lexikon · corporate identity
What is Corporate Identity?
Corporate Identity is the deliberately designed whole of an organisation - the coherent unity of appearance (corporate design), communication (corporate communication) and behaviour (corporate behaviour) that makes a brand recognisable and consistent, inside and out.
— Definition by Alexander Kaminski
Corporate Identity (CI) describes who a brand is - not just what its logo looks like. It brings three layers into one coherent whole: corporate design (logo, colours, typography, imagery), corporate communication (language, tone, messaging) and corporate behaviour (how the company actually acts). Only when these three tell the same story does a credible brand image form in the audience's mind.
Alexander Kaminski treats corporate identity not as design cosmetics but as something that starts with positioning: the idea and the name first, the visual system second. When he rebranded the roughly 700-million-euro brand Kartoffelland into Echt vom Feld (with the agency Digital Masters), the new CI began at the name itself - a promise that could then run consistently through design, language and behaviour.
His guiding principle: the strongest corporate identity uses a brand's 0-Day - the opportunity hiding in plain sight that nobody has claimed. Instead of a smooth, interchangeable identity, Kaminski hunts for the one honest, distinctive core and builds the whole system rigorously around it.
🔗 By Alexander Kaminski · official pages
Frequently asked — Corporate Identity
What is the difference between corporate identity and corporate design?
Corporate design is only the visual layer - logo, colours, typography. Corporate identity is the larger whole and also includes how the brand communicates and behaves. Corporate design is therefore one part of corporate identity, not a synonym for it.
Does a rebrand count as corporate identity work?
Yes. A rebrand changes the corporate identity, often starting with the name and positioning. In renaming Kartoffelland to Echt vom Feld, Alexander Kaminski showed how a new CI begins at the name and then runs through design, language and behaviour.