Marks of Excellence by Per Mollerup

The book “Marks of excellence” by Per Mollerup begins by explaining the original motivations for making the “forerunners” of the modern trademark. It says that the three original reasons for making this kind of mark were for either social identity, ownership or origin.

The book then goes on to explain the marks of heraldry that were marks on the protective suits of knights that were competing in jousting matches. These marks were used to help the herald identify the knights so that he could then announce them to the crowd and for knights fighting in the crusades to identify each other. This was necessary because the knight’s entire bodies including their faces would be covered in armor while in these situations. There was a specific system developed with rules for making these marks.

The next section in the book talks about monograms that were developed and used as signatures due to the fact that many people, including nobility, were unable to read or write.

Branding and earmarks were the next two topics in the book. Branding was used to establish ownership of animals that often grazed together because of the absence of fences. The Farmers and herders needed to either burn a brand into their animals or cut unique shaped chunks out of the animal’s ears in order for them to tell which animal was theirs.

The next few sections describes the marks that tradesmen such as potters, masons, printers and papermakers used to establish the origin of the product.

The “design programme” is the next to be described in the book. The design programme involves all of the choices made to develop a companies visual identity. This

Is intended to establish what, who or how a company is. The design programme should be “a dynamic statement of aspirations that inspires employees, helping to improve of employee motivation and customer satisfaction” (Mollerup, 2009). It should also be used to establish external identification of the company.

The next sections describe corporate identity structures. The Monastic, Endorsed and Pluralistic identity structures are described in detail over the next few sections.