Your business has a new logo and visual identity system. All the files are in place. You have a brand guide that has been distributed to everyone. But your brand still feels off. How can that be?

One reason is clarity.

A brand book documents all the visual assets unique to your company's brand. It can also be expanded upon to include your company's mission, vision, and values. The goal is to provide a foundation of information for employees and designers that will help them promote your business in a cohesive and unified way.

Last week our conversation with Dana Dickson, Trademark Lawyer, focused on the benefits of registering a business's logo, so this week we continue our conversation on the actual Trademark process, what you can expect, and some best practices to make the application process go smoothly.

Logos are a major identifier for our brand, so going through the process of vetting and registering it will provide protection by not only making sure that it does not infringe on someone else's logo but that others don't create a similar version of ours. Similar logos can create brand confusion with our customers and that can negatively impact our business. Dana Dickson, Trademark Attorney, discusses with us the benefits of trademarking a logo.

Developing a new brand or going through a brand refresh can be a long and intensive task but, it's worth setting that foundation from both a messaging and visual standpoint early on. Having a cohesive brand eliminates confusion for customers. They'll know it's you by the way you look and behave. So, when we get to the logo design how do we assess which concept is best?

A logo can't describe all that you do but it should be distinct, reflect who you are, and be appropriate for your industry. Getting to the right solution involves conversation, collaboration, and exploration of your brand's ethos with the designer.

The visual attributes of a brand is how our customers identify us, but they become loyal to and follow the brand because of their experiences interacting with us and the quality of the product/service we offer. How can we strengthen our brand?