Corporate design and corporate identity: what it includes.

01Corporate design vs. corporate identity: the difference

Corporate identity

Who you are and how you act

Corporate design

How you look

Brand identity

Identity of a single brand

Corporate identity, or CI, is how a company understands itself: what it stands for and how it presents itself internally and externally. The German business encyclopedia Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon names three elements: corporate behavior, corporate communication and corporate design [1].

Corporate design, or CD, is the visible part. Gabler describes it as the visual appearance of a company that supports the goals set by the corporate identity. It is meant to present the company as a unit internally and externally, above all through fixed design constants such as the logo, typography and house color [2].

According to Gabler, corporate identity also sets the frame for brand identity [1]. That matters most when a company runs several brands. In everyday use, the word branding covers all of it, from the name to the website. For small companies the exact split matters less than the order: first decide who you are, then design.

02Corporate design elements: logo, colors, type, imagery, grid, tone

Core

Logo, colors, typefaces

Plus

Imagery, grid, tone

Goal

Recognition on every channel

A corporate design consists of a few building blocks that are always used the same way. For each one you define how it looks and how it must not look.

• Logo. A main version, plus horizontal and vertical versions and a simplified mark for very small spaces such as the favicon and profile picture. You define clear space, minimum size and versions for light and dark backgrounds.
• Colors. One or two main colors, neutral tones for text and surfaces and an accent color for buttons. Each color gets values for screens (HEX, RGB) and, if you print, for print (CMYK, possibly Pantone).
• Typefaces. One or two type families with fixed sizes for headings, body text and small print. For Switzerland, check that the typeface has all the characters for French and Italian, such as é, à and ç.
• Imagery. What photos and videos show, such as people, products or places, and with which light and framing. Plus icons and illustrations. Images from AI tools follow the same rules.
• Grid. Columns, margins and spacing, so that website, posts and print follow the same plan.
• Tone. How the brand writes and speaks. Strictly speaking it belongs to communication, but it goes into the handbook too, because text and design work together.

A tagline, a short line that goes with the logo, can be added but is not a must. What matters more is that you test the building blocks together, not each on its own.

03Style guide and corporate design manual: what goes in

Other names

Brand guide, design manual, brand guidelines

For

Team, printer, freelancers, agency

Length

Short enough to get read

So that your corporate design does not live in one person's head, you write it down. Gabler calls such design guidelines "design bibles". They define how the design constants are used, for example on letterheads, packaging or ads [2]. For a small company a short document is enough. Examples matter more than length, right and wrong side by side.

Keep the handbook and the files in one place everyone can access. Otherwise someone ends up cutting the logo out of a screenshot.

04Developing a corporate design: strategy first, then design

First

Positioning and audience

Then

Design and test directions

Finally

Handbook and files

Without a strategy, every logo becomes a matter of taste. Before anyone starts designing, it should be clear what your brand stands for, who it is for and how it sounds. How to capture positioning, audience, values and tone of voice in ten sentences is shown in our guide with the steps from positioning to a ten-sentence template.

After that, work in this order:

1. Take stock. What exists already, what should stay, how do competitors present themselves?
2. Sketch directions. Two or three directions with colors, typefaces and images, without a finished logo yet.
3. Design the logo and system. Logo, colors and type together, not one after the other.
4. Test on real applications. Home page on a phone, profile picture, quote, sign, packaging.
5. Check. Contrast, legibility at small sizes, trademark search, font licenses.
6. Document and hand over. Handbook, files and templates for the team.

Never test designs only at full size on a white slide. A logo that looks good in the presentation can become illegible as a tiny icon in a browser tab.

05Who designs a corporate design: agency, freelancer or collective

Agency

Many disciplines, more coordination

Freelancer

Direct, usually one discipline

Collective

Several disciplines, direct line

A corporate design needs design work, often copywriting and later someone who builds the website. An agency brings many disciplines under one roof. A freelancer works with you directly, usually in one discipline. A collective of independent specialists sits in between. Which model fits your project and what to ask in the first call is covered in our comparison of the pros and cons of each model.

Whoever you hire, put in writing which usage rights you get to the logo, templates and images, and have the editable files handed over. What applies in Switzerland and in Germany is explained in the same guide.

From our work. Manu and Lara handle branding from positioning to a short brand guide, with name, logo, colors, tone of voice and key messages. For the architect Dilsoz Kaidy we created a logo from her initials with a door swing, like on a floor plan. Plus the domain and her own website in German and English, without a template.

06Accessible colors: WCAG contrast in your corporate design

Text

Contrast at least 4.5:1

Large text, controls

At least 3:1

Logo

Exempt, brand colors in text are not

Whether people with low vision can read your website is decided in the corporate design. The benchmark is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) from the W3C. The European standard EN 301 549 adopts their color and contrast criteria for websites [3]. BFIT-Bund, the German federal monitoring body for accessible IT, sums up the minimum values like this [4]:

The exemption only covers logos and brand names themselves. Body text in a light brand color still has to reach these values [4]. A light pastel on white works for surfaces, but not for body text. In addition, color must not be the only way to convey information. If you mark a wrongly filled form field in red, it also needs something like an error icon or a text message (criterion 1.4.1) [3][4].

So define tested color pairs for text and background in your style guide, with the measured contrast next to them. In Switzerland, the Disability Discrimination Act (BehiG) today explicitly requires only federal authorities to make their online services accessible to people with visual impairments without added difficulty (Art. 14(2) BehiG) [7]. For public bodies there is the eCH-0059 standard, which is based on WCAG 2.1. Companies can use it for their websites too [8]. What else the law in Switzerland and Germany requires is explained in our guide on the EU rules and Swiss law for online stores.

07Font licenses and trademark protection for logo and colors

Typefaces

License per use: print, logo, web, app

Switzerland

Trademark with the IPI

Germany

Trademark with the DPMA

Typefaces. You license a typeface rather than buy it. Fonts under the SIL Open Font License can be used in print, logos and on websites without crediting them, according to SIL [9]. Commercial font licenses can be split by use. The Dinamo type foundry's license agreement (version 2.55), for example, distinguishes desktop, logo, social media, web, app and video. If a designer works for several clients, each client needs its own license [10]. Where possible, license fonts in your company's name so you keep them when changing providers. On 20 January 2022, Germany's Munich Regional Court I ordered a website operator to stop and to pay damages, among other things. The site loaded Google Fonts from Google's servers, passing a visitor's IP address to Google without consent. The court saw no legitimate interest, because the fonts can also be used without a connection to Google [11]. So serve web fonts from your own server.

Trademark protection. In Switzerland, the commercial register entry only protects the company name, not the logo [5]. You register the logo with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) as a figurative or combined word and figurative mark. With a color claim it is protected only in that color, without one in all colors [12]. A color alone usually cannot be protected unless, like Swiss Post's yellow, it has become established in everyday life [12]. In Germany the DPMA is in charge [6], and images and colors can be trademarks there too [13]. In Switzerland you may only use the ® symbol for trademarks registered there [5]. Searches and fees are covered in our guide on how to register your name as a trademark. This is not legal advice; if in doubt, have a professional check it.

08Applying corporate design to your website and social media

Website

Colors and type as variables

Google

Square favicon, larger than 48 × 48 pixels recommended

Social media

Test the logo on light and dark

Website. This is where corporate design turns into code. You define colors, font sizes and spacing once as variables, known as design tokens. The Design Tokens Community Group, a group at the W3C, describes them as a method for expressing design decisions so that different tools and disciplines can share them. Its format has had a stable version since October 2025, but it is not an official W3C standard [14]. That way you later change a color in one single place.

Google can show part of your identity too, the favicon in search results for your site. It must be square and at least 8 × 8 pixels, and Google recommends larger than 48 × 48 pixels. The file URL must be stable, so do not change it often [15]. Use the simplified mark from the logo chapter for it.

Social media. Here your logo appears small and on changing backgrounds. LinkedIn recommends 400 × 400 pixels for a company page logo, shows it on light and dark backgrounds and places transparent logos on white. Cover images may be cropped depending on the screen, so key details belong in the center [16]. Create templates for posts, stories and cover images with fixed places for text and logo. How to plan topics and channels is covered in our guide on planning your channels with goals and an editorial calendar.

09Redesign: when a new corporate design pays off

Reason

New offer, new audience, merger

Often enough

Refresh instead of reinvent

Check first

Registered trademark

A new corporate design pays off when your identity no longer fits who you are today. Typical reasons:

• Your offer or your audience has changed significantly.
• Two companies or brands are merging.
• The logo does not work at small sizes or on screen.
• The colors do not reach the contrast needed for text.
• Everyone on the team designs differently because rules and files are missing.

Taste alone is not a good reason. Your customers know your logo, and a hard switch costs recognition. A refresh is often enough: the same basic shape, cleaner lines, colors for screens and the style guide that was missing.

Check your registered trademark first. In Switzerland, a trademark cannot be changed after registration [17]. You generally have to use it in the form in which it was registered; minor changes are allowed [18]. At the DPMA, even the application cannot be changed once it is filed [6]. In Germany, a different form only counts as use if it does not change the distinctive character of the mark [19]. If the new logo differs a lot, a new application may therefore be needed. If a new website comes with it, read how to redirect old URLs properly when you relaunch your website.

10Do it yourself or get help: honest limits

Do it yourself

Colors, typeface, simple style guide

Get help

New name, logo, many channels

Specialist

Trademark law in several countries

Honest limits. Whether and how much a consistent identity increases your enquiries or sales is something we cannot back up with a study. The steps above are based on the sources cited; the order and the tips are our own assessment, not our own measurements. You can define colors with tested contrast, a licensed typeface and a simple style guide yourself. Help pays off when a name and logo are created from scratch or several channels have to fit together at once. Registering a trademark, especially in several countries, calls for a trademark law specialist.

Whether we are a fit for your project is something we can clarify in a free 30-minute video call. Get in touch.