The Saliency of Olins' Visual Identity Structure in Relation to UK Companies Operating in Malaysia

Abstract

In 1989 Wally Olins, one of the world's leading corporate identity designers, proposed a three-part identity framework that he used to describe how companies develop their corporate visual identity system (name, logotype and/or symbol, typography, color and slogan). In this paper we review this framework and test its application among UK firms operating in Malaysia. First, it examines the relationship between corporate visual identity system (CVIS) and Olins' (1989) corporate visual identity structure. Secondly, this study investigates the relationship between Olins' structure with the type of business and both the acceptance and recognition of corporate name in Malaysia. Our results indicate that, apart from ‘slogan’, the degree of CVIS standardization corresponds to Olins' structure. In addition, the results suggest that regardless of the type of business the companies are involved in, there is a high tendency for these firms to standardize their visual identity. We also found that a company with a well-known and accepted corporate name is more likely to use the standardized or monolithic visual structure in the UK and Malaysia.