A strong brand identity is what people recognise before they read a word: your logo, two or three colours, one or two typefaces, and the discipline to use the same ones everywhere. That last part does most of the work.

You don’t need a thick book of rules. You need a small set of choices you actually stick to.

What is a brand identity, and is it just the logo

The logo is one piece of it. Your brand identity is everything a customer sees that came from you: the van, the invoice, the shop sign, the leaflet through the door, the photograph on your profile, even the way your quotes are laid out. If those all look like they came from the same business, you seem steadier and better organised than you probably feel, and people remember you. If they don’t, every job starts from cold, because nobody connects the van they saw on Tuesday with the leaflet that came on Friday. That is really the whole trick. Choose a logo, a couple of colours you can name, a typeface you can actually get hold of, and a rough layout for the things you send out. Then use them over and over until you’re thoroughly sick of the sight of them. That’s usually the point at which customers are only just starting to notice.

Where do you start if all you’ve got is a name

Start with the logo, but keep it simple enough to read at the size of a badge on a work jacket. If it only looks good large, it isn’t finished yet.

Then pick your colours and stop there. Two decisions made properly beat a full set of guidelines you never open again.

So what are the five things worth doing

• Draw the logo once, properly, and get every file type you might ever be asked for.
• Choose two or three colours and write the codes down somewhere you’ll find them again.
• Pick one typeface for headings and one for everything else, then leave them alone.
• Set up templates for what you send out most: quotes, invoices, and a simple leaflet.
• Put the same look on the van, the sign, the profile picture, and the front of your website.

Which parts should you pay for, and which can you do yourself

Less than a designer will tell you, and more than a free tool will manage. Roughly, the line sits here.

The piece	Doing it yourself	Getting it drawn up once
Logo	Free makers hand you a flat picture file, fine online, awkward at the printers	Artwork in every format anyone asks for, and you own it outright
Colours	Easy to choose, easy to drift away from by next spring	Written down as codes so screen and print stay close
Typefaces	Fine if you stick to one you’re allowed to use commercially	Chosen so the licence covers your website and your printed bits
Templates	Doable in a word processor if you’re patient	Set up once so every quote and invoice comes out the same
Photographs	Your phone beats stock if the light is halfway decent	Handled so the whole lot looks like one set

Does your brand identity need to match across print and web

Close, rather than identical, and the reason is technical rather than fussy. Screens make colour out of light and presses make it out of ink, so the bright blue on your website will never come off a leaflet exactly the same. What you can do is settle the print version and the screen version once, write both down, and hand them to anybody who makes anything for you. Same with lettering. The type on your site should be the one on your leaflet, or a near relative, rather than whatever happened to be on the machine that day. The other half of it is placement. If the logo sits top left on the website, put it top left on the letterhead. If the phone number runs along the bottom of the van, keep it along the bottom of the leaflet. People spot the pattern long before they spot the colour.

When is a rebrand a waste of money

When the old one still works and you’ve simply got bored of it. Customers who recognise your van don’t much care that the logo is a few years old.

Change it when the name changes, when what you sell changes, or when it genuinely won’t print properly. Being tired of your own logo is not a reason. You see it far more often than anybody else ever will.

Questions people actually ask

Do I need a brand book

Not if you’re the only person making things. One page with your colours, your typefaces, and where the logo goes is plenty, and you’ll actually use it.

Can I keep the logo my nephew made

Often yes. If it reads clearly small, works in one colour, and you still have the original artwork, it’s doing its job. If all you’ve got is a screenshot, get it redrawn.

What file types should I ask for

Artwork that scales up without going fuzzy, ordinary picture files for the web, and a plain one colour version for stamps, signs, and embroidery. Ask in writing that the files are yours.

Does the van count as branding

It’s the biggest advert you own and the one people see most. If the van, the sign, and the website don’t match, the van tends to win, so make the others follow it.

How long before people recognise it

Longer than you’d like, and it depends entirely on how often they see you. Consistency shortens it. Changing things every few months stretches it out again.

If your logo, your colours, and the things you hand out don’t look like they came from the same business, ring 01823 242424 or email info@reor.co.uk and tell us what you’ve already got. One job, one price, no retainer, and the files are yours at the end.