I have always admired the work of M.C. Escher. He is just genius… a combination of Maths and Art working side by side.
One of our first logo design was influenced by his work. 
 If anyone is interested take a look at M.C. Escher’s official website… http://www.mcescher.comÂ
Post by Rak
There are many reasons for creating a new corporate identity, from entering a new market, the emergence of new competition, mergers and acquisitions, the need for reinvention, the need to find new relevance in a market full of change, or just to compete more appropriately in your market place.
Â
Whatever the reason, developing a strong corporate identity is about creating an all-encompassing identity for your company that reflects every aspect of what it does, from the first point of contact with the customer to how employees feel about the organisation. A corporate identity should pull together why you do what you do, what it is you are actually going to do and how you are going to do it. The secret is to look ahead at what you want it to become, start with the end in mind, take yourself five years into the future and think about what you want your business to look like and be recognised for, then let us know and we will take it from there!
The Wikipedia definition of Corporate Identity is…
Â
……Â the “persona” of a corporation which is designed to accord with and facilitate the attainment of business objectives. It is usually visibly manifested by way of branding and the use of trademarks.
Â
Corporate identity comes into being when there is a common ownership of an organisational philosophy that is manifest in a distinct corporate culture — the corporate personality. At its most profound, the public feel that they have ownership of the philosophy.
Â
In general, this amounts to a corporate title, logo (logotype and/or logogram), and supporting devices commonly assembled within a set of guidelines. These guidelines govern how the identity is applied and confirm approved colour palettes, typefaces, page layouts and other such methods of maintaining visual continuity and brand recognition across all physical manifestations of the brand.
Â
Many companies, such as McDonald’s and Electronic Arts, have their own identity that runs through all of their products and merchandise. The trademark “M” logo and the yellow and red appears consistently throughout the McDonald’s packaging and advertisements. Many companies pay large amounts of money for an identity that is extremely distinguishable, so it can appeal more to its targeted audience.
Â
Corporate identity is often viewed as being composed of three parts:
Â
Corporate design (logos, uniforms, etc.)
Corporate communication (advertising, public relations, information, etc.)
Corporate behaviour (internal values, norms, etc.)
In June 2008, Rak Design was approached by Salcey Cabinet Makers to pitch, along with 2 other design companies, for their new corporate identity project. We were delighted when we were awarded the contract as it has been, and still is, a very enjoyable project to work on.
Salcey Cabinet Makers are a fast-growing presence in the field of bespoke design, and build solutions for furniture, kitchens, cabinets, room-sets etc… you describe your dream furniture and they will design and build it for you! Pre-built mass-manufactured products are a definite no no for Salcey; they take pride in their traditional approach to creating unique pieces of hand-crafted work.
Our brief was to create a new corporate identity that reflected: old values, built to last, hand crafted, firm foundation, quality product and service, historical look and feel. The logo was of primary importance as it was to be used in a wide variety of applications, including van livery, studio signage, websites, folders, stationery, promotional materials, advertising, A boards etc.
Our first step was to do some thorough research not only with regards to Salcey’s business objectives, USP, SWOT etc, but also general competitor and market research so that we could get a strong handle on what their logo should be saying/representing. We found some very interesting and pertinent facts that enabled us to move onto the next stage with confidence.
We started with rough sketches and mock ups of logos and overall corporate identity, exploring a variety of pictorial and typography options.
Scripty Font Solution
This was one of the ideas that Salcey liked and they asked us to explore it further. Read later about what we did next……