An intro to Brand Identity: Giving your Brand a Personality

Brand Identity is the representation of a brand through imagery such as logo design, packaging, and web design. Brand Identity gives a company distinguishing characteristics, creating a relatable personality for the brand. This personality or identity is based on target market, brand background, company core values and product background. Creating a brand identity is important for the success of a company, without an identity a brand is likely to be received improperly by it's customers/viewers. Successful brand identities are able to define a company and what they provide through their logos. Logos are defined by their colors, shapes, positive vs. negative space, repetition, symmetry and overall image. The McDonalds logo is a simple symmetrical "M" that manages to give off the signature tasted of their golden french fries. When I see their logo I think fast food, this happens because of the extensive research and work that went into the branding of their company. The sharp curves at the top of the "M" suggest the speed of their service and the golden yellow represents the golden crisp of their fried food. Without a complex image of a burger, McDonalds are able to flaunt their brand with gigantic golden arches that can be seen from miles away. Here is an image of the McDonald's logo thanks to McDonald's website:
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/
Please comment with questions about branding or examples of branding you would like to share.