When you meet someone for the first time, there are a range of clues that inform you about the person’s daily life, personality, history, goals and dreams. You might ask yourself ‘Why is this person wearing a neon yellow holographic jumpsuit? Or a custom tailored suit? Why are they speaking loudly? What does it mean if they are wearing utility boots and holding a hammer? Or if their hands are covered in pink paint splotches? Why might someone be standing directly next to a naked man who looks baffled? Why would a person be pacing in circles with raw carrots strewn about around that cute flamingo? Interpreting these symbols are similar to the way audiences interpret a business or organization’s brand. Each detail: the words used, how they’re spoken, the visual form, and the color communicate an overall message. And even more contributes to that message: how you feel after you use a product, or the atmosphere in the restaurant when you walk in, and what your friends have told you about an organization. All of these components come together and form a system, or a “brand” to inform you, the audience, about what the organization does and what it cares about.
