The cornerstone of any good brand and more often than not the creative springboard form which everything else follows.
A core colour palette can define you and sets the mood for the type of organisation you are. Can you imagine the Royal Mail in green?
This is less tangible and is likely to have been established before any design work has been undertaken. It is key to communicating who you are. Good examples of this are 'Innocent', who have a fun, light hearted tone but are socially, environmentally and economically conscious. Where as 'American Express' are more serious, mature with a sense of responsibility to their customers presenting trust, ease and an element of exclusivity that you won’t find with their competitors.
Predominantly the use, and style of photography, but many organisations use a distinct illustrative or animation style, such as 'British Gas'.
“...flexibility will allow you to communicate across various media, events and demographics.”
Which brings us to number 5, and like any from of creative communication there is no easy way to find it. It can come from an area within the logo or a colour taken from the palette or something else entirely so
In summary then, it’s not easy to elevate a logo to the status of a brand and no one element of the 5 mentioned here will do it alone. Hopefully though what we’ve shown will give some understanding to the differences between the two along with highlighting some of the advantages to searching for that embracing '5th element'.