Abstract: As a business strategy, technology, application and enterprise, ]CIS (corporate identity system) has different opinions about when and where it started. It is generally believed that the word CI was first put forward by American designer Raymond around 1930. From the United States formally put forward the concept of CI in 1930s to the introduction of CIS in China in 1980s, it has gone through a long and tortuous road, with gains and losses. For a long time, domestic VI design is too rigid and procedural. Some people think that to do VI, as long as the logo is well designed, the work is half done. In addition to logo and some basic elements, many companies' VI design manuals are the same in application, many of which are monotonous continuation and repetition, lacking individuality and new ideas. It caused the isolation of logo and even split the interaction of various elements of vi. I mainly made a systematic analysis of the development of virtual instruments, put forward my own views, and made some discussions on the current situation. [Keywords:] VI design, CI, origin, development, misunderstanding
Chapter one: Several related issues.
I. About VI design
VIS design is called visual identification system in English and enterprise visual identification system in Chinese. It spreads the intangible enterprise concept system to the society through tangible and concrete visual communication symbols, so as to achieve the purpose of establishing the enterprise image. The basic content of VIS design includes two parts: basic elements and application elements. Basic elements include enterprise name, enterprise logo, enterprise standard text, enterprise special printing font, enterprise standard color, enterprise symbolic modeling graphics, enterprise propaganda slogans, slogans, combination regulations in basic element combination, font design of basic element organization system, auxiliary elements such as special font, symbolic graphics application, advertising layout form, enterprise product modeling design, basic element drawing, standard method implementation and prohibited combination of standard colors, etc. Application elements include enterprise products, things, office appliances, equipment, signboards, flags, signboards, architectural appearance, vehicles, uniforms, product packaging, product display, advertisements and so on. The workflow of enterprise visual image design can be divided into: basic element design and development, basic element organization system design, application design system development, realization design and realization system development.
Second, on the relationship between CI and VI
As a business strategy, technology, application and enterprise, there are different views on when and where competitive intelligence began. It is generally believed that the word CI was first put forward by American designer Raymond around 1930. After World War II, the economic development of the United States has been in the leading position in the world, and enterprises attach importance to industrial design and visual design of products. Since American CI design was introduced into Japan, it has been expanded and developed by Japanese design circles, and is called CIS. The original CI design became a part of CIS design and was called VI design. After that, VI developed with the introduction and development of CIS. VI design is carried out under the background of CI development, so when it comes to VI development and basic situation, the development of CI will be mentioned as the background. Now we generally believe that VI is an important part of CI. CI consists of MI (Mind Recognition System), BI (behavior identity) and VI (Visual Recognition System).
Third, the purpose and significance of the study
For a long time, domestic VI design is too rigid and procedural. Some people think that to do VI, as long as the logo is well designed, the work is half done. In addition to logo and some basic elements, many companies' VI design manuals are the same in application, many of which are monotonous continuation and repetition, lacking individuality and new ideas. It caused the isolation of logo and separated the interaction of various elements of vi. I mainly made a systematic analysis of the development of virtual instruments, put forward my own views, and made some discussions on the current situation.
As an important aspect of graphic design, vi design has an important position. At the same time, as an important part of CI design, it plays an extremely important role in shaping corporate image. Therefore, it is particularly necessary to study and explore it.
The second chapter is the emergence and development of VI design.
With the further development of commodity economy, many attractive brands and signs have appeared in the market. This is the first stage of historical development, from marks engraved on products to trademarks printed on paper. Commodity signs have developed from simple vertical, horizontal and triangular symbols to tradesman's trademark name and store name, and then evolved into graphic, text or graphic signs, forming a complete trademark. The earliest and relatively complete trademark found in China was the "White Rabbit" trademark used in the needle shop of Liujiagongfu in Jinan, Shandong Province during the Northern Song Dynasty (960 ~ 1 127), which was collected by the National Museum of China. This is a relatively complete trademark in China, which is at least a century earlier than the European trademark. In Europe, where guilds prevailed in the13rd century, some guilds, such as wool, jewelry, jade, etc., all had their own specific seals as the marks of goods. Later, it gradually evolved into various graphic trademarks.
Modern trademarks began after industrial revolution in europe in the second half of19th century. With the great development of commodity production and domestic and foreign trade in capitalist countries, the commodity economy has developed to an advanced stage and the capitalist system has gradually formed. The appearance of modern trademarks in China began with the rise of national industry and commerce, the expansion of trading scale and the wide use of trademarks. The emergence of modern trademarks in China is also influenced by international expositions. 190 1 year (in the 27th year of Guangxu), China participated in the Glasgow Expo in England, and the Expo stipulated that all the packages of the participating goods should be marked with the special symbol G. That is, 190 1. The name, address and venue allocation number of the exhibitor must also be written. The label is provided by the Executive Committee to each exhibitor. Packages from abroad must also be marked with special marks on both sides, such as 190 1 Glasgow.
Foreign countries must also clearly indicate the name, country and venue allocation number of exhibitors in the same way.
However, these early activities were scattered, unsystematic and incomplete, and there were no scientific design rules and principles.
First, the development of corporate image design in the United States and Europe
As a business strategy, technology, application and enterprise, CIS began to have different views on when and where. Some people think that it originated from Germany 1907 AEG Electric Company, and its series of electrical products adopted the trademark designed by designer Peter Behans for the first time, which became the embryonic form of corporate image planning with unified visual image. 1947, Italian graphic designer Pintori designed a new corporate logo for another large European company producing Ollie Patel typewriters. The company has produced many excellent product designs, from typewriters to microcomputers. This is not only a decentralized design behavior, but an organic design activity, which integrates all fields of the enterprise under one theme. This is the most complete corporate image system with the best visual effect designed in western Europe after AEG.
During the vigorous development of CI design, American graphic design circles have made outstanding achievements, and some major American designers have laid the foundation for modern corporate image design. For the American design community. Corporate image design is mainly a visual system, including corporate logo, standard text, standard color, and the standard application norms of these factors, referred to as "visual identification system". At that time, the main design projects were CBS, IBM in 1965, ABC. This period is a period of rapid improvement and maturity of corporate image design.
World War II seriously damaged the economies of major industrial countries in the world, especially European countries, while the United States made a fortune because of the rapid development of military industry during the war. Through the rapid development in wartime, American enterprises and production scale reached an unprecedented level. After the war, the United States has the largest number of large enterprises in the world, and its strength and economic vitality are unparalleled. They need to expand overseas sharply after the war, which makes corporate image design mature rapidly in the United States. In 1950s, Sweden, as the center of postwar graphic design, also began to develop and improve its corporate image design. At the same time, Swiss designers created "Swiss layout style", which soon became the "international graphic design style" in the popular world. This new design style has gradually become the main style of graphic design in the Federal Republic of Germany, and has had a great impact on corporate image design in this country. The corporate image design of other European countries also gradually improved and matured during this period.
Second, the development of Japanese corporate image design
In 1970s, the corporate image design developed in American design field was introduced to Japan. The Japanese nation is good at combining foreign culture with its own advantages. After introducing CI theory from the United States, Japan further improved and developed it according to its own characteristics and needs, and formed a business planning theory with Japanese characteristics-CIS strategy. Companies that implemented CI earlier in Japan, such as Mazda, Dai Rong Department Store, Song Tian and other large enterprises, were initially influenced by American CI, and made great efforts in corporate image recognition, with the visual unification and beautification of standard words, trademarks and standard colors as the core of CI planning. However, in the process of implementing CI, Japanese enterprises gradually realize that this marketing-oriented visual identity communication is not the most suitable for Japan. They believe that if an enterprise wants to establish a good image among the public and enhance its competitiveness, it should not only expand its popularity, but more importantly, let the public have a good impression and trust in the enterprise. Therefore, enterprises must establish a correct business philosophy, carry out various honest and original appraisal activities, and provide good products and quality services in order to achieve results. Since the early 1970s, Japanese enterprises have been trying to dig deep-seated things in the process of introducing CI, while attaching importance to the transmission of visual information.
Compared with American CI, Japanese CI system covers more contents. These contents include three basic elements: spiritual identity (MI)； for short); Behavioral identity (BI); Visual recognition (VI. MI) refers to the business philosophy and strategy of an enterprise, including business objectives, principles, guidelines,
Establishment of rules, systems, responsibilities, etc. BI refers to the standardization and coordination of all specific implementation behaviors in the process of enterprise operation, including the organization, management and education within the enterprise, as well as all external activities of the enterprise and its members. Vi refers to the enterprise's use of visual communication means and a series of identification symbols to portray the enterprise's personality, highlight the enterprise spirit and highlight the enterprise's characteristics, including enterprise logo, standard words and standard colors. The organic combination of MI, BI, VI and VI constitutes the CIS system. In CIS, MI embodies the basic spirit of the enterprise, is the fundamental foundation and core of the whole enterprise identification system, and is the driving force of CIS. The design of BI and VI must fully reflect the spiritual essence and connotation of enterprise management in order to form a unified and distinctive corporate image. BI, as the operating system of an enterprise, on the one hand embodies the business philosophy of the enterprise, and on the other hand, it is an image power with identification function. VI conveys the enterprise concept to the public through various visual symbols, and leaves a strong perceptual image about the enterprise in the public with its unique design. Among these three elements, MI is in the central position, which controls and guides BI and VI. The cooperation between BI and VI embodies MI and transmits corresponding information to the outside world. From then on, CI has a deeper meaning: it refers to the use of visual design means to form the overall image of enterprise's business philosophy, behavior concept, business characteristics, product packaging style, sales policy and strategy through logo and specific color modeling. After the company name and logo are standardized in standard fonts and colors, the information exchange and dissemination between the company and the society will be carried out from the inside out, so that the society and the public can pay attention to themselves, know themselves and know themselves with the fastest speed and the deepest impression, thus shaping the best image of the company. Compared with CI of American system, CIS of Japanese model mainly lies in expanding the field of visual design and expanding the design content.
Up to the enterprise marketing management. Corporate image design has become a huge system.
Due to the influence of different political, economic, scientific and cultural factors, all countries and industries in the world operate the C I plan from their own standpoint and reality. At present, from the perspective of the world, the following main C I theories have been formed: (1) American C I strategy with product as the center, emphasizing V I plan; (2) Japanese-style CI strategy, emphasizing MI, taking attacking the heart as the first priority. (3) German CI strategy that emphasizes PI (product identification).
Third, the development of corporate image design in China
If the fifties and sixties were American CI tides and the seventies were Japanese CI tides, then by the end of the eighties, some coastal areas at the forefront of China's reform and opening up were the first to come into contact with the brand-new concept of CI. China's first contact with CI was an art designer. The design department of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts established Guangdong Jimei Advertising Co., Ltd. on 1987 and began to practice CI planning. In the same year, a group of students who graduated from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts established Guangdong Baima Advertising Co., Ltd., and then established New Realm Advertising Co., Ltd., Dark Horse Advertising Co., Ltd. and Tianlang Corporate Image Design Advertising Company. He has designed and promoted CI for Guangdong Sun God Group Co., Ltd., Li Ning Sportswear Co., Ltd., Bilang Company and Kelon Company. With the success of some enterprises that took the lead in introducing CI, many mainland enterprises began to design and introduce CI. In a relatively short period of time, there are more and more advertising companies and design companies engaged in CI business. Soon, the tide of ci poetry penetrated from the south to the mainland. Large and small advertising companies, design companies, enterprises and media have also paid full attention to CI. The Central Party School, the State Commission for Economic Restructuring and other relevant departments have also set up relevant organizations and held relevant seminars. Various CI strategy seminars have blossomed everywhere. 1988, Guangzhou xinjingjie advertising company introduced a new logo to Guangdong Apollo group, which made the output value of Apollo group company increase rapidly from 5.2 million yuan to 1994 yuan. It has aroused strong concern from academic circles, business circles and advertising circles, and made enterprise managers re-examine "corporate culture". Corporate image planning is considered as an important development strategy for China enterprises to go to the market and meet market challenges.
As for the introduction of CIS, there are many problems in domestic small and medium-sized enterprises or institutions. Some enterprises mystify CI, thinking that CI alone can revitalize an enterprise. Some hope to make an immediate profit through the "CI" mentality. And some enterprises just follow the fashion, look at others as CI, and do CI themselves. I don't know exactly how CI is implemented. Or whether it has any practical effect. More enterprises in small or immature industries equate CI with VI, which is completed by several designers without communicating with other experts or decision makers. Of course, the final result is often to disappoint them and turn into distrust of CI. For large enterprises or institutions with good development in China, they have fully realized the importance of CI design, and have implemented and executed CI design well so far, such as Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Haier Group and Lenovo Group. The attitude and implementation of CI by these enterprises are correct and serious, so the effect of CI is also remarkable.
However, on the whole, there are some misunderstandings in the process of introducing CI into China. First of all, China's C I came with the reform and opening up. With the increasingly fierce market competition, some awakened enterprises realize that the old saying that "good wine is not afraid of the deep alley" for thousands of years is no longer practical. A group of farsighted business operators began to introduce competitive intelligence into their products and services. At this time, CI is mainly centered on vi. The design of the two layers is relatively simple. However, because the pioneers make profits first, these enterprises not only expand their sales and markets, but also enhance their image and occupy a favorable position in the competition after introducing CI. The success and inappropriate publicity of this VI-centered C I strategy make some people mistakenly think that C I is to design a distinctive and eye-catching visual system for enterprises. In order to achieve the superficial effect as soon as possible, some enterprises spend a lot of money on the design of visual elements, and even some enterprises ignore their endurance and future development. Of course, this is also limited by the current enterprise management system. Secondly, China's current system has certain restrictions on the depth effect of C I, which is a systematic project with high cost, long time and strong persistence. However, the service life of enterprise managers in China is generally only a few years, and the stability and continuity are very poor. Therefore, seeking the superficial effect and short-term effect of C I constitutes the main purpose of introducing C I to most business operators. Thirdly, it is a misunderstanding in operation. The operation of C I should be centered on the senior leaders of the enterprise or the "C I Executive Committee" specially established by the enterprise, with the direct participation of all employees of the enterprise and the assistance of relevant CI planning companies or expert institutions. Enterprises that introduce CI are the main operators, and related planning companies and expert institutions are the operating objects. However, in the CI operation of many enterprises, there are often phenomena such as the inversion of subject and object, the disconnection between subject and object, and the shift of the center of gravity of CI operation. Fourth, the level of C I planning institutions and employees is limited. CI has only a history of more than ten years in China, and it is still in the rising and developing stage. From the perspective of C I planning and design institutions, its business scope is mostly limited to vI design, which really goes deep into the enterprise, and there are not many plans at the three levels of MI, B I and vI. From the perspective of employees, most of them study art design, and some mainly study management, marketing and psychology. Both types of personnel have their own advantages and disadvantages. Art designers obviously lack the grasp of economic operation, and the design ability of management and marketing personnel is generally not strong. All these directly restrict the operation of China's C I at a relatively high level, and it is difficult to ensure good results.