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Introduction
As a theoretical field, corporate visual identity (CVI) was born out of graphic design practices in the 1950s (Balmer, 1995). Today, numerous scholars consider CVI to be an integrated element of corporate identity, i.e. the presentation of an organization through symbols, communication and behavior (e.g. Melewar, 2001; Sharma and Jain, 2011; Baker and Balmer, 1997; Van Riel and Balmer, 1997). The importance of CVI in regards to corporate identity is exemplified by Olins (1989, p. 7), who stresses that “design is a significant component in the identity mix”. However, despite the importance ascribed to CVI within the corporate identity literature, it remains underexplored and undertheorized (Mann and Ghuman, 2014; Fetscherin and Usunier, 2012; Jong Woo et al., 2008; Van den Bosch et al., 2006; Rosson and Brooks, 2004).
The literature typically defines CVI as “the visual common thread that runs through the way an organization expresses itself” (Van den Bosch et al., 2006, p. 871). CVI often “consists of name, logo, typography, color, slogan, and, often additional graphic design elements” (Bolhuis et al., 2018, p. 3), which are typically applied on platforms such as websites, buildings, leaflets and clothes (Bartholmé and Melewar, 2014). CVI is linked to the improvement of corporate reputation as well as stakeholder recognition and identification (Van den Bosch et al., 2005). As suggested by Alkibay et al. (2007, pp. 135-136): “Used cleverly, corporate visual identity can improve an organization’s standing within the community by providing its staff with a sense of pride, building a strong reputation and gaining an advantage over competitors”.
How to manage CVI is suggestively underexplored (Bravo et al., 2012; Hussain and Ferdous, 2014; Jordá-Albiñana et al., 2009). However, researchers like Simões et al. (2005), Van den Bosch et al. (2004, 2005) argue that, in order for CVI to fulfill its purpose of creating strong reputation and identification, CVI managers should focus on making sure that CVI is used consistently on all platforms and that it authentically reflects the organization’s essence. Stressing the high importance granted to consistency within corporate identity in general, of which CVI is seen to be an important element, Leitch and Motion (1999, p. 195) conclude that: “Overall, corporate identity theory has tended to view...