[michaelpinto]

By branding do you mean for your parent company or for the specific app? For example the branding for Microsoft is a different type of project than say branding Office. And by branding are you thinking on a big scale (everything from coming up with the name to the marketing) or on a small scale (i.e. an icon for an app)?

My advice to you as a designer is that you should start small, take baby steps and keep your budget low. I'd also advise you to work with a local designer (if you can find a good one) who can meet with you face to face.

By the way I did a quick google search and found this studio after some hunting: http://www.holbeinruiz.com

[german]

I'm talking about something like Twitter, in which the product and the company share the same brand.

That's a really good question, I think I'm talking about the whole brand, including the name and marketing.

Thanks for the link :)

[michaelpinto]

Something you should think about: Twitter wasn't called Twitter when it started.

And if you want to see a super ugly logo look at the very first Apple logo -- it' s a second rate hippy doodle of the worst kind: http://www.edibleapple.com/2009/04/20/the-evolution-and-hist...

I'm a branding guy, but my advice is to to put every penny into building a great product!

Once you understand what that product does (and that takes time) then focus on branding.

Too many times I see folks come up with a name, or they buy a domain and then try to think what they should do with it.

[german]

That's really good advice Michael, thanks a lot :) We actually have a prototype, but maybe we should focus a little bit more on that and start with branding later on the process.

Do you, being involved in branding, have any advise (book recommendations, blogs, etc).

Thanks a lot for your input!

[michaelpinto]

I've got two words for you my friend: Paul Rand

http://www.paul-rand.com/

That would be a good place to start...