A brand identity includes five things: a logo suite, a colour palette, a typography system, usage guidelines and a set of everyday templates. The logo is only one of them. The other four are what keep a business looking like itself on a sign, a website and a phone screen.
The Magix has designed brand identities since 2007. The same question comes up at the start of almost every project: is a logo enough? It rarely is, and the reasons are practical.
1. A logo suite, not a single logo
One logo cannot work everywhere. A wide version suits a website header. A stacked version suits a square social media profile. A small mark, sometimes just an initial or symbol, has to stay readable on a favicon at 16 pixels.
A complete suite covers all three, in full colour, one colour and reversed out of a dark background.
2. A colour palette with exact values
“Dark green” means something different to a printer, a web developer and a sign maker. The palette gives each colour in CMYK for print, RGB and HEX for screens, and a Pantone reference where spot colour matters.
A good palette also says how much of each colour to use. A brand that is mostly white with a green accent looks very different from one that is mostly green.
3. A typography system
This names the typefaces for headings and body text, the sizes and weights to use, and the licence for each font. Licensing is easy to miss. A font that is free for personal use may need a paid licence for a business website or printed packaging.
4. Usage guidelines
The guidelines are a short document, usually a PDF, that covers clear space around the logo, minimum sizes, colour rules and common mistakes to avoid. This is the part that lets a printer, a developer or a new hire use the brand correctly without asking.
5. Everyday templates
Letterhead, business cards, an email signature, and editable templates for presentations and documents. These are where a brand is seen most often, and where it drifts first when nobody has set a standard.
What it does not include
A brand identity is the visual system. It does not include a website, a marketing plan or ongoing social media content, although all three should be built from it. When the identity comes first, the website and the posts that follow look like one business.
An example: TapHello
TapHello, the digital connect page product run by The Magix, shows how this works in practice. Its identity is small on purpose: a navy (#0E2392) and orange (#FB6627) palette on a pale blue ground (#F0F4FF), one typeface, Montserrat, and a logo with an official version for dark backgrounds that is never recoloured or redrawn.
Because those rules were set once, everything made since looks like the same product: the website at taphello.me, the social media ads and reels, printed visiting cards with a QR code, keychains and the 3D printed NFC tap card. Someone who sees an ad, then a card, then the website never has to wonder whether it is the same business.
How does the work run?
A complete identity at The Magix runs in four stages: a written brief, two directions shown as real examples on a sign, a card and a screen, the chosen direction built out into the full suite, and handover of source files and guidelines. Fixed prices for each package are on the Graphic Design page and the Pricing page.
Quick answers
Is a logo the same as a brand identity? No. A logo is one part. The identity also covers colour, type, guidelines and templates.
What files should a brand identity come with? Editable source files (Illustrator, InDesign), print files in CMYK, web files in RGB, and the guidelines as a PDF.
Can an identity be designed together with a website? Yes, and it is usually better value, because the site is built from the identity instead of fitted around it afterwards.
See how The Magix approaches brand identity on the Graphic Design page.
Deepa Chandrashekhar is the Founder and Creative Director of The Magix, a branding studio in Bengaluru working with businesses in India, Europe, the UK and the US. More about Deepa