First stage: Identity.
“In Greek Etymology, the term “identity” comes from the word idem, which means, “identical to itself”. The identity of – things, persons and organizations – can be described under three standards: What it is (or who it is), what does it do (and what is it used for) and where it is (origin). Anything that is around us can be isolated into a one perceptive unit, so we can tell what it is, what does it do and the place in space or origin. These three perceptions are in one.” (Costa, 2006)

Every person has and identity and an individuality. At first, we know that there has never existed on the planet another identical person like us, similar yes, but never equal to us. This makes each one of us unique, it could be because of characteristics in our eyes, size and shape of our head or even our body language. Our culture with habits and language give us geographic location, and our flag colors and history give us national identity. Our dress code shows our social background, age and job/profession; our language and vocabulary distinguish us from being a street person or an intellectual person. The fact is that by just existing, we acquire an identity.

The same thing happens with the companies, their products and services. According to Joan Costa in her course “On-Line” about the creation and follow up of brands (2006), to create an marked identity, there are five structural elements:

Nevertheless, these 5 (which are only related to causes) are not the only ones; what we call “identity”, for anyone else might be like an abstract term, because people recognize it as an image of what appears to be the brand itself. The brand has two levels:

1. The material and sensorial which is a tangible level, where the products can be identified, recognized, purchased and remembered..

2. A symbolic, subjective level where symbols are considered (like the name of the product, the design and wrapping), and what “values” the product represents to the people.

Second stage: the mark Identity.
The brand or name is invented to differentiate it from other products, objects, persons and animals, with the principle of an individual identification/differentiation. This was even happening in ancient history related to people in tribes used to mark themselves with cuts or tattoos on their skin. Also, the slaves in some parts of history were marked by the owners, the merchandize and the cattle. “The commercial mark is the result of historical evolution. Its true origin began during the medieval ages ,especially when the corporation systems were in process as a way of a social and a labor organizations according to that period of time called – corporations- meaning to organize society in productive sections and not by integrating parts to have production” (Chaves, 1988). “Todo ello manifiesta una actividad económica basada en el intercambio de bienes materiales, artesanales e industriales” (Costa, 1990).

According to Joan Costa the marked economy of the XXI century the name is the most important action in a company; and is well known a company fabricates products and that people get a mental image wich evoques a colective consummer.

Two products could coexist with the same characteristics, but never two same brands. The same way a brand doesn’t have to have a design with it but a design cannot go without a name/brand.

This is to say that a brand needs a name to be able to destinguish verbally a certain product or service, and so the product can be refered to in favor or against it.

We can find the design or graphics related to the product in the same way, because it is representing the bran as we can talk about a certain car, well its specific characteristics and distinguishes it from others.

So the name is called the logos witch is the idea in a base word, and then comes the visual part in the graphics; so both, the verbal and visual signs of an item are the scene of the beginning of a brand.

We will leave on a side the relative concepts of a brand, so we can approach the topics related to the content of the design and brand identity of the geometric nucleus.

THIRD STAGE: The geometric design in nature.

We can hardly distinguish that in the core that we ate this morning, it has a perfect pentagon figure, or we see in a pineapple’s skin, a natural design of a geometric spiral that is at the same time similar to a sunflower. But we can find the same spiral design inside same see shells. Is this a coincidence? The geometric form has always been a visual human environment companion; for witch is not add to find in us a cosmic and preference to symmetric order instead as an asymmetric one. Geometry is math in its purity and math is the universal language.

Magazine! Wake up! September 2006

Pineapples

Sea shells

Nautilus shell

“ the logarithmical spiral is attached to the sequential rectangle of the harmonic growth of many vegetable forms (flowers and fruits) and animals (sea shells), and the shape does not change.”

Forth stage: geometric applications and relationships.

There are many examples that can help us understand the geometric shape, weather from our time or in ancient cultures. We can see it from the design of mosaics or architectural construction, or in the arts. Leonardo Da Vinci confirmed it in his drawing of proportions´ squeme of the human figure based in the golden number or also known as the Aurea Reasoning, and all the relationships with individuals.

Pythagoras discovered the mathematical relationships in the following figure and the proportion between its own lines and the golden point/origin.

In the following image, the two small lines C and D combined are equal to A B and equally shows “the divine proportion.”

The following example is used to simplify the above. The sum of C, D and B plus C again gives us the same aurea proportion which is equal to line A.

This proportion looks for and products a composition towards “The Divine Beauty”. We can see these compositions in Boticheli´s Venus or in movie flyer. We can also notice the geometric figure in the Star of David where the golden or aurea rectangle shows proportion compositions.

Here is an example:

The Parthenon was designed by the architect Fidas, mandated by Pericles and built in honor of the goddess Athena, during the Greek Classic era. The golden number and aurea rectangle were used in the design and construction of the Parthenon.

Fifth stage: The geometric structure in arts.

We may think that the artists paint in a canvas without planning it, and even on how he plans the brush trails which are personal and individual; nevertheless, there is a geometrical presentation. In some cases we can see the geometric optical illusions as seem in the Hungarian- French painter Victor Vasarely or in Escher’s repetitions. In other painting such as Alberto Durero´s, it is difficult to see the elements and geometry.

Pablo Picasso “flute of bread” may seem to have nonexistence relationships but it has extraordinary situations shown.

For a simple observer a painting could only show simple horizontal or different kinds of lines and shapes, but for a known observer there are many other compositions to consider.

At first sight and then trying to have a deeper analysis of this painting, we find on both ends two walls at almost the same proportion, and following the angle it takes our eyes to the blue part.

In the center and behind the two main characters there is a rectangle and in front of it we can see the flute player sitting on a box, which helps to imagine that the painting has structured composition. Is there a specific purpose of the author?

Amazingly, the lines and division are more complicated and interesting, the next slides show the following: the walls on the sides divide the format in 5 equal parts, and the dotted line divides in 4 parts.

The diagonal line that cases from upper lift to the cuter is also important, and the flute’s line continues towards the center making the exact division of 1/3 of the 5 equal parts. I circled and numbered so it is clear.

The following illustration shows a wrapping pentagon within geometry and others like the box shown the exact half of the head and box, the dotted red line follows the wall line and the division between the arm and the side of the chest.

On the right side it is noticeable important spots between the distance of the left shoulder and the right wall (pentagon proportion). The flute’s bottom part is a geometric segmentation half of the pentagon.

There are many others geometric shapes.

We may have same questions like; are all these coincidences made intentionality? Are they too precise to have been made by accident? Is it what the author wanted to represent or express?

We don’t know, but we can say that geometry was part Pablo Picasso’s work.

Sixth stage: the geometric nucleus of the identity

Finally, the last stage to the nucleus. We had explored already the importance of the brand in the order of the form and the meaning, also the importance in the application of the geometry in a natural and artificial atmosphere. It is only left make clear some coincidences between international level brands, witch are Motorola and Adidas, for mention two of them.

In a class room and in the beginning of the job sessions with the subject “design III: corporative image” I ask to the students to take in photocopy some of the designs of the brands most known. Of course, Coca Cola, Nike, Adidas, Apple, Motorola, between others make presence. I ask beside some considerations to make a formal analysis of the brand with the finality of see and make conscious what we already know and what is obvious in every design but we don’t observe like consumers,. The fact of making conscious what the unconscious helps between some others, to check concepts and theories of the perception applies in this brands.

Even if is so obvious in a great number of analysis, the simplicity and the economic of the forms and of the lines, is a point that in particularly, takes long, to be discovered for the students.

Original Brand identity, 1916

Brand identity, 1937

Brand designed for Paul Rand, 1961

Actual Brand identity, 2003

In some others occasions it is not possible to analyze the graphic evolution in a brand and the consequence of it. The UPS brand is a good example of it, Pepsi is another one and Nike another; each one of them evolution until simplify them self’s. to Paul Rand´s brand has been taken away unnecessary forms, not because it was wrong, only it has changed to adapt at the new concept of publicity, in this way the economy and the visual simplify make the work and the proportion, and how so is that the professor Mariano Baños- in concern of publicity, has say: “after 10 minutes of seeing a battery of 15 spots, we will remember only two of them.”

Brand identity

Symbol of substitution.

Nike is a good example where the simplification goes to take the name for the symbol. The method it’s known for the permanent use and the constant repetition of the sign ann the name, the linguistic sign and the iconic sign, have aloud that the last one takes the place of the first. It supplies it in the way that it represents the brand, and it is because they are definitely two in one. Other examples are Mercedes with the star and the circle or the alligator in Lacoste, the apple in Apple, etc.

How ever this simplification takes the geometry like a base in the same way and how we saw alredy with the Parthenon and the paint of Pablo Picasso. Lest begin with our geometric analysis of Adidas Brand:

At first we see some coincidences between the size and the proportion, and then we see the respective lines.

Next I will explain some of them more precisely

The triangle above a typography represents the graphic form. The attention is in how segments of the typography match with the graphic in the above part.

We had arrive until here with the analysis of the geometric nucleus of the brand’s identity; how you see it is a very rich subject and how we could go deep inside it, discovering very interest things; for that I make the invitation to our readers to make discovers and so understand and find the graphic design of brand’s identity same that in many occasions, is hiding to the consumer eyes.