Identity Standards
Written by Armin on 'underconsideration / speak up'

I was going throuh identityworks’ web site and I noticed they had a section full of links to Identity Standards Manuals. Mainly from big companies. Spent more time going through them than I should have. It’s interesting to see how the standards for BP or Siemens really translate into the real world and that it’s not an effort that goes overlooked.

I have always had a love/hate approach to standards manuals. Whether it be for a logo, a full identity system or a web site. It just takes so much time to create them, but in the end you can get a beautiful document that really encompasses what the identity (or web site) is and what it stands for. But what a pain.!

There is a lot of information design invloved in these standards, and in my opinion not all designers embrace the importance of good information design and few are able to implement it well. I embrace it, but I have a hard time applying it. I think it requires a different set of mind to tackle these documents. Some of the best manuals I’ve seen are from European companies, I’m not sure what that means, I just thought I would throw it out there.

Any interesting standards manuals stories.? (…)

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Robert Salzmer, 20. Feb. 04