Your visual identity is often the first thing that captures the attention of consumers. How does the designer visually communicate the essence of your brand and how do you know theyve got it right?

Here are 3 qualities shared by the best corporate identities. Measure the designs submitted to you against each one of these features.

Unique
You might think it goes without saying that all logos are unique; but next time youre in a store, stand in an aisle and look at the company logos on the products there. Do you see any significant differences? Probably not.

If your brand doesnt differentiate your company and products as completely unique in the marketplace, then how will your customers make that determination? When you and your offerings arent seen as original, you become a commodity in the eyes of the consumer and youre forced to compete on price.

Utilitarian
Those things that are utilitarian stress usefulness over beauty or other considerations. A brands logo must be easily replicated in any type of environment. It must be easily recognized whether its on a billboard, a product label, or an envelope. It must communicate the same core brand elements whether its in color or black and white.

Uncomplicated
Consider the appearance of some of your favorite brands. Chances are very good their identities communicate one basic message over all other themes. They support one core positioning statement. If the logo is simply the name, that name has no more than one special design element. If there is an image along with the name, then the name is even more simple, allowing the image to do its primary communicating.

Companies should resist the temptation to adopt elaborate brand images simply because technology makes it easy to create them. The point of a brand image is to communicate the organizations brand essence, not simply create some cute image.