Branding isn't just about a logo, it is about a collection of elements that tells the user something about the product and the project. It should also create an emotional connection or response.

Branding design therefore occurs on a number of levels.  Colour, style, language, graphics all play their part and that part changes depending on target audience.

So therefore the first decision that needs to be made is target audience because that then informs the rest of the design decisions

This needs to be established by research. Age, occupation, sex, location.

Colour Pallette  This should be a range of colours,

Primary foreground colour

Secondary Foreground colour

Primary Background colour

Secondary background colour

Reversal colours ie: if primary design is dark foreground elements with light or white background the colours should be matched well for displaying in reversed colouring

Text colours

Typeface fixed and variable for both Logo elements and text around the logo as well as in wider document elements, footers, margins etc.  (Ease of availability of typeface is critical as display of body text depends on what fonts are installed on the client computer.) 

Above is an example of a corporate pallette.  The pallette was designed to have gravitas, to invoke seriousness and trust.  The inner three colours are the primary pallette the outer colours are the secondary pallette

Artists should present a pallette along with examples of graphical elements for different uses.  Spacing and layout conventions should be specified, taking into account as many use cases as possible. 

Logo design will come after the pallette has been chosen.

Ideally 3 or 4 pallettes will be chosen and our users surveyed to pick their favourite.  Most popular should become the official pallette for the new Apache OpenOffice product and the logos, bugs and coloured to suit