What Are Graphic Identity and Style?

Graphic identity involves the images we present to the public through logos, typefaces, colors, stationery, and more. With the growth of television and the World Wide Web, we have become a very visual society, and images help people form opinions about organizations and the services they provide. Graphics also serve as a signature that breeds familiarity with an organization. For example, when you think of McDonald’s, you automatically picture their golden arches logo.

Every organization has a specific public identity, one partly formed by the look of its communications. Everything that you hear, see, or read about the organization contributes to your overall impression of its identity—your sense of what the organization is, what it does, and what it stands for.

Style is the way we “talk” to the public through written words, whether in a brochure, magazine, newspaper ad, or Web site. Like graphic identity, words can conjure images. For example, a description in a brochure can help a prospective student “see” the MKdesign. And comforting words in an ad might encourage someone to select a MKdesign. By using correct terminology and good grammar—the components of style—we can project a positive image of MKdesign to the public.