More than a logo
People recognize an organization by the whole system: the typeface, how colour is used, how photographs are cropped, the rhythm of layouts. A strong logo in a weak system disappears; a modest logo in a strong, consistent one becomes unmistakable. So we design the system first and treat the mark as one part of it.
What an identity includes
A working visual identity usually covers:
- The mark: a logo and the versions it needs, such as a symbol, a wordmark and lockups for sub-brands or partners.
- Typography: typefaces and a type scale chosen for screens as much as print.
- Colour: a palette with a clear role for each colour, checked for contrast, including in interfaces and dark mode.
- Imagery: guidance on photography, illustration, icons and data graphics.
- Layout and motion: grids, recurring graphic moves, and how the identity moves on screen.
- Applications: whichever of the website, product, social, presentations, signage and print the organization actually uses.
Tested at the edges
Identity work starts from positioning, and we do that first if it isn’t clear. Early concepts go in several distinct directions, each shown in use: a homepage, a social post, a product screen, a sign.
The chosen direction is then refined against the hardest cases: the smallest size the mark appears at, the most crowded layout, the longest program name that has to fit in a lockup. Identity problems tend to surface years later in exactly these places.
Refresh or redesign
Organizations that ask for a new identity often don’t need one. If the existing brand has recognition or trust, a refresh keeps what people know and fixes what’s holding it back: dated type, a palette that fails accessibility, a mark that doesn’t work small. A redesign makes sense when the organization has changed so much that the old identity misrepresents it. We’ll tell you which you need, and why.
Built into the design system
An identity that lives only in a PDF tends to drift, and within a year there are five versions of the brand blue. So we carry it into a design system: colour and type as named tokens, components that use them, and templates for the formats used most, working the same in Figma and in code.
That matters more as AI tools make more of the everyday content. A model given clear tokens and plain rules is far more likely to produce on-brand work. A model given a mood board invents.
Made with what it’s for
We don’t sell identity work as a standalone project. It’s done as part of building a website, a product, a campaign or a place, so the identity arrives with somewhere to live. If you only need a logo, a specialist brand studio is usually a better fit.
What you receive
- A new or refined mark, with the versions and lockups you need
- Brand guidelines written for the people who’ll use them
- Design tokens, a design system and templates for the formats used most