One of the last things on the mind of a project leader is usually branding. But, spending a little time creating an identity for a project may well save time and money in the long run. Corporate identity is the visual aspects of a company’s or project’s presence. It is the first impression an outsider can and will get of you, and will judge you accordingly. Employees or team members identify themselves through the corporate identity.
When it comes to naming a project, it should be short and descriptive. Decide on a brand (name) early in the project (very early – as in during the first meeting) without too much discussion. It should preferably say exactly what you will be doing for that period of time. You would want people to read about it, hear about it and remember it.
If you choose a name and cannot get it to be a short simple word without being vague of what the project is about, you can abbreviate it in some way. Most descriptive names are sufficiently long for example, the Eclipse Communication Framework shortens to ECF.
Then decide on an identity – the font to be used in communication, the letterhead, a slogan, colours (for uniforms, T-shirts, caps, etc). All of these are shorthand tools for identifying the project, and will assist with communication and team identity.
And that’s it. No magic, no highly mysterious creative process. If purple works for you, and you like Times Roman, go for it – as long as the font is legible and purple sticks out when you need it to.