL Open Font Licence

Every row completed, including fonts, because fonts are licensed software and a commercial project needs a licence that covers commercial use.

Technical planning

  • Decide RGB or CMYK now, from the destination, not at export
  • Decide vector or raster per element: the logo and type vector, photographs raster
  • Work out the resolution needed from the final physical size
  • Plan the file naming and versioning before the first save
What the top band looks like

Every decision traced to the brief. "The palette is a deep teal with a warm cream, because the client is a family run bakery wanting to read as established rather than trendy, and the warm neutral keeps it from looking corporate the way a cool grey would." Taste is never a justification; the brief always is.

What must be annotated on a visualisation diagramAn annotated visualisation diagram for an A4 portrait poster. The page itself shows a masthead band across the top, a hero image below it, five lines of body text and a rounded call to action button, with a dashed bleed area drawn outside the trim edge. Every element carries an annotation in the margin. On one side: the masthead is Poppins SemiBold at 42 point, the band is filled with the exact colour hash zero two eight four eight B, the image is the designer's own photograph released under CC zero, the body text is Inter Regular at 11 point on 15 point leading, and the button is filled with hash six F six two nine one with a 14 pixel corner radius. On the other side: the canvas is A4 portrait at 210 by 297 millimetres, the colour mode is CMYK at 300 pixels per inch, a 10 millimetre safe margin is marked, the layout sits on a two column grid with a 6 millimetre gutter, and the file will be exported as a press ready PDF. The test of the document is whether another designer could produce the poster from it without asking a question.A visualisation diagram: the annotations are the documentbleed 3mmMASTHEADhero image2480 x 1240 pxcall to actionMasthead: Poppins SemiBold 42ptFill #02848BImage: own photograph, CC0Body: Inter Regular 11pt / 15ptButton #6F6291, 14px radiusA4 portrait, 210 x 297 mmCMYK, 300 ppiSafe margin 10mmGrid: 2 columns, 6mm gutterExport: press-ready PDFIf another designer could not build it from your diagram, it is not finished
Exact colour values, named fonts with sizes, real dimensions. Writing 'blue' and 'a bold font' is where the marks go.
A completed asset tableA completed asset table, version 3, with the columns asset, type, source, format, dimensions, licence and cleared. The rows are: hero-shopfront, video, own footage, MP4, 1920 by 1080, own work, cleared on 14 March; logo-primary, vector, client supplied, SVG, scalable, client owned, cleared on 2 March; baker-portrait, image, own photograph, JPG, 4000 by 2667, own work, release signed on 9 March; bread-texture, image, from Unsplash, JPG, 3200 by 2133, Unsplash licence, cleared for commercial use; backing-track, audio, from the Free Music Archive, MP3, 2 minutes 14, Creative Commons BY 4.0, cleared with credit required; heading-font, font, from Google Fonts, WOFF2, SIL Open Font Licence, cleared. The last row is marked as a problem: street-shot-02, an image found on a blog, JPG, 1200 by 800, licence unknown, not cleared and marked do not use. That row is why the table exists: an asset with an unknown licence is not a risk to be managed but an asset that cannot be used, and it should be replaced immediately rather than in the week of the deadline. Two further points: fonts and music are both licensed and both routinely forgotten, and a recognisable person needs a release as well as a licence, which for anyone under sixteen must come from a parent or guardian.Asset table: Northgate Bakery · v03 · every asset, every licenceassettypesourceformatdimensionslicencecleared?hero-shopfrontVideoOwn footageMP41920×1080Own workYes — 14/03logo-primaryVectorClient suppliedSVGscalableClient ownedYes — 02/03baker-portraitImageOwn photographJPG4000×2667Own workRelease signed 09/03bread-textureImageUnsplashJPG3200×2133Unsplash licenceYes — commercial okbacking-trackAudioFree Music ArchiveMP32:14CC BY 4.0Yes — credit requiredheading-fontFontGoogle FontsWOFF2—SIL Open FontYesstreet-shot-02ImageFound on a blogJPG1200×800UnknownNO — do not useThe last row is why the table exists.An asset with an unknown licence is not a risk to be managed, it is an asset you cannot use. Replace it now, not in the week of the deadline.Fonts and music count. Both are licensed, both are routinely forgotten, and both are easy to check.A recognisable person needs a release as well as a licence, and for anyone under 16 that release comes from a parent.
The licence column is the one that is assessed, and the one that stops the work being unusable.

Key terms you must be able to define

Visual identity
The system of colour, typography, imagery and tone that makes an organisation recognisable.
Wordmark
A logo made from the organisation's name, styled distinctively.
Combination mark
A logo pairing a symbol with the name, so the symbol can later stand alone.
Mood board
An annotated collage establishing the intended look and feel.
Visualisation diagram
An annotated plan of a static graphic, detailed enough to work from.
Asset table
A record of every asset with its source, format, dimensions and licence.
Clear space
The minimum empty margin kept around a logo in any layout.
House style
The rules governing how a brand's fonts, colours and logo are used.

Flashcards

Say the definition out loud before you flip the card. Retrieving it from memory is what builds recall, reading it again is not.

DefineVisual identity
AnswerThe system of colour, typography, imagery and tone that makes an organisation recognisable.
DefineWordmark
AnswerA logo made from the organisation's name, styled distinctively.
DefineCombination mark
AnswerA logo pairing a symbol with the name, so the symbol can later stand alone.
DefineMood board
AnswerAn annotated collage establishing the intended look and feel.
DefineVisualisation diagram
AnswerAn annotated plan of a static graphic, detailed enough to work from.
DefineAsset table
AnswerA record of every asset with its source, format, dimensions and licence.
DefineClear space
AnswerThe minimum empty margin kept around a logo in any layout.
DefineHouse style
AnswerThe rules governing how a brand's fonts, colours and logo are used.

Reach the top grade on this topic

  • Analyse research rather than collecting it; every example needs a comment on what it does and why
  • Produce at least three genuinely different concepts before choosing
  • Justify every choice against the brief, the audience or the research, never against taste
  • Put exact colour values and named fonts on the visualisation diagram
  • Complete the licence column for every asset, fonts included
  • Design the logo so it works at favicon size and in a single colour

Mistakes that cost marks here

Avoid these
  • Justifying a design by personal preference instead of the brief.
  • Presenting one concept, or three near identical versions of one concept.
  • Collecting research with no analysis attached.
  • Writing 'blue' and 'a bold font' on a visualisation diagram.
  • Leaving the licence column incomplete, particularly for fonts.
  • Designing a logo that only works large, with detail that disappears at small sizes.
Fun fact

A brand identity is far more than a logo. It is the whole system of colour, type, imagery, tone and spacing that makes an organisation recognisable even when the logo is nowhere on the page.

Knowledge check

0 of 10 answered
1What does visual identity include beyond the logo?
2Which logo type is safest for a brand nobody has heard of yet?
3What makes competitor research worth marks?
4How should a colour be recorded on a visualisation diagram?
5Why must the licence of a font be recorded?
6How many initial concepts should be developed?
7Why is detail removed as a logo develops?
8Which colour mode should be chosen at the start of a print project?
9What is clear space in brand guidelines?
10What makes a justification score in the top band?
Score 0 / 10

Check you could explain this

Five written questions in the style of the real paper. Write a full answer, then let the marker check it against the mark scheme.

15 marks
1Explain why a mood board is produced before any design work begins.3 marks
Explain

Mark scheme0 / 3
  • LIt gathers colours, images, type and textures capturing the intended feel
  • LIt establishes a shared understanding with the client
  • LIt is far cheaper to change than finished artwork
Model answer

A mood board gathers colours, photographs, typefaces and textures that capture the feel the identity is aiming for, which gives something concrete to discuss about a quality that is very hard to describe in words. Its real purpose is to establish a shared understanding with the client before design begins, because a client who says modern and a designer who hears modern may have completely different pictures in mind. Resolving that disagreement over a mood board takes an afternoon; discovering it after two weeks of finished artwork means starting again.

The marker looks for key phrases. If you said it another way and it is still right, give yourself the mark.
2Describe three things that must appear on a visualisation diagram, and explain why each is needed.6 marks
Describe

Mark scheme0 / 6
  • LDimensions and orientation
  • LWhy they are needed
  • LExact colour values
  • LWhy they are needed
  • LNamed fonts with sizes
  • LWhy they are needed, or a fourth valid element
Model answer

The canvas dimensions and orientation must be stated, because every other decision depends on the final size: the resolution an image needs, whether a layout works in portrait, and how much space the text can occupy. Exact colour values must be given in hex or CMYK rather than colour names, so that anyone producing the graphic reproduces the same colour, and so a print version matches the screen version instead of shifting. Fonts must be named with their weights and sizes, because a diagram that says 'a bold font' leaves the choice to whoever builds it, and a font that is not installed will be silently substituted, which changes the design.

The marker looks for key phrases. If you said it another way and it is still right, give yourself the mark.
3A designer has been asked to create a visual identity for a new independent bookshop.Justify three decisions you would make about the identity, referring to the audience and purpose.6 marks
Justify

Mark scheme0 / 6
  • LA colour decision
  • LJustified by audience or purpose
  • LA typography decision
  • LJustified by audience or purpose
  • LA logo or imagery decision
  • LJustified, including practical use
Model answer

The palette would be a deep green with a warm cream and a single muted accent, because an independent bookshop is competing against chains on character rather than price, and warm, slightly muted colours read as established and welcoming where a bright primary palette would read as a discount retailer. The body typeface would be a serif, because the entire product the shop sells is set in serif type, so it carries an immediate association with reading and with authority, and it distinguishes the shop from the geometric sans serifs the chains use. The logo would be a combination mark, a simple pictorial symbol beside the shop's name, because nobody knows this shop yet and the name has to do the teaching; once it is recognised, the symbol alone can go on a stamp, a tote bag and a small shelf label, all of which need something that works in one colour at a few centimetres across.

The marker looks for key phrases. If you said it another way and it is still right, give yourself the mark.
Machine mark 0 / 15