Fluid brand identities

By Tom Verow

Dynamic brand identity: What is it?

Well, ‘dynamic’, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, means, “characterized by constant change, activity, or progress.” What does this mean when it comes to branding? When it comes to creating a dynamic logo for your company, you have to ensure that a strong, basic element in the design remains the same regardless of theme, colour or style.

Take the City of Melbourne logo for example - the basic element is the geometrical shape of the M. After that, the design is completely fluid, there is no one colour or style that remains fixed, only the shape. The beauty of this is that it allows the brand to change up their design whenever they want without having to complete a full rebrand. New product coming out? Have a new design in to accompany it. Celebrating an event? Whip something up using a template. And if your design is engaging enough, people will start to look out for the variations and new designs that you release. Who knows, you may even build a following! 

DC Comics, much like City of Melbourne, keep the same typography for their branding and then change the design slightly to represent certain characters in their world. This allows them to expertly tailor their marketing depending on what they are releasing whilst still being recognised as DC Comics.

What about keeping the shape the same and adding different backgrounds? Aol’s design may not be the cheapest when it comes to printing the design but, you have to admit, they do make for beautiful branding. Aol choose to keep both the typography and the colour the same and use the variation in background as their dynamic brand identity.

So now you know how to do it, the next question is should you do it? When it comes to dynamic brand identity, your company identity has to be complemented by the idea of fluidity. If you are a solicitor or an accountancy firm, you probably will not want to go for an ever changing brand as it may not stick with your reliable and long standing brand image. But if you’re a fashion brand, dynamic branding could help to get you noticed across social media platforms.

A dynamic company logo is great when your brand is going to be exposed to your clients often, and your company values reflect that of an everchanging, evolutionary brand.