Great Visual Identities

Recently I had the experience of designing a logo for a client who wasn't able to envision it without the branding context. As soon as the client has seen the logo applied on a business card or a letterhead, he was convinced that it was suitable, working and alive. Following on the same idea, a few days ago we had the pleasure to post an interview with the award-winning logo designer Leighton Hubbell, who expressed the idea that a logo can live or die depending on the branding program. I agree with Leighton that some really good logos fail to reach their full potential when the branding is not top notch, while some rather ordinary logos can get a breath of new life with great branding. With these thoughts grinding in my mind I've decided to make a selection of some great visual identities to see how great logo designs work in a branding context. I've followed the way designers manage to continue the design ideas condensed and expressed through logo design and the way they expand the graphic elements and build appealing visual identities.