What Does a Brand Identity Include?

A brand identity is the set of visual and verbal rules a business uses wherever it shows up. It differs from a logo, which is one mark, and from a brand, which is what people think of you. Design can shape the identity. Your brand is earned over time.

For a small business, a practice or a startup, a useful identity works small (a 16-pixel browser tab) and large (a storefront or a van door). Anyone you hire later can follow it without asking you.

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If a quote doesn't name each of these, ask which are included. Font licences and file formats are the two items most often left vague.

Choose colours knowing they will end up on screens as text, buttons and icons. The W3C's Contrast (Minimum) success criterion (WCAG 2.2, 1.4.3, Level AA) asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Large text is roughly 24px, or about 18.5px if bold.

Two details matter for brand work:

• Logos are exempt, but your website isn't. WCAG says text that is part of a logo or brand name has no contrast requirement. The same colour used for a heading or a link must meet the ratio.
• Buttons and icons count too. Non-text Contrast (1.4.11, Level AA) asks for 3:1 between interface components or meaningful graphics and the colours next to them.

In practice, record the ratio of every colour pairing in the guide, and mark which pairings are for text and which are for decoration only. A pale brand colour can still be a good brand colour; it just needs a darker partner for text.

Before anyone draws a logo around a name, search for it. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office's Trademarks guide says "a good first step is to do a search of existing trademarks", and the CIPO trademarks page links to the free Canadian Trademarks Database.

Three things owners often miss:

1. A business name registration is not a trademark. CIPO notes that provinces record trade names under their own legislation. A trade name can be registered under the federal Trademarks Act only if it is also used as a trademark. Registering a business name in Ontario doesn't give you federal trademark rights.
2. Search variations, not just the exact spelling. Look for similar spellings and sounds in your field. CIPO also suggests searching trade names, because they are often used as trademarks without being registered.
3. Ask for advice before you file. CIPO says you don't have to hire an agent, but it is often advisable, and only registered trademark agents may represent applicants.

This section is general information, not legal advice. A designer can run a first search with you, but whether to register, and in which classes, is a decision for you and a registered trademark agent or lawyer.

The favicon is the smallest place your identity lives: browser tabs, bookmarks and, in Google, next to your result. Google's favicon guidelines ask for a square (1:1) image at least 8x8px, recommend going larger than 48x48px, and say the favicon URL should be stable. Google's crawlers must be able to fetch both the file and your home page, and the icon should visually represent your brand.

A detailed mark rarely survives at that size. That's why the icon-only version in the logo system matters: it's usually a simplified symbol or a single letter, drawn for small sizes rather than shrunk.

Cuddle Cove, in our brand archive, is a UXPro studio concept for a childcare centre. It's self-directed: no centre commissioned it, and nothing about it has been measured. Its board shows the pieces this guide lists: a whale-and-wave mark, a type pairing (Averia Serif Libre with Inter), named colour chips, and the mark applied to stationery, signage and a staff badge. Use it to see how a system holds together across applications, not as evidence of results.

We don't publish a brand price, and we haven't found an independent Canadian survey worth quoting. The variables that move any quote are:

• Naming. Creating or testing a name, including first trademark searches, is a separate job from designing for one.
• Research. Interviews with customers or staff and a review of competitors add time and usually sharpen decisions.
• The logo system's range. A wordmark is less work than a custom symbol plus icon and lockups.
• Type. Licensed retail fonts, free open-source fonts and custom lettering have very different costs. Check the licence terms for web and app use.
• Applications. Every sign, vehicle, menu, form or template laid out is more work. Choose the ones you need in the next year.
• Guide depth. Ten clear pages beat fifty. Longer guides cost more and get read less.

At UXPro, branding is a fixed-scope project: one fixed quote in Canadian dollars, plus HST, agreed before any work starts. The brand timeline is agreed in the written quote. Whoever you hire, ask for the final files and the font licences to be in your business's name.