Analysis of African universities’ corporate visual identities

Visual identities are arguably the most prominent manifestation of a brand, and with universities around the world are behaving increasingly as corporations, there creative efforts towards rebranding and changes in their logo are recognised. Using the African higher education sector as an example, this chapter draws on the theories of corporate visual identities to provide a theoretical framework for African universities’ corporate visual identities. In so doing, this chapter advances theory in brand identity, design, and development. While there are many forms of visual brand identifies, this chapter focuses especially on logos. The logos of the top 200 universities in Africa were analysed to understand the creative elements adopted in creating the visual brand identities for these universities. The study found that overall there appears to be a lack of understanding with regards to the creative design of brand identities by African universities, though with some exceptions as illustrated in the top 20 logos selected in the chapter. The chapter concludes with some suggestions to extend the current body of knowledge in the literature on the corporate logo and corporate visual identity, especially with a focus on HEI brands in the African context. This study presented a theoretical framework of universities’ brand identities which focuses on the shape, colour, and typeface of the logo.