Corporate Identity

For many, corporate identity, or CI, is synonymous with the visual appearance of a company and refers in particular to elements such as the logo, colors, typography and others. “We need to renew our CI” is a phrase that is still often heard today, and for many people this means renewing their visible corporate design. In our understanding of the term, corporate identity is a model from strategic corporate management that became popular roughly from 1970 onwards and encompasses far more than just the external presentation. Corporate management in the sense of corporate identity is intended to manifest the company's self-image and make it more easily distinguishable from others. It is also intended to create a sense of belonging and identification among employees. In addition to the visual elements, a corporate identity in this concept therefore also includes values, standards and the behavior of a company and its employees. The often inward-looking model of corporate identity was later replaced by the more outward-looking model of the brand, which focuses more on the consumer and is also applied to corporate brands. Both models overlap and cannot be clearly separated. This often leads to misunderstandings.