Designing Brand Identity: A Comprehensive Guide to the World of Brands and Branding

by Alina Wheeler, Rob Meyerson

Revised and updated sixth edition of the best-selling guide to branding fundamentals, strategy, and process. It’s harder than ever to be the brand of choice―in many markets, technology has lowered barriers to entry, increasing competition. Everything is digital and the need for fresh content is relentless. Decisions that used to be straightforward are now complicated by rapid advances in technology, the pandemic, political polarization, and numerous social and cultural changes. The sixth edition of Designing Brand Identity has been updated throughout to address the challenges faced by branding professionals today. This best-selling book demystifies branding, explains the fundamentals, and gives practitioners a roadmap to create sustainable and successful brands. With each topic covered in a single spread, the book celebrates great design and strategy while adding new thinking, new case studies, and future-facing, global perspectives. Organized into three sections―brand fundamentals, process basics, and case studies―this revised edition Whether you’re the project manager for your company’s rebrand or you need to educate your staff or students about brand fundamentals, Designing Brand Identity is the quintessential resource. From research to brand strategy, design execution to launch and governance, Designing Brand identity is a compendium of tools for branding success and best practices for inspiration.

Genres: Design, Business

352 pages, Hardcover

Published March 6, 2024

About the author

Author, speaker, consultant. Alina's business focus is managing perception. Her service is strategic imagination. Her passion is brand identity. Wheeler reinvents the marketing textbook, demystifies branding, and illuminates best practices and tools.

Reviews

[kit · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a mess and a half. For being about design, it's strangely unintuitive and difficult to read, because your eyes are jumping from chunk to chunk of text all over the pages. It's also more like a glorified scrapbook in how it's full of quotes from known designers and business people... the book itself barely contains any knowledge. None of the examples mentioned or used in this book are timeless either... I just know certain brands (like BeReal, and already Mr Beast) will be very dated not even a year from now. Which is sad considering how timeless brand identity is supposed to be.

I'm honestly not sure what this book is meant to be. Maybe for swindling broke design students out of their money? What a joke.

[Dannie Lam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book as someone who is hoping to start their first business, but I found it quite difficult to digest the information, as there was so much of it - many lists and questions. I’m not really sure what I’ve learnt from it. I’ve flicked through all the pages and I guess it’s more like a textbook about different considerations in branding and case studies. I’m probably not the target audience.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book feels like stepping into the kind of studio space you hope to find: beautifully organized, clean, and thoughtfully designed so everything just clicks into place.

Wheeler and Meyerson don’t throw around complicated jargon or pile on theories; instead, they break down the complex world of brand identity into digestible pieces that feel intuitive and approachable.

What makes it shine is how it bridges the emotional heart of a brand with its visual expression—reminding you that behind every colour, typeface, and layout, there’s a story waiting to be told.

For anyone who loves storytelling, this book is a quiet joy. It treats brands not as cold entities or logos, but as living characters with costumes, voices, and attitudes. It’s almost like the brand walks into the room, and you can watch how it carries itself, how it speaks, and how it connects with people.

That’s where the world of business meets the rich, almost hypnotic language of semiotics—and honestly, it’s kind of sexy.

What really hits home for me is how the book feels like a toolbox you keep coming back to, not just a one-time read. Every page invites you to see branding as a layered conversation—between culture, emotion, design, and psychology.

Wheeler’s clarity makes the complex feel simple, but never simplistic. She reminds you that building a brand is about crafting meaning that resonates deeply, and Meyerson’s input keeps it fresh, relevant, and forward-thinking, especially as the branding world keeps evolving with new technology and cultural shifts.

Reading this book is like having a calm, insightful mentor guide you through the noisy chaos of brand identity. You come away not just smarter but inspired—ready to see brands as uniquely human stories waiting to be told well. It’s structured, practical, and deeply human.

In a world often overwhelmed with flashy ads and empty slogans, this book feels like a breath of fresh, focused air.

[Isa Byrum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this for a senior visual communications class and felt like I know most of this information already. Might be a better read for someone who hasn’t had as much exposure to design and communication

[Sonya Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most comprehensive brand book for designers. I’ve got all 6 editions. Each inspired me to understand the deeper underpinnings of brand identity.

[Ethan J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting to read, it was not particularly useful for me today but eye opening to think about different forms of logo design.

[K. · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a book about design, the layout of the 2013 edition is very poor – multiple columns, small font size, and chunks of text and images placed chaotically on every page make it unreadable. I can’t really say much about the content, as I had to give up reading.