• Try “portfolio”, “ink”, “branding” or a code like “PRS 101”.

GDS 201Graphic Design

Brand Identity Development

Develop a complete visual identity, from discovery and marks to colour, type, supporting graphics, applications and a brand guidelines document.

Planned

About this course

A logo is one part of an identity. This course follows the full process a designer uses with a small business or organization: discovery questions and positioning, developing and testing marks, building the colour, type and graphic system around them, applying it to real touchpoints, and documenting it in guidelines and a file package a client can actually use. You work on one fictional or real (with permission) client throughout. The course includes basic conflict checking for marks and explains when to involve a trademark professional; it does not provide legal advice.

Who it’s for: Designers who have completed Typography Fundamentals and Composition and Visual Hierarchy (or equivalent) and want to take on identity projects. Comfort with a vector tool such as Illustrator, Affinity Designer or the free Inkscape is expected.

You will be able to

  • Run a discovery conversation and turn the answers into a short positioning brief.
  • Develop logo concepts from sketches and test them at small sizes, in one colour and reversed.
  • Build a coherent system of colour, type and supporting graphics around a mark.
  • Apply the identity to at least five realistic touchpoints.
  • Write brand guidelines and prepare a correctly named, multi-format logo file package.

Prerequisites

Studio project

A complete identity system for one client: positioning brief, mark, colour and type system, five applications, brand guidelines and a delivery-ready file package.

To complete this course

  • Complete every required lesson.
  • Have the assignment “Identity system for a small organization” accepted by an instructor.
  • Have the assignment “Brand guidelines and file package” accepted by an instructor.
  • Records of completion are issued only for courses whose content has passed instructor review.

Part of

Syllabus

Working titles: they may change as the course is written.

  1. Module 1: Discovery and strategy

    Understanding the client before drawing anything.

    1. 1.1What an identity system is (and isn't)Reading · 30 min
    2. 1.2Discovery questions and listeningReading · 35 min
    3. 1.3Exercise: writing a positioning briefExercise · 45 min

  2. Module 2: Marks and logotypes

    Developing a mark that fits the brief and survives real use.

    1. 2.1Wordmarks, lettermarks, symbols and combinationsReading · 30 min
    2. 2.2From sketches to refined marksStudio · 60 min
    3. 2.3Testing marks: size, colour and contextExercise · 40 min
    4. 2.4Checking for conflicts and when to get adviceReading · 25 min

  3. Module 3: Building the system

    Everything around the mark that makes the identity recognizable even without it.

    1. 3.1Colour and type systemsReading · 35 min
    2. 3.2Supporting graphics, patterns and imagery styleStudio · 50 min
    3. 3.3Applications and mockupsStudio · 60 min

  4. Module 4: Guidelines and handoff

    Making the identity usable after you hand it over.

    1. 4.1Writing brand guidelines people will useReading · 35 min
    2. 4.2Logo file packages and namingExercise · 40 min
    3. 4.3Presenting the identity to the clientVideo · 25 min

Covers basic conflict searching for marks as a design-process step. This is educational information, not legal advice; trademark clearance and registration decisions should be made with a qualified professional.

Author: Ricketts University curriculum team (draft for founder review) · Not yet reviewed

Related courses

  1. GDS 101

    Typography Fundamentals

    How type works and how to use it well: anatomy, classification, spacing, hierarchy and pairing, practised through short exercises and a typographic poster.Graphic Design    Foundation13 lessons · ~18 hIn development
  2. GDS 102

    Composition and Visual Hierarchy

    Arrange images, type and space so viewers see what matters first: balance, grouping, grids, reading paths and adapting one layout across formats.Graphic Design    Foundation12 lessons · ~16 hPlanned
  3. GDS 103

    Colour Theory

    Practical colour for designers and artists: hue, value and saturation, building palettes, using colour for emphasis, and keeping colour consistent from screen to print.Graphic Design    Foundation12 lessons · ~14 hPlanned
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