Corporate design
Corporate design is a company’s consistent visual identity — logo, colours, typefaces, imagery and design rules — across all media.
A well-thought-out corporate design ensures a company is instantly recognised on its website, business card, vehicle, social media and trade-fair stand. It is part of the corporate identity, which also covers values, language and behaviour.
It is documented in a CI guide or style guide: logo variants and clear space, colour values for print and screen, typefaces, spacing and application examples.
In digital products, corporate design continues in a design system with reusable components and design tokens — so website and software speak the same language.
What to look out for
- Create the logo in all necessary variants: colour, single-colour, light on dark, square profile picture and app icon.
- Define colours with values for print (CMYK) and screen (RGB/HEX).
- Clarify fonts and licences for print and web.
- Create a CI guide with examples so print shops, signage and social media work consistently.
- Transfer the design to website and software as a design system with tokens.
Common mistakes
- The logo only works large and in colour, not as a small profile picture or on a vehicle.
- Every supplier interprets colours and fonts differently because there is no CI guide.
- Fonts without the right licence for web or app.
Frequently asked questions
Corporate design is the visual appearance. Corporate identity is broader and also covers a company’s values, language and behaviour.
Logo variants with clear space, colour values for print and screen, typefaces, spacing, imagery and application examples — from business card to social media post.