The Rising Trend in Brands' Corporate Identity Design: Inconsistency

The colors, images and fonts in the corporate identity design elements that make up the showcase of the brand should be compatible with each other. Logos and other visual elements are distinctive assets of brands. They are important in terms of ensuring the recognition and recall of the brand, in short, brand awareness.

Today, corporate identity is taught and applied in this way in all design and advertising courses. However, as in science, there are no fixed information and definite rules in design. A method considered correct can be demolished by a designer.

Recently, a new application has been made in the corporate identity of KFC restaurants in America. The Colonel Sanders image, which is the main visual element of the brand, was used in different styles on lunch boxes, cardboard cups, sauces and promotional images. Likewise, the typefaces on the products and interiors also differ. Everything given and shown in the restaurant has a different design language. It may seem like a risky strategy because it goes beyond the known truths, but the campaign was quite successful because a well-known brand like KFC made it. The Colonel Sanders image, which is identified with the brand, has been used in different ways, bringing the brand heritage to the agenda, so the visual inconsistency has been turned into an important advantage here.

It is highly likely that we will see creative and “inconsistent” designs in the visual designs of other big brands in the upcoming period.