Identity Designed: The Definitive Guide to Visual Branding

Look... I'll cut to the chase. This is another fantastic release by super talented designer, David Airey. This book provides such invaluable insights offered by some of the industry's most fervent leaders on visual branding and identity design. Purchase it. Study it. Display it in your design studio. Enjoy!

A beautifully designed coffee table book written in case study format. Lots of practical insights about branding and design from the perspective of real design agencies.The subtitle "Definitive Guide to Visual Branding" however is an oversell because about 2/3 of the book is about best practices specific to client/agency relationship within branding agencies and creative studios. These topics include "client acquisition," "invoicing," and writing "terms and conditions".The specifics on design strategy and branding are somewhat lacking and a bit vague, but there are still some good insights from the pros.- 9/10 for those working/aspiring to work at creative agencies- 7/10 for entrepreneurs and designers not looking to get into the agency game

Great design book with awesome case studies

Somehow Airey manages to be both high concept and refreshingly granular and approachable in his detailed description of both branding/design and running a business that produces them.This book contains valuable lessons for any business services professional whose work is consultative.

Cool book, came damaged. The spine was ripping from the book when I opened it.

Got really excited about getting this book since I'm looking forward to getting back into creating designs. Now I'm not sure, but I thought this would be brand new or in good condition yet as you see that is not the case at all here. And I must say I'm not very happy all how I receive the book....

It’s simply glorified case studies into nicely printed book (very much worth touching, smelling, and etc) but almost no practical application other than referencing favorite images from the handful of branding projects in there.

A book to have in your shelf if you are a graphic designer ou even a brand strategist.

Identity Designed turned to be very helpful for my own non-graphic business! I used to get in discussions around "I like the design/I don't like the design" very often. Realizing I need to frame it around 'does it work' has been a gem. In fact... two weeks later this happened:One of my freelance clients is a large college. I help with the development of the curriculum for one of their programs. Earlier this year we had a committee that would determine whether the quality of our education was enough. Without the approval, we'd have to shut down the entire program. Countless hours were put into preparation and then the committee actually really obsessed over the deliverable: a thesis rather than for instance a website or movie. They were getting really critical and the department manager was getting more and more stressed. Remembering this book, I asked them: "I can totally see how a tangible end-product would seem so appealing, but it's like with beautiful graphic design: form doesn't matter as much as function. Don't you think we should keep in mind what we're trying to achieve? (Listing all the things) don't you think a thesis tests all of these, while a product would only test a few? Dead silence. Then their chairman answers: "This is a really good point".We ended up getting approval, so a separate thanks for that!Apart from that - the book is beautifully designed and offers a wealth of info on the process of developing branding identities. From pricing to customer communication and deliverables - it's got you covered. Some of the advice is a bit redundant, but I guess that's a logical consequence of analyzing different design studios, some of which offer the same insights.(You might wonder why I gave the book 4 stars rather than 5. That's because it's heavily oriented towards the process of being a designer, I expected there to be more on actual decision making in the creative process, like how do you determine whether the design is a good fit).

David Airey has put together a book full of insightful, branding cases studies. Nice to know that much of the examples are aligned to the way I approach a project, but its packed with great insights for anyone that loves Brand Identity.

I absolutely love David's books and this one is an absolute beauty in every sense of the word. Wonderful case studies, great and informative interviews and absolutely beautifully designed. No doubt, I will use it as reference guide going forward whenever I need inspiration or feel stuck. Highly recommended for designers and those that are keen to understand the process behind brand identity design.

This book is fantastic. A great insight into how the top design agencies work, and some processes that you can apply to your own work. Just get it - it's brilliantly designed and is worth adding to the collection.

Bought as a present for my Son. He is so pleased with it. Loads of important invaluable information.