Look like one company, on paper and on screen
Brand strategy and identity work would start with what the business says about itself, then design the logo, colors and type that carry it. The proposed output is artwork and written rules, so an invoice, a sign and a website look like one company.
- Starting point
- Positioning, before anything is drawn
- Applies to
- Print, screen, signage and collateral
- Yours at handover
- Source artwork, specifications and guidelines
- Works alongside
- Website Design & Development, Custom Software Development
- Not included
- Media planning, ad buying, campaign management
What it solves
The situations this is for
Nobody agreed what the company says
The business knows what it sells but has never written down how it introduces itself. Different people describe it differently, and a prospect hears whichever version answered the phone.
No one knows which logo is right
The mark has been resized, recolored and redrawn by different hands. There is no agreed correct file, so every new document reopens the same argument.
The edges never got designed
The website and the deck look designed. The invoice, the email signature, the trade show booth and the job posting do not, and customers meet those too.
A new build with nothing to follow
A site or an app gets commissioned with no color specification, no type scale and no approved artwork. The design decisions then get made under build pressure by whoever is nearest.
Scope
What the scope can include
Strategy and positioning
- Who the business is for
- What it says about itself, in one line
- Where it sits against the alternatives
Brand identity design
- Logo and mark design
- Color palettes
- Typefaces and a type scale
- Visual identity systems
Guidelines and application
- Written brand guidelines
- Stationery, signage and email signatures
- Marketing collateral and templates
- The brand applied to websites and apps
Scenarios
What this could look like
A logo drawn in a hurry
A scenario this covers: a mark made quickly when the business started now sits on a website, a van and a trade show booth. No rule covers any of them. Scope would start with the surfaces it has to survive, not with redrawing it.
Guidelines nobody can use
For example, the rules exist as a PDF that never became artwork or templates, so teams improvise and every improvisation looks defensible. Work here could turn the document into files people can pick up.
Identity settled before a build
For example, a founder about to commission a first website agrees color, type and mark before the build starts. The build then implements a decision instead of inventing one.
Method
How we would work
A starting point for the first conversation, not a fixed methodology.
- 01
Decide before drawing
A first conversation would cover who the business is for, what it says first, and what is already fixed. Nothing needs to be drawn until that is written down and agreed.
- 02
List the surfaces
We would write down which surfaces the identity has to cover: web, print, signage, documents, product. That list decides how much system is worth building.
- 03
Test on the hardest surface
A mark is easiest to judge where it has the least room: a small screen, a one-color print, a form field. The proposed approach is to check it there rather than on a presentation board.
- 04
Hand over usable files
Artwork, specifications and rules would be handed over in the formats your people already work in, and they are yours. Typefaces are usually licensed rather than owned, and the specifications would name each one. Who keeps it all current is worth agreeing at the same time.
Fit
Is this the right fit?
A good fit if
- People describe your business differently, depending on who answers the phone.
- Nobody can say which logo file is the right one.
- A website or app build is coming, with no colors, type or artwork agreed.
- You are starting out and need a wordmark, a typeface and a page of rules.
Not the right fit
Someone already holds the brand
If an in-house designer or an agency already looks after the mark, a second hand tends to produce more versions, not fewer. If the mark and its rules still hold up, the job is applying them properly: start at Website Design & Development or Custom Software Development.
Still changing what you sell
A full identity system is likely to be redrawn before it is used. A wordmark, one typeface and a page of rules usually hold until the positioning stops moving, and that smaller kit is the better place to start.
Too few people know you exist
Identity work does not fix that. Growing an audience is advertising, content and sales activity, and this service covers none of it: no media planning, no ad buying, no campaigns. An advertising or marketing firm is the place to start.
Questions
Questions about brand & identity
Do we need a brand strategy before a new logo?
A logo has to carry what the business says about itself, so the proposed starting point is positioning. That means who the business is for, what it says in one line, and where it sits against the alternatives. Nothing needs to be drawn until that is written down and agreed.
What goes into brand guidelines?
Guidelines would set out the correct versions of the mark, the color palette, and the typefaces and type scale. They would also show how those apply to the surfaces you use, such as web, print, signage and documents. The aim is artwork and templates people can pick up, not only a PDF.
Do we need a refresh or a full rebrand?
A refresh keeps what the company says and updates how it looks and how the look is applied. A rebrand changes what the company says, so positioning comes first and the identity follows. If the mark and its rules still hold up, the job may simply be applying them properly.
Who owns the files and the fonts?
The source artwork, specifications and guidelines are yours, and can be handed over in the formats your people already use. Fonts are different: a typeface is usually licensed, not owned outright. The specifications would name each typeface the identity relies on.
How does brand strategy and identity work connect to the website?
Ideally the identity is settled before a website or app build starts, so the build implements a decision instead of inventing one. Scope can include applying the brand to websites and apps. This service sits alongside Website Design & Development and Custom Software Development, so the same colors, type and mark can carry into the build.
Can you just redraw our logo?
Scope would start with the surfaces the mark has to survive, not with redrawing it. Sometimes the mark holds up and what is missing is the rules for using it. Where it does need redrawing, the positioning would be agreed first, so the new mark is judged against a decision rather than a taste.
Decide what you say, then how you look
Describe who the business is for, where the brand appears today, and what is already fixed.