Corporate design is a process
More than ten years ago, Volkswagen asked MetaDesign to create a first-rate appearance for its logo. Soon after that, MetaDesign developed Volkswagen’s first globally standardized corporate design. But the Volkswagen brand is not static. Its development continues as the company and its concrete targets and visions move on. The new Volkswagen slogan “Das Auto.” shows this clearly. This vision for the future must be mirrored in the corporate design, and the design must transmit this vision.
Aspects of visual branding at Volkswagen
Looking back: In developing the corporate design, the MetaDesign team based their work on elements which were already in place: the Volkswagen logo and the color scheme, for example. They used these to develop the core components of the Volkswagen brand visual appearance. The proprietary typeface and a visual marker remain the constant factors in the brand image even today. Design guidelines specifically adapted to the existing elements round off the picture and give Volkswagen a face that is consistent the world over.
In the year 2000, MetaDesign developed the online-based Volkswagen Corporate Design Net (CD-Net) to make the Volkswagen brand’s appearance consistent around the globe – in the exterior design of the Volkswagen dealers as well as in advertising, product brochures and corporate communication. The CD-Net contains over 2,500 pages in five languages with everything about the Volkswagen brand and its corporate design: helpful templates for everyday use, practical examples, design guidelines and a special section on brand identity. Das CD-Net allows anyone responsible for design to respond quickly to any adjustments, thus ensuring a uniform image and a common understanding of the brand worldwide.
Volkswagen dealers and agencies supporting the brand are regularly informed via newsletters and postcards about additions to or changes in the CD-Net. And it is a success: 60,000 users from over 100 countries log on to the CD-Net every month to find up-to-the-minute answers to their technical, content and editorial questions.
And that’s not all: the “Volkswagen Corporate Design Essentials” helps people around the world develop the right feeling for the brand. Volkswagen and MetaDesign were honored with the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as the red dot award for the brand book.
Forward-looking brand management
And today? Companies do not stand still; they change and develop. So does Volkswagen. The company has set an ambitious target: to become the most innovative high-volume car brand in the world. Volkswagen aims to set the standard in all segments with a wide range of products, and to make technical innovation available to the masses. The new brand claim “Das Auto.” communicates clearly that German quality engineering will continue to stand behind the Volkswagen brand. But that doesn’t mean that Volkswagen builds cars only for Germans. Volkswagen aims to build cars for everyone around the world.
Volkswagen’s strong international focus and a greater product diversification bring new challenges in managing the brand. Corporate design has the critical task of creating space for the continued development and differentiation of the Volkswagen brand around the globe. One example: MetaDesign is currently working closely with Volkswagen China to portray the Volkswagen brand in three-dimensional space. Volkswagen has a lot to offer in the next few years. As one current brochure created by MetaDesign for the roll-out of the new brand claim says: “Let the future begin.”