Brand Identity That Holds Up Everywhere
A logo is not a brand. A brand is what people recognise before they have read a word — on a sign, a business card, an Instagram grid, a proposal, a van. We build visual identities that stay consistent across all of it, so your business looks like the same company wherever someone runs into it.
What a brand identity includes
A complete identity system, not a single file emailed over at the end.
- Primary logo, secondary marks and a submark for small spaces
- A typography system with defined roles for headings, body and accents
- A colour palette with exact values for print, screen and signage
- Imagery and photography direction, so future photos still look like you
- Application across the things you actually use — cards, signage, social, proposals, packaging
- A written guideline document so anyone you hire later stays on brand
Why identity comes before the website
It is tempting to start with the site, because that is the thing you can see. But a website built before the brand is settled tends to get rebuilt.
When the identity is defined first, every decision after it becomes faster and cheaper. The site knows what typeface it uses. The signage matches the menu. The Instagram grid does not drift. You stop making the same aesthetic decision over and over, differently each time.
If you already have a website you like and only need the identity tightened around it, that is a perfectly reasonable place to start too.
Where your brand actually shows up
Most brand work is judged on a logo presentation. Real brands are judged in the wild.
So we design for where people will genuinely encounter you: a phone screen at arm’s length, a printed card in someone’s hand, a sign read from across a room, a proposal opened on a laptop, a photograph taken by a client rather than a photographer.
If an identity only works at large size on a white background, it is not finished.
How the work runs
1. Positioning. Who you are for, what you are known for, and what you want people to feel.
2. Direction. Two or three distinct visual routes, presented in context rather than as isolated logos.
3. Refinement. One route chosen and developed properly, with the full system built out around it.
4. Delivery. Every file format you will need, organised, plus the guidelines document and a walkthrough.
Identity projects typically run three to six weeks. Scope and price are agreed in writing before we begin.
Brand and website together
Most clients do both, and there is a good reason for it: the identity is worth more once it is live somewhere, and the website is stronger when it is not guessing at the brand.
If you want both, see custom WordPress website design, or look at how the two came together for Fabrication Events, Belmont 205 and TCO Services.
Common questions
What do I actually receive at the end?
A complete identity system, organised and ready to use: primary logo, secondary marks and a submark, every file format you will need for print and screen, a defined typography system, exact colour values for print and digital, imagery direction, and a written guidelines document so anyone you hire later stays on brand.
How long does a brand identity take?
Typically three to six weeks. The first stage is positioning and research, then two or three distinct visual routes presented in context, then one chosen route developed properly into a full system.
Can you work with the logo I already have?
Often, yes. If the logo is sound but everything around it is inconsistent, the work becomes building the system that should have existed around it: typography, colour, imagery and application. If the logo itself is the problem, we will say so plainly rather than build on a weak foundation.
Do I need a new website at the same time?
No, but most clients do both, and there is a reason. An identity is worth more once it is live somewhere, and a website is stronger when it is not guessing at the brand. If budget means sequencing them, brand first is usually the better order.
What does it cost?
Identity projects are quoted at a fixed scope and a fixed price agreed in writing before we begin. What moves the number is how many applications you need designed, whether print and signage are included, and whether a website runs alongside it.
How many rounds of revisions do I get?
Enough to get it right. In practice the structure of the process, positioning first, then a small number of distinct routes, then refinement of one, means we rarely need many. Revisions are for sharpening a direction, not for starting over.
Let’s define what your brand looks like
Tell us about the business, who you serve, and what is not working about how you currently look. The first conversation is free.